Leadership In Lord Of The Flies

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A strong leader is not necessarily a good one. When looking at multiple people, there is usually certain individuals who prove to be leaders, the ones who naturally take authority. The strongest of these natural born people, often influence the weaker and begin to gain followers. Not in every case though does the strongest leader happen to be the ideal option as it is proven in William Golding’s, The Lord of the Flies. This novel, where multiple boys are stranded on a lone island, have to figure out how they’re going to survive and get rescued. One of the main characters, Ralph, is not the strongest willed boy but he is able to demonstrate a larger knowledge of humans overall than Jack who’s personality overshadows wisdom. Each style of …show more content…

Ralph displays this necessary mature human wisdom as a leader by pushing towards the betterment of the boys' society since the moment they were stranded on the island. “Which is better, law and rescue, or hunting and breaking things up?”(p. ?????) says Ralph. He knows if a group of young children are to outlast an unknown situation where “between life and death” is a literal statement; stability and order are crucial for survival. Rules and a slight form of government are the first elements he brings to this society. “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.” (p. 31), using the conch as a symbol of democracy, Ralph submits the power of voice to a controlled object so nothing gets out of hand. Jack disagrees with the level of dignity given to the boys by Ralph. Because of maturity in Ralph, he knows that for others to respect and follow, they must feel equal and be just as respected as one’s self so the other boys, even Piggy, get treated as so. This only helps Ralph arise as an ideal leader, the rest of the boys elect him as chief due to his treatment of them and his level eye presence that

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