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Ralph in the lord of the flies character analysis
The development of ralph through Lord of the flies
Ralph character in Lord of the Flies
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Leaders are very important in life. They can and have shaped the world in many ways. All leaders have different morals and values, and some leaders have been considered monsters. However, no matter how “good” a leader is, they can only be effective if they are strong. The book Lord of the Flies by William Golding shows how weak leaders cause the chaos that is needed for a strong leader to rise. In the book, Ralph had only been the chief on the island for a short time and already no one was listening to him. Ralph said, “All day I’ve been working with Simon. No one else. They’re off bathing, or eating, or playing,’”(50). He told them multiple times to help, but they wouldn’t. This makes it obvious that Ralph was a weak leader. He had no real power over the boys. A while later in the story, the boys signal fire went out and a ship passed by the island without seeing the boys. “Ralph said no more, did nothing, stood looking down at the ashes around his feet. Jack was loud and active. He gave orders, sang, whistled, and threw remarks at the silent Ralph,”(77). During a tragedy like this it is even more important for the leader to step up and take control. Ralph does just the opposite. He crumbles in …show more content…
the face of adversity. Jack however, does step up and he takes control of the situation. He portrays true leadership. During one of Ralph’s meetings, “The assembly shredded away and became a discursive and random scatter,”(92).
The boys were breaking up into chaos. Ralph’s poor control over the situation was leading to disaster. Even Ralph himself realized this but he didn’t know what to do about it. He comments, “‘We’ll be like animals.’”(92). This chaos was on the brink of disaster, when Jack created his own tribe. Unlike Ralph, Jack was a strong leader who actually had control over the members of his tribe. One of his members admiringly tells another, “He’s a proper chief, isn’t he?... He’s going to beat Wilfred,”(159). Jack was respected and brutal. His form of punishment made sure that the other boys would listen and obey him. This made him a strong leader with true power and
control. Leaders may not always be good or nice people. They may be brutal and harsh, but no matter how a leader acts, they must be strong because if they aren’t it will lead to chaos. The chaos that is the breeding ground of the world’s most powerful leaders.
Leadership is a trait that many people have naturally and others try to obtain. Many people consider themselves a good leader when they fail to carry out the characteristics leadership require. In the book, “Lord of the Flies”, Ralph is a better leader than Jack because of the traits he possesses. That is why certain skills are necessary to be considered a successful leader.
Throughout the novel when Ralph notices some of the boys have started to turn into savages, he tries to put an end to it as soon as possible. Ralph wants the young boys to remain as close to their old selves as much as they can, rather than transforming into unrecognizable people. Once the boys have gotten somewhat settled in on the island, they forget to watch after the most important job, as seen in Ralph’s eyes, “We’ve got to have special people for looking after the fire. Any day there might be a ship out there” (Golding 42). The majority of the group has turned to having fun rather than getting rescued. Ralph is one of the only people that has common sense and seems to know their correct priorities. We can see that choosing Ralph to be the leader may lead to benefiting them all. In chapter 11, Jack and his group have bombarded Ralph’s group and stolen Piggy’s glasses, so when Piggy asks what they are going to do, Ralph responds with, “Supposing we go, looking like we used to, washed and hair brushed- after all we aren’t savages really and being rescued isn’t a game--” (Golding 170). Ralph ends up handling this given situation like an adult. He can see quite clearly that the thought of salvation and maturity has no meaning to everyone in Jack's’ group. They have been treating their whole situation like it is just a game, but Ralph knows at this point that rescue is
Ralph has several positive characteristics but he also has several crucial weaknesses that prevent him from being the perfect leader. In chapter one the boys decide who they want to be leader. The boys decide on Ralph, “”Vote for a chief!”…every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air.” (Golding 18-19). From the very beginning Ralph is seen as the leader. He becomes the one the boys look up to and depend on to make decisions in their best interest. Ralph has natural leadership skills. Landing on the island with no adults to take control, the boys chose to follow the one boy who seems to be doing something productive, Ralph. An example of Ralph being purposeful and productive is when he blows the conch to get the attention of all the boys on the island and bring them together for a meeting. When Jack and his choir find the other boys gathered he asks where the man with the trumpet is, Ralph replies, “There’s no man with a trumpet. We’re having a meeting. Want to join?” (Golding 16). Ralph asks Jack and the choir boys to join the meeting because he wants all the boys to work together so they can be rescued as soon as possible. Other than his leadership and purposeful qualities, Ralph is also hard working. When tasks are given out to the boys, such as building shelters, hunting, gathering food, the hard work of most boys turns into play and exploration leaving Ralph to do most of the work by himself with little help from others. When the other boys gave up on their tasks Ralph continued working, this proves his hard work. Leadership, purposeful, and hard working are all positive qualities that helped Ralph succeed in the novel, but Ralph also had some majo...
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.
At one point in the story Jack says “Conch! Conch! We don’t need the conch anymore, we know who ought to say things” This quote really tells us that Jack’s pride has overtaken him and the idea of the kids submitting to him and calling him “chief.” has gone to his head. Jack has become very popular by force and by the kids feeling peer pressured to join Jack’s tribe and be hunters, or else they might be killed by the rest of the tribe. Everyone on the tribe is scared to step up to Jack because the people on his tribe are beginning to get used to the violent acts savagery that have been committed on the island so far. The kids start to let the fear of man overtake them and give into the peer pressure of joining Jack’s tribe because there isn’t really another option. By the kids giving into the peer pressure to follow the “popular” leader, Jack, they are ultimately giving Jack more power so he can do whatever he wants with the support of others who agreed to be apart of the tribe. This theme reaches its climax at the end of the story when it is literally Jack’s whole tribe, which basically consists of all the kids on the island, against Ralph. In the end, Ralph was the only one who didn’t give into the peer pressure to join Jack’s tribe, and ultimately he was rewarded for it because he got what he wanted, to be rescued. Now just because he didn’t give into peer pressure doesn’t mean you automatically get rewarded. I feel that giving Ralph his desire was William Golding’s way of rewarding Ralph for not giving into being apart of Jack's
His concern for the individuals in the group is pertinent from the beginning: he conveys to Jack the necessity of shelters “as a sort of [home]”, upon noticing the distress of the younger children (pg. 58). It is seen that Ralph’s problems are not his own; he assumes the role of leader to bring orderly forces of civilization to all. By approaching circumstances with logistics rather than emotion, Ralph does not lose sight of himself in the face of adversity. Despite this, he is later forced to act irrationally in order to preserve his status. When confronted with the evidence of the beast, Ralph is hesitant to hunt it; he is only manipulated into doing so when Jack “[sneers]” and questions him if he is “frightened” (pg. 100). However, Ralph does not respond out of his spite or self-pride as he understands that he must retain his status among the boys. If he does not remain chief, Jack will secure the position, bearing the notion that there will always be individuals working against altruism for their own benefit. Ralph sacrifices his morals by becoming subservient to Jack’s ego, yet does so in order to preserve civility within the group. On the day of the boys’ rescue, Ralph understands that his efforts to preserve peace and order are all for naught. Man’s destructive forces overwhelm him as “[he weeps] for … the darkness of man’s
Under Jack's rule, the boys become uncivilized savages. They have no discipline. Ralph, however, keeps the boys under order through the meetings which he holds. At these meetings a sense of order is instilled because the boys have to wait until they hold the conch to speak. When Ralph says, "I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking." (Golding 36) he enforces his role of leader by making rules and gives the boys the stability of an authority figure, mainly himself. By doing this he wins the boys respect and confidence in his leadership abilities. Ralph uses his authority to try to improve the boys' society. By building shelters he demonstrates his knowledge of the boys' needs. When he says to Jack, "They talk and scream. The littluns.
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 ...
... 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.
A leader is someone who is skilled in what they do, who has experience, who inspires others in the group and who works well with other people. Leadership is also about helping other people to do their best and is a reliable person that a group or team can trust and count on. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a large group of young children is stuck on a island and forced to take care of themselves. Four boys step up and take control of the island, thus becoming the so called leaders in the book. Ralph, Jack, Piggy and Simon are forced to overcome many difficult challenges throughout the novel by acting strong, brave, kind, intelligence and gaining respect
Jack did not give the boys freedom, he did not get any necessary jobs completed, and he did not provide any source of security for the younger children. For example, Jack did not allow the boys any type of freedom because he acted as a dictator then forced Samneric to join his tribe. “ ‘You got to join my tribe’… The chief snatched one of the few spears that were left and poked Sam in the ribs. ‘What d’you mean by it, eh?’ said the chief fiercely. ‘What d’you mean by coming with spears? What d’you mean by not joining my tribe?’ ”(Golding 182). Also, he did not get any hunting done unless it was him hunting down Ralph. “See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I meant that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone-“ (Golding 181). After that, he, “Viciously, with full intention, he hurled his spear at Ralph. The point tore the skin and flesh over Ralph’s ribs, then sheared off and fell in the water.” (Golding 181). Not only that, but Jack did not provide any security for the boys considering he, “had to think for a moment before he could remember what rescue was.” (Golding
For example, Ralph forgets what he is about to say and can’t seem to get the boys to do as he says, Jack has no one’s best interest at heart and is dangerous (possibly psychotic) and Piggy, well that all the boys call him Piggy says a lot for how much everyone respects him, even if he is by far the smartest person on the island. To be fair, all these characters have their good qualities of course, Ralph is focused on rescue and keeping the boys civilized this can be seen even on page 172, “We’ll be like we were. We’ll wash-” and again on that same page, “Well, we won’t be painted, … because we aren’t savages.” Golding, The Lord of the Flies. In both of these it is fairly clear that Ralph wants to preserve the civil part of the boys and keep them away from becoming savage and violent like Jack. He wants them to stay sane and relatively put together until they get rescued. And even though Ralph can’t make the boys do anything to help Jack can, using fear tactics of course, Ralph couldn’t make the boys listen to him as the elected chief because Jack had meat and a fun dance, well for everyone but the one getting beaten half to death. An example of Jack’s power over the boys is on page 182 as he is forcing Samneric to join his tribe, “ ‘What d’you mean by coming with spears? What d’you mean by not joining my tribe?” The Lord of the
It is clear, though, that Ralph is not the better leader, as he is weak and indecisive, and even though he has the right frame of mind, he simply can’t keep control of the boys. Good leaders take control, and “once they have made up their mind, they don't hesitate to commit--it's all hands on deck. They show great consistency with their decisions, rarely backing out or changing their minds” (“Leadership Skills”). Although Ralph wants to do the right thing, even he does not always follow his own rules, not to mention that he rarely enforces them, and no one takes him seriously. He is pressured to do risky things by Jack’s teasing, and gets easily fired up, but expects unreasonable things of people and snaps at them for not getting it done. Jack gives people what they want, but enforces rules all the
However, he lacked the abilities and qualities that allowed him to become a strong and efficient leader. Alongside Jack, Ralph also desired to become the leader and rule the others. Despite the personalities and characteristics of each of the boys, power struggles between the two often emerged, resulting in a period of conflict. The different beliefs and perspectives of Jack and Ralph often led to competition between them. This negatively impacted the society and civilization of the island that the boys had formed. However, the conflict that emerged among the boys was able to benefit the civilization and society on the island, as it expressed their ambition and desire to guide the others. Although Jack and Ralph faced issues, they were able to determine their strengths and weaknesses in order to fulfill the role of a