Authority is an important and significant aspect of life. It what entitles a person to seize power and control over something and use it in order to direct others in the way that they desire to. This aspect of life is what people often take advantage of and use against the will of others, despite the outcome and consequences. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding portrayed the role of power and authority in society. Golding depicted a society in which power and authority had the ability to dominate the importance of equality and fairness among people. When the boys’ plane crashed they became stranded on an island, they civilized it and determined who would be able to fulfill the position of authority and leadership. This part of the book played …show more content…
an important part in portraying the concept of authority that Golding enforced throughout his writing. When the boys determined their leader, the struggle for power began as they disputed over who was the fittest for the role of the leader. As Golding reflected on the theme of power in his novel, he was able to express a society in which power dominated the importance of equality. Among the boys on the island, Jack aspired to become the leader and gain the position of authority in order to guide the others.
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 …show more content…
leader. Throughout Lord of the Flies, Golding utilized the concept of barriers in order to portray the power struggles that the characters in the novel experienced. As the boys needed to determine their leader, they began to question each other’s personalities, abilities, and motives in order to distinguish the one with the capability to conquer the leadership role. To determine their leader, the boys formed a meeting that allowed them to distinguish each person and identify the one with the most potential and knowledge. During this part of the novel, Jack was introduced as arrogant and self-centered, as he claimed “I ought to be chief because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp” (Golding 22). In this quote, Golding expressed Jack’s pride and self-importance through his words. Jack truly believed he would be the more efficient leader and guide the others more adequately than Ralph. However, he lacked the qualities and abilities to do so. This aspect of the novel reflected on the importance of power and authority to Jack. As one of the older boys, he believed he was the fittest for the role because of his prior experiences as choir leader and his ability to sing C sharp. Despite his abilities and knowledge, it was evidently shown that Jack did not possess any special qualities or did not have experience in guiding and leading a young group of people. Golding’s depictions of power versus society in his book played an important role in shaping the thoughts and perspectives of the boys on the island. They were desperate to find a fair and just leader who would be able to efficiently guide them, which became a factor that dominated civilization on the island. Among Jack and the others on the island, there was Ralph, who also desired to be the leader.
He was the one who was depicted as the “fair haired” boy with the charming and charismatic personality. These features often made it more likely for him to be leader, as his characteristics, talents, and abilities appealed to everyone on the island. Ralph expressed his desire to be leader by claiming “Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things” (Golding 22). Despite his ambition to become leader, he often experienced conflict and power struggles with Jack throughout the novel, as they both perceived things in different ways and had separate views and opinions on matters. The power struggles that the boys faced throughout the book allowed Golding to express a society and civilization in which the ideas of power and authority dominated equality. The boys on the island were desperate to determine a leader for their group. However, throughout the process, they degraded the importance of equality and fairness. This aspect of the novel played an important role in reflecting a society in which the people favor the aspects and effects of authority and power, despite the outcome and consequences that result from
it. Throughout Lord of the Flies, Golding expressed the significance of power and authority to a young group of people. Golding’s use of the conch in the book played an important role in the portrayal of power and authority on the island, as it symbolized the concept of rule and control. When the boy’s became stranded on the island, they discovered the conch and utilized throughout the various activities that they performed. The boys’ use of the conch throughout their activities expressed the type of civilization that they had established and the type of order that they maintained throughout the island. It symbolized the power and control of one person over another. Through his portrayals of power and authority in Lord of the Flies, Golding was able to express the role of control over a civilization and society.
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.
Upon the arrival of the boys to the island Jack immediately found himself in the center of a power struggle. Although the conflict was brief, there was still a very obvious confrontation between Jack and Ralph. Once the boys had assembled themselves there was an election to see who was to be chief. Despite the fact that Ralph was voted leader, the desire to be in command never left Jack. Jack already had some leadership skills, being head choirboy at his old school, and he continuously challenged Ralph. The greatest source of conflict between Jack and Ralph was the debate over the necessity of maintaining a fire. Ralph felt that it was necessary to keep it burning at all times while Jack believed that hunting pigs and getting meat was much more essential.
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
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 Lord of the Flies” is a skillfully crafted novel about the struggle for power when there is a lack of authority. Author William Golding weaves an elaborate story about a group of children struggling to survive on a remote island with no adults. As the characters are developed and the plot is progressed, the manners and customs from society that the boys had grown up with slowly fades from their lifestyle. As the time the boys spend on the island increases, their decline towards savagery becomes increasingly evident. As a direct result of the lack of adult supervision on the island, the children decline into savagery and the customs of civilization are slowly eroded.
Golding establishes the power and potential of government and its vulnerability to outside affairs. In “Lord of the Flies,” each of the older boys strive for power and authority. Their views and beliefs are all dissimilar, resulting in each boys to possess different elucidation on how the island should function. These representations of government are apparent in Ralph, Jack, and Piggy, and prompt the social unrest and inability to compensate for their own needs. The way in which a leader governs determines the path that he/she sets upon his
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.
Firstly, a notable trait that distinguishes Ralph from the other children on the island is his ability to think more rationally. As the boys become influenced by Jack’s rule, they regress into uncivilized savages that lack discipline. Whereas, Ralph is wisely able to keep the boys under order, which is particularly apparent through the meetings that he regularly holds. It is in those meetings that circumstances can be confronted with rationality and equanimity. For example, Ralph instructs the boys with, “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking,” (Golding 36). By saying this, Ralph enforces his role of a leader by making rules for the boys on the island 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.
Ralph inexorably works to better the status of the boys on the island and engages in a democratic form of leadership, while Jack prefers to pursue his own goals and dictates the activities of the boys based on his wants. Ralph uses a sensible and systematic approach to dealing with issues posed to the boys on the island, whereas Jack makes use of chaotic and impractical tactics. Without Jack on the island, the boys might have not even descended into savagery and possibly been rescued by the first ship they had spotted, shortly after they crashed landed on the island. Overall, Ralph makes a much better leader then Jack as he has better merits then Jack and is well aware of the ultimate objective of the boys on the island, getting back home.
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.
... 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.
middle of paper ... ... Just from this activity, it can be seen where Golding got his ideas for the separation of the two groups of boys on the island. The behavior of the children on the island clearly identifies with various elements of Golding’s life, both historical and personal. By using Ralph and Jack to represent two different leadership styles, the author taps into a dilemma faced by many people during much of the Cold War: should one join one side or the other?
and he is the person who first tries to create an order on the island. In some ways Ralph's motivation for being a good, powerful leader is his longing for home. Ralph's relationship with another boy on the island, Jack is very important also. From the beginning of the book Ralph takes charge over his newly acquainted companion Piggy. When he calls the other boys together he takes control over the entire group and