An influential government requires a strong group of leaders and equality for all its citizens. In William Golding 's Lord of the Flies, a group of British school boys find themselves stranded on island, with no adults or provisions to help themselves. They form a “government” which lacks both these crucial traits of a successful government. The boys on the island fail to govern themselves due to the lack of two essential components of an effective government; equality and strong leadership.
One of the reasons that the boys fail to effectively govern themselves is due to their lack of equality, which Rousseau argues is a necessity. Since this component is missing from the island, the result is that the citizens are unsatisfied with the leadership.
…show more content…
(Biographical Briefing on Jean-Jacques Rosseau). This agrees with Ralph’s outspoken behavior as leader on the island; he takes advantage of his position as leader and gives no equality to any of his “citizens.” To this point, Ralph wrongly uses his power as leader and calls meetings to, as he says, discuss topics though in the end, it is his idea that is enforced as the rule. In this chapter of Lord of the Flies Ralph calls an assembly to address important matters to the others. The assembly was getting out of hand and too keep thing in order Ralph says, " 'Now I say this and make it a rule, because I am chief. We won 't have a fire anywhere but on the mountain. Ever '" (Golding 81). When Ralph says “now I say this” he firmly gets the boys’ attention and states his argument. He is getting very frustrated at this point so he secures his stand. Ralph stating that "I am chief" tells the assembly that his point will not waver for any of their reasons. He was chief and they were going to do what he says. At the end of the quote Ralph says firmly "ever" as to enforce the rule and say that it will never change. At this point of the assembly many boys have already left, doubting his …show more content…
As the leader, Ralph ignores any concerns of the citizens of the society and withholds equality. He also neglects the most logical boy on the island, Piggy, due to his lack of strength as a leader. One of the main variables that causes the downfall of the government in Lord of the Flies is fear. Fear takes over the group of boys and even kills some of them. Fear today in our society also makes people do actions they do not want to. This terror takes over the minds of many people and they lose sight of what is really
The Lord of the Flies is a gruesome story about young boys stranded on an island, who underwent a transformation from polite British choir boys to savage hooligans. One of the main difficulties the boys face during their adventures upon the island, is their method of government, they either follow the path of Ralph, the democratic leader whose main focus is to escape the despairing island; or Jack a power-hungry monarchical leader who won't ever take no for an answer. The two boys are constantly bickering and arguing over who deserves the leader-position. We all understand Ralph wants to be leader so that he can ensure that the boys will return back home, but in Jack's case, it is a constant mystery to us about why he wants power over the other children. But we do get much small hints from the author, William Golding, that Jack's biggest fear among the other children on the island is public humiliation. This becomes more and more evident the farther on into the book, and his fear seems to be what persuades him to reach for a powerful position.
In “Lord of the Flies” Ralph has the goal of getting himself and the rest of the tribe off the island. His plan to execute it is by making a signal fire that a passing ship or boat will see to rescue them. Ralph realizes that maintaining order within their tribe is crucial to their survival and chance of being saved. As chief of their group, he assigns Jack the leader of the hunters. He then puts them in charge of keeping the signal fire lit. During this process, Jack and his boys get distracted from keeping it lit as they attempt to kill a pig. After a couple of hunts, Jack and his boys finally kill a pig and return in cheers. As they get back, Ralph gets mad at Jack saying “You and your blood Jack Merridew! You and your hunting! We might have gone home” (70). Ralph is angry with Jack because he realizes as leader that he has to make sure everyone understands their main goal, and are able to focus on that by blocking out distractions. These actions that Ralph show display why he is successful as a leader and why they accomplish the goal of getting
In the book The Lord Of The Flies , the characters all have a need for approval, recognition. Alot comes into play when it comes to seeking approval or at least know that they have somewhat of a big role on the island. Ralph is someone who naturally has leadership qualities but doesn’t expect respect, and recognition. Ralph was the one who always had the conch and called assembly's and set rules. In part of the book Ralph gets fed up with all the littluns not listening to the rules so he calls an assembly, and starts talking about the rules after he finishes his speech ¨the circle of boys broke into applause¨( Golding 23).After the boys broke into applause Ralph felt a breeze of pride he also felt importance because “ we all have what we may call the desire for reputation or prestige, recognition,attention, importance or attention”( Maslow 6).
Comparing Governments in Novels William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is a story much like the true events of the totalitarian Soviet Union. The original leader in Lord of the Flies introduces himself simply as “Ralph”(Golding 8). Although his priorities are good, his way of governing is certainly harsh: “ ‘You voted me chief. Now you do what I say’”(115).
Ralph is the protagonist of The Lord of The Flies. He was elected leader at the beginning of the novel and is the main representation of order and civilization on the island. At the very beginning, when Ralph finds the conch shell he lifts it up and says “'Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things' (pg.228). To Ralph, a chief is someone who is elected leader and makes important decisions for a group, as he thinks, "if you [are] a chief, you [have] to think, you [have] to be wise... you [have] to grab at a decision" (pg. 10). Being a chief to Ralph means leading people. It does not mean triumph, power, and arrogance; it's about making sure that all the needs of the group as
Democratic power can be used to control a society, as well as to establish a closeness among civilians. To lose sight of this can mean the corruption of a civilization caused by the lack of order. One’s choice of independence over the reliance on others in order to better the chances of their survival requires complete dedication and willingness to take risks. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Ralph loses his democratic power due to his failure to ensure survival and protect the boys as a leader. Ralph’s failure to lead the group is due to his inability to compete with Jack and gain followers, mostly because of Jack’s reign of fear. Ralph’s integrity enables a growing confidence in his ability to avoid reliance on leadership power in
In the novel, The Lord of the Flies, leadership is one of the main important qualities. If I had to choose between Jack and Ralph to follow in the story, I would choose Ralph. Although he ended up struggling near the end of the story, I still found him to be a good leader.
“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others” (Welch). Leadership is inspiring others to learn more, do more, and become more. Ineffective fail to possess certain characteristics which effective leaders do. Willingness to help others, selflessness, and strictness; these are the qualities of a both good and effective leader. Without these qualities, leadership would fail and being a leader would mean nothing.
The government falls apart in “Lord of the Flies” due to the lack of the boys’ effort to use founding ideals, create citizens’ rights, and establish a formal government. The first aspect to a working government is the founding ideals. Tranquility is the most important ideal because without a peaceful country,
Earlier this year, I became the government. Everyday, for the next few days, I woke up before the sun rose and filled my hotel room with light. In business professional attire, I would walk down the halls of the California State Capitol and into the Assembly Chambers. I experienced firsthand how the administration of our society works. There came a day, a cloudy day with rain falling momentarily, in which a protest was gathered in the streets. A man spoke, asking for the government to remove its mask. I failed to understand. What did this man want? Deep in my gut, I knew a life of terror, a life a darkness, and a life of despair could only be the outcome of the absence of government. This ideal is explained by the classic novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, which explores the universal theme that civilization is significant, regarding its role in securing that man does not return to his primitive nature of savagery.
In William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies Ralph though not the stronger person, demonstrates a better understanding of people than Jack which gives him better leadership qualities. Ralph displays these useful human qualities as a leader by working towards the betterment of the boys' society. He knows the boys need stability and order if they are to survive on the island. He creates rules and a simple form of government to achieve this order. Jack does not treat the boys with dignity as Ralph does. Ralph understands that the boys, particularly Piggy, have to be given respect and must be treated as equals. This makes Ralph a better leader as he is able to acknowledge that he was not superior to any of the other boys. Ralph's wisdom and ability to look to the future also make him a superior leader. Ralph has the sense to keep his focus on getting off the island. He insists on keeping the fire burning as a distress signal. Ralph's leadership provides peace and order to the island while Jack's leadership makes chaos.
For years, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, has been a staple in college, high school, and even middle school classes. The eloquent story follows a group of young boys stranded on a jungle island. They are left thousands of miles away from civilization and are left to survive by themselves. Throughout the story, many insights in leadership are seen through the power struggle between Ralph and Jack. Both have extremely different styles of leadership with varying levels of success. Lord of the Flies teaches me about leadership in the initial selection of the leader, how they solve problems, and how they motivate others.
In the beginning of the novel, Ralph, is a pure child, who is “turning handsprings of joy upon finding an island free of adult supervision” (Oldsey 3). He is a typical boy with average capacities and desires for rescue and enjoyment. Therefore, Ralph is the standard representation of order, leadership, and civilization. Hence, after landing on the island, he does what civilization has taught him to do, using diplomatic means and intelligence to create a democratic leadership that will help the boys attain rescue. For instance, Ralph calls for an assembly with the conch, a representation of civilization’s order and rules, which helps him be the “strong conscience, the one to bar against savagery and instill civilization” (Anjum 5). Furthermore, his urge for a fire to be made for rescue, huts for safety, and a division of power to gain all survival necessities are other ways Ralph hoped to further civilize the boys. Therefore, Ralph’s determination to keep civilization in the boys’ life is what makes Ralph the better leader than the power-driven Jack ...
Democracy in the novel Lord of the Flies, M.E. Sullivan said, “Democracy is only as successful as the people who make it work,” which proves itself in the novel Lord of the Flies. I agree with this statement because, if there are too many people opposing one thing, there will be war. The boys in this book struggled back and forth trying to establish a stable government. Democracy was forming in the group, but, dictatorship was quickly sneaking up behind. Democracy was an essential thing for the boys to survive on the island.
In Golding’s Lord of the Flies, the protagonist, Ralph, is faced with the difficulty of establishing law and order as he tries his best to create a civil lifestyle on the island until