Ralph Lord Of The Flies Leadership Essay

As Ronald Reagan, one of the most spectacular and influential American presidents, once said, “In the end, it all comes down to leadership.” Reagan’s statement proves to be entirely true, for a leader dictates how a society functions and what the outcome of it will be. This idea of “leadership” is heavily utilized in William Golding’s novel. For in said book, there are two so called leaders whose character plays a significant role in the story; one being Ralph, and the other being Jack. However, in Golding’s young adult novel, Lord of the Flies, Ralph proves to be the strongest leader, for he is the natural choice for the boys, he appropriately takes on difficult challenges, and he fully understands what he’s good and bad at.

The populous of stranded boys seemly gravitate

towards Ralph, being he has good looks and holds the compelling conch. After it is decided that he will lead, Ralph sets up a basis of rules for the survivors. Initially, the thought among the boys is that there must be a decided leader; someone who looks and feels deserving of such a burdensome task. Thus, they vote Ralph in, for “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” (22). From the very beginning, Ralph has a distinct aura that everyone drifts towards, with his appearance even further enhancing it. Furthermore, Ralph is in possession of the conch (which unified the survivors), effectively giving him a desirable image. As a newly inaugurated chief constructing a civilization from scratch, Ralph commences his legacy by helping establish the conch as a symbol of authority: “I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking” (33). With no previous rules set in place, Ralph understands the group needs to formulate a baseline to, therefore, build upon. To expand, a leader must ingest the ideas of his citizens in order to conceive goals, which is what conspires with the conch being it was Simon who actually mentioned it. As can be seen, in the eyes of the boys, Ralph was the right choice for leader. He proves to be a strong chief by organizing a baseline rule through individual ideas from the community.
Keeping civility can be a difficult task, yet Ralph tackles challenges head on and tries to maintain outbursts that may wreak havoc. As nights pass, fear arises about a possible beast lurking in the depths of the forest, yet Ralph attempts to mitigate these claims by saying a beast of the size described could only be in places “like Africa, or India”; or that the littluns were simply “dreaming” (36). Rather than letting his followers become enveloped by fear, Ralph attempts to maintain civility by dismissing any cryptid stories that can rip the community apart. Overall, maintaining problems is a fundamental key to any leadership role, and it is how one handles each situation that shows who the true chief really is. Such a problem is when people do not follow orders, and to whom Ralph respectably scolds. An example being when Jack abandons the fire, letting it die out when a ship was nearby. If the fire was still producing smoke, the ship would have seen it. Ralph repetitively utters the phrase, “you let the fire go out,” to Jack, and eventually expresses the excruciating importance of the fire and how much disappointment and shame Jack should feel for letting it cease (70). Within his frustration, Ralph stresses why the fire is needed, and why Jack has lengthened the group’s stay on the island. Instead of just impetuously chewing Jack out, Ralph takes the time to actually explain why certain rules are in place; something a sensible and firm leader does. In all, Ralph, Using his authority, works at managing civility without letting his followers steer too far away due to fear. As he does this, he also calls those out who do not obey the rules.
When one is of high power, he must know what his strengths and weaknesses are.

Ralph most certainly knows what areas he does well in and what areas he does not. As society gradually begins to crumble, Ralph acknowledges Piggy’s smarts by saying things like “Piggy could think” or “Piggy… had brains” (78). Ralph is fully aware that he is not a very structured thinker, however, he is intelligent enough to keep Piggy around and defend him. Piggy himself cannot lead nor has any chief-deserving qualities, yet Ralph, on the other hand, can. Thus, Piggy offers smarts while Ralph offers leadership and protection. Aside from Ralph’s weakness, dedication is a magnificent strength of Ralph. When the community finally crashed and “There was no solemn assembly for debate nor dignity of the conch,” Ralph stayed true to himself (196). Even when being the last of his group, Ralph continuously refuses to join Jack’s tribe, and he actively tries to pull people away from it. Staying true to what he believes is the marksmanship of any great leader, and it is Ralph’s undeniable asset. As shown above, Ralph recognizes his limits, and knowing what he can do and what he has trouble doing is major when being a

chief.
Ralph is ultimately the toughest leader out of the group of boys and, of course, was their natural choice. Together with Ralph’s wanting of civility, ability to handle situations, and knowledge of limits, he is one of the best leaders in Golding’s novel. Lord of the Flies, in all, contains many characters that could be described as leaders. However, Ralph is one of the only ones that can be characterized as “strong.” To conclude, Ralph is the true leader in the community for all the right reasons.