Machiavelli Lord Of The Flies Leadership Essay

Taking the role of a leader means gaining responsibility for those he or she leads; their leadership style will determine how effective the overall party is.
Niccoló Machiavelli was an Italian man of the Renaissance and wrote his own excerpt, The Prince, about what it means to be an ideal leader.
He stresses that a leader must rule with an appropriate amount of mercy while still using fear as a tool to keep order and control.
Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, also explores the concepts of how a leader can influence a group of people, specifically focusing on the character Jack.
Jack's savage nature enables him to have great influence on the other boys; he exploits this by persuading them to join his side and follow his

'No! How could we-kill-it?'" (Golding 160).
Immediately before the boys can even think for themselves, Jack instills the fallacy that the monster is still alive and his reappearance is imminent, thus allowing him to remain in power.
Machiavelli stated that fear and intimidation must be used as moderately as mercy and clemency; traits that Jack fails to exhibit as he rules with absolute control.

Personal preference towards a leader is just as important as how the leader leads his followers. Opinions towards Jack contrast greatly from when they first join him compared to the final events of the novel.
In The Prince, Machiavelli explores the question whether it is better for leaders to be loved or feared.
"It may be answered that one should wish to be both, but, because it is difficult to unite them in one person, it is much safer to be feared than loved, when, of the two, either must be dispensed with" (Machiavelli 1).
This tells that if one weren't to get a balance between being loved and hated by those below him, he is better off being hated.
Sam and Eric, along with the other boys, initially had a positive perception of Jack while following