Lord of the flies written by William Golding is a book about a group of boys who was on an unknown island by themselves. In this book, Golding display Jack as a powerful person but in my opinion, he’s not a good leader.
A good leader is a person who is good at solving problems, communicating and listening well, respect other people and having empathy towards the others but we can clearly see that Jack doesn’t have any of those soft skills above. Living on an unknown island on their own, Jack’s priority is completely different from Ralph’s priority. Ralph who is a natural leader puts the member’s safety at first place and he’s trying to create a society on the island while Jack’s priority is hunting and getting meat.
Firstly, Jack’s poor leadership
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This action shows no empathy and violence. Arguably, there are some readers saying that it’s not a bad thing to do because in that situation, the boys need meat to survive and Jack is just doing his job as a hunter through hunting pigs and provides meat for the whole group. Without him, the kids perhaps would not have meat to eat at all because they’re either don’t know how to kill pigs or they felt sorry for doing such an evil action but Jack is different from them. He likes killing and it’s not just simply for meat. He thinks that it’s fun, interesting and thrilling when hunting and seeing blood. He even gets hunting to be the job of the choir. This shows that he’s violence and aggressive and have no empathy. We know this because when the other kids talk about things they like on this island, Jack only cares about hunting for example he said “All the same you need an army-for hunting. Hunting pigs-” on page 35 and “We’re going to hunt pigs and get meat for everyone” on page 40. It makes the reader feels that he’s selfish because he’s only cares about what he’s interest in while things that these boys actually need at that moment is a society with a good leader to save them from this island. It’s clear that he would be the worst leader on the island and in the end it may lead to where the boys got hurt or even worse that they can never return
Jack’s negative effects on others are shown when “Maurice pretended to be the pig and ran squealing into the center, and the hunters, circling still, pretended to beat him” (75). This quote displays Jack’s evil influence because he has made perfectly normal British boys act like mindless savages and participate in this sadistic ritual. The hunters seem to regress to more prehistoric times as they enjoy performing this act. Jack also changes the boys’ behavior when, “The beast struggled forward, broke the ring and fell over the steep edge of the rock to the sand by the water. At once the crowd surged after it, poured down the rock, leapt on to the beast, screamed, struck, bit, tore. There were no words, and no movements but the tearing of teeth and claws” (153). This quote is essential because it conveys that Jack has altered the boys’ minds to such a degree, that they are blinded by their bloodlust and can’t even tell that the “beast” that they are mutilating is really Simon. It also shows how delirious Jack has made these once civilized children. As you can see, Jack is not a necessarily evil person, but he creates evil
Ralph gives everyone on the island equal rights and freedoms. Ralph makes everyone feel worthy but Jack makes almost everyone feel useless. Firstly, Ralph lets everyone on the island have a say. They can express their opinion or idea as long as they have the conch. “ I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak,” (Golding 31) says Ralph during an assembly. He is giving everyone an equal chance to talk. On the other hand, Jack just wants the “important” people to talk. Jack says to piggy, ” Who cares about what you believe-fatty,” (97). This shows that Jack doesn’t want Piggy to talk and that is not fair. Nextly, Ralph also assigns everyone equal work and does a lot of work himself. Ralph builds the huts with Simon and he also assigned different people times to watch the fire. Ralph is also very caring towards the lilun’s. He gives them positive motivation towards getting rescued while Jack just ignores them. Therefore, Ralph makes everyone feel worthy by listening to their opinions and assigning equal work among the boys unlike Jack.
Jack was defiant from the start and showed how he was giving into the darkness. Since the boys first arrived on the island, Jack seemed to stray away from the beaten path in the sense that whatever the rest of the group decided Jack wanted to question, oppose, or downright argue with until he was finally given command of his own men. On page 22, Jack says, "I ought to be chief,”[…]” because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.” This shows that Jack is selfish and only wants to be in control, never thinking of the others around him. Jack still has some good in him at this time. Early on, Jack was faced with the temptation of the darkness inside of him, but at this point, he was still trying to fight it. Page 51
Jack, on the other hand, is doing nothing but causing chaos. Jack fails to realize that the boys need security, stability, and order on the island. Jack was a leader of the choir before the boys landed on the island. These boys, who were in the choir, still want to follow Jack; however, they have no discipline at all. The only thing that is on Jack’s mind is hunting.
Hostile demand is not what makes a great leader. Jack doesn't understand priority, and it's seen in chapter four after a ship passes the island and there is no fire to create smoke as a signal. Ralph says, “You let the fire go out.” (Golding 80). Jack's unprioritized guilty mind is noticed here in this quote, “He flushed, conscious of a fault. "The fire's only been out an hour or two. We can light up again--" He noticed Ralph's scarred nakedness, and the sombre silence of all four of them” (Golding 81). This is why it's unreasonable to say that Jack would be a better leader. He is unable to prioritize the needs of their society and of his peers because he doesn't fully understand what it means to be a leader and look at the bigger picture. Jack is the definition of chaos, and with him as a leader, the society would deteriorate quickly without the proper structure that Ralph
Since Ralph is in charge, he lets Jack choose what he wants to lead on the island. Although, Ralph chooses the wrong person to lead hunting. Jack takes all of the power into his own hands. “Communism is supposed to mean we’re all in this together” (John). This is something that the boys on the island do not understand.
Through strong propaganda, fervor from others, and superior verbal skills, Jack eventually took power over the island. His propaganda weakened Ralph by spreading pretenses about him; to supplement this weakening of Ralph, more and more tribe members supported Jack, displaying affection for his powerful personality, appearance, and verbal skills. Without his charisma or dominating tactics, Jack would not have been able to take such effective leadership, eventually isolating Ralph completely.
The political system that they had on the island was corrupt. It wasn't the system but the individuals who were responsible for corruption in society. At first they had a leader, Ralph. He made rules, held meetings and tried to keep things in order. Soon Ralph's rules are being ignored and questioned. Jack was too concerned with hunting, to worry about the other things that can keep them alive, like the signal fire that would get them rescued, Madness came into his eyes. "I thought I might kill." "But you haven't yet (51)." Soon, Jack decides he's had enough of Ralph, "I'm not going to be part of Ralph's lot. I'm going by myself. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come (127)." He lures the other boys away and makes a tribe. Ralph's community deteriorates. Jack is responsible for the corruption of their society.
That’s why if I had to pick between Ralph and Jack it would be Ralph because he is a caring person. Ralph overall really tried his best to be together as a team and a family. So the point of this is to tell you that Ralphs motivation was to find help to get off the island he wanted to keep people safe so that they would all help and comfort each other. The tragedies were hard but Ralph did contribute even when he was upset he still showed effort. Oh and all the deaths Ralph was speechless he could not have prevented it even if he wanted to and we know he really wanted to.
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.
This shows how he is a good person and an excellent leader because, everybody on the island knows, that Jack is the only person who has the confidence and ability to kill animals. ” ‘Listen all of you. Me and my hunters, we’re living along the beach by a flat rock. We hunt and feast and have fun. If you want to join my tribe come and see us. Perhaps I’ll let you join. Perhaps not.’ “. (140) Without Jack, they will not have food and the children know they need that, but Piggy and Ralph could not provide that for them. Therefore, they had to leave them.
... Ralph has proven to have a much better understanding of people and their needs and this makes him a much better leader than Jack. With Ralph's understanding of the need for order and rules, he improves the condition where the boys are living in. Jack's condition was horrible. Also, Jack treated the boys very badly and like he better. Ralph, on the other hand treated the boys all equally and with respect. Ralph's priority to get off the island shows his wisdom and ability to make good decisions. Although Jack was popular on the island for the short amount of time the boys were there, he would not have been popular for much longer. He does not have any of the qualities that a good leader should have and turned himself and the rest of the boys into complete losers. Jack's plan would have soon faded but if Ralph had become leader, his wisdom would last much longer.
* Jack did not have the integrity to keep the Beast at bay. It slowly crept into him and later took full control once he put on the painted mask. He is the perpetrator of the two deaths that occur on the island and wishes to spend his time hunting (killing) instead of helping Ralph with being rescued.
Ralph immediately looses interest in the rules, politeness and etiquette of society that existed in the "other" world. For his entire life, he had been controlled by the boundaries enforced by society. Yet on the island, away from the world, Jack reverts to his true self. Hence, he sees no reason to help in building the shelters, keeping the fire going, or any other tasks that will better the group. When the beast is sighted on the mountain, the true dictator in Jack is revealed.
During a scene in the book, Jack and the savages have a feast and wouldn’t let Piggy, the intellectual one that is often ostracized, eat. When Simon, one who cares for the vulnerable, decides to give Piggy a piece of the meat. Jack becomes furious and begins throwing the food at Simon. Lastly, Jack basically burns down the island in order to kill Ralph, the only non-savage one after the deaths of Piggy and Simon. This told the reader that Jack would go to the extremes in order to get what he wants even if it is dangerous, but then again he believes that “We’re not savages.