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Effective communication in the work setting
Relationship between ethics and leadership
Effective communication in the work setting
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Have you ever wondered whether you shape your society, or if it shapes you? What kind of impact do you make to the place you live? What is your role in the society? In the book the Lord of the Flies, the author, Goulding, states, “The moral is that the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or respectable.” He shows this throughout the book with the different characters he created. Ralph, one of the “bigguns” stranded on the island, is a true born leader. Piggy, a young boy, knows how to use his head and think even in difficult, or dangerous situations. Finally, there's Jack, a reckless child, who makes terrible thoughtless actions, and just wants …show more content…
to have fun. The other children in the book chose to follow the wrong leader putting certain boys in danger. Throughout the novel, Ralph repeatedly shows that he has a natural instinct to lead others. Ralph shows his natural leadership qualities in many different scenarios throughout the Lord of the Flies.
One of the first signs of Ralph’s leadership is shown when they arrive on the island. Ralph allows Piggy to help him learn how to blow the conch in seconds. He then calls an assembly for all of the people on the island, unaware who or what was actually there. Another example of Ralph showing his leadership abilities is when he takes up the new role as chief. A majority of the boys voted for Ralph to be chief, and he immediately takes action on that job. After Jack had let the fire burn out, Ralph calls an assembly to ensure people were clear about the rules on the island, to make sure that they will still be rescued. He always made sure that he kept the thought of getting rescued at the front of his mind. He shows this throughout the novel, one thing he says to show this is, “The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don’t keep a fire going? Is a fire too much for us to make? …” (Goulding 80-1). Ralph’s role in their society is to lead, he fulfills that role without anything or one telling him to keep it together. Piggy helps make sure that Ralph doesn’t forget this because he knows no one would listen to …show more content…
him. Piggy shows his natural ability to thoroughly think through things in many different scenarios throughout the Lord of the Flies. The first time Piggy shows that he has an amazing head is when he explains to Ralph how to blow the conch because he is unable to do it himself because of his asthma. Another time Piggy thinks through a situation better than the others is when he says that they should have built shelters by the water. “Piggy could think. He could go step by step inside that fat head of his, only Piggy was no chief. But Piggy for all his ludicrous body had brains.” (78). Piggy also uses his head when he states that there is no beast, but that doesn’t mean there is no fear. Piggy’s role in the society is to think in hard situations, and he does that without anyone or anything telling him to; it's his natural instinct. Jack is not a fan of Piggy and makes sure he knows that. Jack shows his thoughtless actions with almost every decision he makes throughout the Lord of the Flies. One example of Jack making a thoughtless decision is when he hits Piggy, and breaks his specks without thinking about how that affects the chances of them getting rescued. Without Piggy’s specs they can't make fire, and without fire, a ship won’t be able to see that there are people on the island, and they can not be rescued. The worst decision Jack has made is leaving the rest of the group to start his own tribe; “‘Hands up,’ said Jack strongly, ‘whoever wants Ralph not to be chief?’...” (127). The final terrible decision Jack makes in the book is setting the whole island on fire in an attempt to kill Ralph. Without social order, Jack changed, throughout the story, for the worse. All Jack really wanted was control which made his decisions worse, and more thoughtless as the book went on. The book, the Lord of the Flies shows how all of the boys in the book react to having no actual rules enforced by anyone; this shows that a society is not held together by the rules, but of the true people that make it up.
Ralph is a natural born leader and keeps his head pointed in the right direction making sure he and the others will be able to get saved. In a society, Ralph tries his best to keep it together. Piggy knows how to use his full brain to think through any issue, even in the hardest situations. Although Piggy is not a leader, he knows what it takes to be one, and tries his best to keep the society in place, and together. Jack is not able to make decisions with thought, he just aims for control with every decision he makes. In a society, Jack would do anything he can to get control, and if he doesn’t he will tear it apart. In conclusion, “the shape of a society must depend on the ethical nature of the individual and not on any political system however apparently logical or
respectable.”
Goldings ideology is first shown through the character Piggy’s attitude and mindset. Piggy has demonstrated that he is the most mature out of all the boys through the way in which he expresses himself and the concern that he has towards the boys’ needs. This statement is supported by Piggy’s statement “ ‘Like kids!’ he said scornfully ‘Acting like a crowd of kids’ ” (pg.38). Here Piggy demonstrates a part of him that makes him bitter and rude. Although Piggy is a kid himself, he gets upset at the boys on the island and yells out “like kids”. This statement shows that Piggy believes that he is superior to the boys on the island and believes that they should
In the beginning of Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Piggy is seen as a weak and cowardly character, allowing the boys to walk over him. Throughout the book, he becomes more confident. For example, one instance where Piggy is seen as insecure is at the first meeting on the island. Piggy tells Ralph, another fellow survivor, that he doesn’t want anybody to call him Piggy. Later, after using a conch to summon the boys to the area, Ralph reveals Piggy’s name. Instead of insisting that Piggy is not what he wanted to be called, the book states that “he went very pink, bowed his head, and cleaned his glasses again” (Golding 21). This change is negative because Piggy is them to call him by this name he didn’t want.
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
the island who wears glasses; this is ironic as he is one of the only
"Piggy saw the smile and misinterpreted it as friendliness. There had grown up tacitly among the biguns the opinion that Piggy was an outsider, not only by accent, which did not matter, but by fat, and ass-mar, and specs, and a certain disinclination for manual labour." (Golding 68)
...ause he knew he was capable of doing a better job. He knew Ralph would take in concern of the opinions of others unlike Jack, but when Jack took power and one by one everyone was leaving Ralph's group to go to Jack, Piggy took the right decision and stayed with Ralph till the very end. “ We’ll live on our own, the four of us—four of us. We aren’t enough to keep the fire burning.”“We’ll try. See? I lit it.” Piggy had confidence and hope did everything Ralph told him to do because he knew Ralph was the best leader. Piggy and Finn both always tried to do what is right. Choosing from right from wrong is a tough decision and in both books their were so many decisions they had to take to be successful.
Out of all the boys Piggy is the most reasonable. From the start he already shows a higher sense of maturity than most of the other boys. Piggy says that “we might stay here till we die” the reader can tell that Piggy doesn’t have as much of a false sense of reality like the other boys. I say as much because just before this Piggy asks Ralph “when [his] dad will arrive. This shows that even though Piggy shows some level of maturity he is still young and that shows in his speech.
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.
Piggy in the beginning of the book was using his common sense, he was intelligent, he knew what was right from wrong, and he could condone things that made him angry easily. In the beginning of the book, (pg. ) Ralph told everyone his name was Piggy even though Piggy specifically told Ralph that he didn't like to be called that name Piggy later condoned Ralph's action with great ease. Piggy's action's and behavior depended on his glasses. Piggy and his glasses symbolized intelligence, he represents the rational side of civilization. With the glasses it seemed as though Piggy made all the right choices, and he helped Ralph know what needed to be done with the tribe. Without his glasses Piggy couldn't see i.e, Piggy was useless without his glasses.
Although, Piggy and Jack have some leadership qualities, Ralph is the best leader. This is shown all throughout the novel, Lord of the Flies, by Williams Golding. Piggy is portrayed as the wisest of them all and understands priorities; however he lacks confidence from time to time. This makes him a good leader but not the best. Jack on the other hand, is egotistic but has his good qualities as well, such as knowledge and courage. This makes him a potential leader like Piggy, but not the best. Ralph however shows the most positive qualities of being a leader. He is optimistic, committed and knows his priorities, thus making him the best leader on the island. From the day we were born, we were governed by a set of rules that influenced our behaviour. Would the story have been different if civilization was maintained on the island?
However, at the end of the book, he simply stood for a common human being. In the beginning of the story, before a formal introduction, Ralph was described simply as “a fair boy.” This already sets him out in a favorable light. Then it further describes how he is apparently good-looking and has the natural air of leadership. Of course, the conch played a big role when the kids voted him for leader, but his appearance played a large role as well. For the good first part of the book, Ralph has always symbolized leadership. As the story progresses and the kids became more and more distant from the idea of civilization, Ralph became more like a representation of common sense. Golding wrote, “‘I was chief, and you were going to do what I said. You talk. But you can’t even build huts-then you go off hunting and let the fire-’ He turned away, silent for a moment. Then his voice came again on a peak of feeling. ‘There was a ship-’” At this part, Ralph criticized Jack for not doing the necessary civilized things in favor of quenching his thirst for a hunt. As more and more of the kids become more and more uncivilized, Ralph became one of the last voices of common sense. When Simon and Piggy died, Ralph was the last one who retained that common sense and yearned for civilization. He had no leadership powers left anymore, and he stood for nothing more than a
Ralph first takes on the position as leader at the beginning of the story, when the rest of the boys vote him in as chief. He carries this position until Jack and his fellow hunters break away from the group. Ralph makes it his job to set out the rules to organize a society. Ralph always thinks of what is best for everyone and how they will all benefit from his decisions. Rules and standards are set when Ralph is the chief. He orders the group to build the basic necessities of civilization, shelters, and most importantly to keep the fire going, in hope that they will be rescued and return to humanity. "But I tell you that smoke is more important than the pig, however often you kill one" (Golding 75). Jack, on the other hand, takes on the idea of every man for himself. He does not care about making homes, only about hunting. When Jack is the leader, evil takes over and all good is destroyed. Under Jack's power both Simon and Piggy are killed.
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
Rationality, as defined by the Oxford dictionary, is the quality or state of being reasonable, based on facts or reason. In William Golding's classic novel, Lord of the Flies, a group of British schoolboys manage to survive a plane crash that eliminates all adult authority from their life. They are forced to learn how to fend for themselves and set up their own society based on what they recall of British civilization. The character referred to as Piggy throughout the novel provides the intellect necessary for survival, yet he is considered an outcast due to his physical condition. Piggy's intelligent suggestions, constant references back to civilization, and symbols associated with Piggy prove that he represents the rational world.
He is voted the chief at the first meeting on the island. “... what intelligence had been shown was traceable of Piggy while the most obvious leader was Jack. But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch.” (p. 18-19). He’s an obvious leader, not only due to his appearance, but he has the characteristics of a wonderful leader, too. He possesses the ability to show immense initiative, responsibility, courage and determination. Ralph's authority and power over the others is secure from the start when he shows terrific initiative when he decides to build huts instead of joining in with the other boys amusing themselves and avoiding work. “‘Been working for days now. And look!’ Two shelters were in position, but shaky ... ‘...They're off bathing, or eating, or playing!’” (p. 54-55). The biguns, including Ralph, went hunting for the beast, but when they came to the rocks where they thought it was hiding, no one wanted to continue - they were too frightened. Something inside Ralph gave him the courage to step up and be the one to search for the beast. This shows that power can form greater people. Having people depend on you gives you courage to undertake anything. “Something deep inside Ralph spoke for him. ‘I'm chief. I'll go. Don’t argue.’” (p. 114). Ralph is the first