In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, though several characters demonstrated quality traits to be a good leader, only one had the greatest sense of long-term leadership to “confront the major anxiety” of all the boys as John Galbraith defined. Though Jack held a voice among the boys, his desire for hunting and power led the civilization to corruption. Piggy’s intellect improved the development of the society, but his ideas were belittled by the other boys when he offered them. Therefore, only Ralph could have held a stable leadership because of his determination to lead the boys and ability to take initiative of a situation .
Although most of the boys only initiated in what they wanted to do, Ralph understood what they needed to do in order
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to survive on the island. For example, when the boys start a fire, Ralph says, “We’ve got to have special people for looking after the fire. Any day there may be a ship out there” (42). In other words, Ralph conveys the need to enforce duties and rules to create a system of bureaucracy so everyone will be able to survive peacefully amongst one another. By assigning the positions for the boys and setting laws, it will increase their chances of survival and being rescued. Now they will be able to maintain a balance with the island by keeping it clean and amongst each other because now they have a chain of responsibility they each must carry out. Ralph considers what is best for them to survive long-term. It follows then that he must take on greater responsibilities now that he has become the leader. For instance, when none of the boys are brave enough to look for the beast, Ralph takes initiative by saying, “I’m chief. I’ll go. Don’t argue.” (104). In that moment, Ralph understands that because he is chief, he should be the one that should take the risk when his followers are too reluctant. By doing so, Ralph builds up his leadership potentials in the eyes of the other boys because he is willing to risk his life for the sake of theirs. Ralph makes such efforts to build support and trust from the boys to build a strong reputation so he will not be conquered by anyone threatening his position. Therefore, because of Ralph’s leadership, the boys are able to live amongst each other peacefully. Contrasting Ralph’s civilized and righteous ways, Jack, however, took a more wild and savage route to achieve power.
More specifically, Jack says to the littluns “Fear can't hurt you any more than a dream. There aren't any beasts to be afraid of on this island....Serve you right if something did get you, you useless lot of cry-babies” (75). Upon knowing that because the littluns are so young and ignorant, they should be looked out for more and taught to make positive choices. Instead of comforting the littluns, Jack is quick to tell them off by hoping the beast gets them because they are weak and useless. By saying such a vulgar statement, Jack shows how cruel and self-centered he is because he does not consider the feelings of others and how much his words would affect them. Jack therefore only considers his feelings and expects everyone else to follow what he says because he sees his words as law. By doing so, Jack starts to break the laws of the civilized and turn towards what he wants instead of what everyone else needs. In contrast to Jack, Piggy shows greater benevolence towards others but because of his appearance, he is looked down on by the other boys. To demonstrate, when Piggy tries to voices his opinions on the fire, Golding describes, “They (the boys) looked at him with eyes that lacked interest in what they saw” (44). The boys show how little they care about Piggy and what he says because they do not see him as someone who should hold authority over them. Because he is fat, ugly, and has glasses and asthma, the boys stereotype him as a pushover and a fool. As a result, Piggy is outcasted by the other. So if Piggy was the leader of the boys and could not get them to listen to his ideas then it would just lead them to corruption. Ultimately, the leadership of both Jack and Piggy would only lead the boys to corruption and violence while Ralph’s leadership would be peaceful because he demonstrates confidence and positive
reinforcement. Galbraith’s definition of a leader corresponds to Ralph because he has established remarkable qualities of determination and taken initiative when the other boys fell short. He “confronts the major anxiety” of the other boys by dealing with problems immediately and understanding the priorities needed to be done on the island. By being able to settle these problems, he will be able to keep the others calm and feeling secure because fear will not control their decisions and actions any longer. As a result, the island will be able to remain peaceful and rapport if Ralph is the long-term leader.
...traightforwardly to Jack he is the chief, Ralph demonstrates that he would never surrender him to lose the respect of the boys. I believe that even when the boys did not come back to Ralph (may be because of Jack’s and Roger’s powerful control) they could slightly see his assertive self-affirmation. Obviously, a leader can’t be a dastard.
Ralph shows that he has a better understanding of the boys than Jack. He knows that the boys need some sort of order on the island in order for them to survive. He starts a simple form of government and sets a few rules for them. Even though they don’t last very long, the fact that he tried to help the group is what makes him a better leader. Ralph’s wisdom and ability to look toward the future also has an advantage over Jack. He has a sense to keep his focus on getting off the island. When the fire goes out, Ralph gets upset because the chance to be rescued was gone as well. Ralph enforces his role of leadership as he gives the boys a sense of stability of an authority figure. He keeps the boys in pretty good order at the meeting by making a rule that they can only speak if they have the conch. Ralph knows that the littleuns are afraid and they need shelter to feel more secure. They work together for a while, but as the time goes on the smaller boys want to go play. They slowly lose all their help until Simon and Ralph are the only ones left to work on them. Ralph knows that this is a necessity and keeps bringing it up at the meetings. Jack, on the other hand, is doing nothing but causing chaos.
Ralph’s loss of order results in the inability for him to be trusted by the littluns, eventually leading to his fall from authority as a leader. Jack’s aggressive presence creates a common fear among the boys, and fear is the primary reason for his gain of control over both them and the island. Using his selfishness and impulsiveness in order to take advantage of the boys’ innocence, Jack develops leadership qualities which emphasize Ralph’s insecurities regarding his ability to obtain power. This emphasis brings Ralph to disappointment in himself and in the island’s corruption. Unknowing of how to react to their loss of sophistication, Ralph is left with only “his fading knowledge of the world” (Golding 162). His failure to obtain the role as a leader leaves him unable to fix the savage mistakes in the boys whom are now ignorant to the idea of a properly civilized society. The ideas of power and earning superiority over Jack distract Ralph, demonstrating his distinct values as an individual. Although the principles by which he lives are conducted under circumstances revolved around escaping the island, his individualistic approach to survival opportunities being evident through the isolation of Piggy. It is only when his death is upon Ralph that Piggy’s existence is recognized, confirming his value of self-involvement over companionship. The older boys see immaturity in the littluns because of their age and, consequently, lack of independence. Their weakness causes them to follow Jack even though they are fearful of his intimidating appearance and his potential as a powerful, evil force. Therefore, because of the littluns’ vulnerability, Jack is able to develop power in evil, resulting in
There are many aspects that determine how humans behave around one another. This is shown throughout William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies. This book is about a group of British boys that are stranded on an island without any adults due to a plane crash. At first, all goes well; the boys cooperate in attempting to maintain the fire signal, gather food and making shelters. However, human nature takes over and their democracy that they have created fails. This leads to the majority of the boys becoming complete savages when the evil within them takes over. Different qualities help determine whether a person is a good or a bad leader. Although, Piggy and Jack have some leadership qualities, Ralph is the best leader.
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.
Ralph shows what the boys need by the way he handles the then. Jack considers the boys lower to him, meanwhile, Ralph treats...
The leader of the group, which is Ralph, in William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” is responsible for the behavior of the boys. A leader must be able to make good decisions, listen to every member of the group, and maintain a clear mind despite the uncivilized environment, to ensure the well being of everyone. Piggy is the only character that accomplished of doing all of these things because he is smart, patient, and coherent. These qualities are crucial to a good leader, making Piggy the best choice for a leader. Without Piggy as the leader, none will not survive on the island.
He acted powerfully, and he placed fear into the other islanders hearts. Where Jack enters the story, the text states, “Piggy asked no names. He was intimidated by this uniformed superiority and the offhand authority in Merridew’s voice” (Golding 21). This is an example of the automatic fear that struck the others at his moment of arrival in the story that seemed to carry out through the entirety of the story, and possibly even intensified closer to the end. Again, Jack strikes fear when he makes conversation about hunting- which ends up overtaking him completely by the end of the book, “All the same you need and army- for hunting. Hunting pigs-’” (Golding 32). Although he is talking about hunting for food, this quote has an eerie feeling to it, almost as though he is a little too excited to create his own army just for hunting; could this possibly be his first display of extreme power that transformed into hunger for it as the story progressed? One last example of Jack’s dictatorship is when he cries excitedly, “‘We’ll have rules!’” (Golding 33). He seems to want to force everyone to follow him in this section of the story by making rules that everyone must follow; This is also ironic because he is also the first to start disobeying them when he realizes that they are not what he wants so he can gain that full lead, or dictatorship, he strives to ‘achieve.’
(An analysis of Piggy in the classic novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding.)
A recurring theme in many societies today is that “absolute power corrupts absolutely”(John Acton, was an English Catholic historian, politician, and writer). In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, this idea of leadership is put in the spotlight. Jack, one of the boys on the island, forced his way into the leadership position, not actually earning it. It is clear that Jack is not a good leader as he is intimidating, egotistical, and selfish. Ralph is a quality leader under most conditions because Ralph appeals to the boys sophisticated side, while Jack is only successful when he has limited power as he satisfies their childish need for fun
Leaders are often characterized as assertive, perceptive, and morally ethical individuals in order to accurately instill authority and order into a stabilized society. Ralph, a struggling, civilized leader of the beaches and forests, and Jack, a militarisitic, savage ruler of the rocks, are divided by their constant battling for superiority during the 1950s in Lord of the Flies by William Golding. A congregation of infant and prepubscent boys strike onto an uninhabitated island where authority is absent. The association of boys must outlast their time on the island by reconstructing their own society as well as signaling for their own liberation from the island. But, they constantly grapple with their own sanity in order to maintain their civilized
In the novel Lord of the Flies, the characters Ralph, Piggy, and Jack are all developed in great detail, with emphasis on their backgrounds and individual characteristics. Ralph for example is described as an athletic, fair boy, who is a charismatic leader, while at the same time is unsure about the big decisions in crucial moments, and lacks the vison to always see what needs to be done when it is on the line. Early on in the novel on page 23 he is elected leader when “Every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air. Ralph counted. “I’m chief then.” The circle of boys broke into applause.” As chief, Ralph represents order, civilization, and the only form of productive
In conclusion, Ralph understands his role and how important it is for the boys. Ralph respect the boys as individuals unlike Jack. Ralph is very intelligent for organizing being a big brother to the boys. Ralph knows what's wrong and bad, as he has moral knowing when Simon knowing that was murder. He's has outstanding leader and had patience and care for the boys. Ralph has leadership, morality, and responsibility of being natural
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.