Ralph Lord Of The Flies Research Paper

Ralph: A Great Leader

“No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it” (Andrew Carnegie). Lord of the Flies was written by William Golding. It describes the struggles of English boys who are stranded on an island during World War II and become uncivilized the longer they are on this island. William Golding describes, in Lord of the Flies, how one boy, Ralph, becomes a great leader by his thoughts, actions, and appearance.

What’s more worse than being on an island that is not even on a map? Being stranded on an island was never the ideal position of a young boy named Ralph. He never thought he would be the leader of boys younger than him either. After meeting all of the fellow boys on the island and they assign Ralph as leader he begins to think of ways they can survive on the island. He knew that they would need shelters to stay out of bad weather. Ralph states at a meeting “We need shelters.” (Golding 51). After the first storm that happened when the boys came to the island Ralph decided they needed shelters and wanted them to be done before another terrible storm

appeared. Except no one but Simon would help him. Another decision Ralph made was to make a fire and keep it going. He asks everyone to pitch in and keep it going to better the odds of them being rescued. There were a few people who did not want to help though and they are the hunters. “You hunters! You can laugh! But I tell you the smoke is more important than the pig, however often you kill one. Do all of you see?” says Ralph (Golding 81). Ralph is so serious about being rescued that he snaps at people who do not do their part in keeping the fire going.
Next, Ralph decides that the whole clan of boys and himself should have meetings to talk about what is going on. The first person Ralph met on the island was Piggy. Piggy is a shy person who ends up becoming Ralph’s biggest fan. When they appear on the island Ralph and Piggy found a conch. They decided that the conch would be sounded when they want to have a meeting with all the boys. The conch allows the boy holding it to speak and no one is allowed to interrupt him. Ralph said to all the boys at a meeting, “That’s what this shell’s called. I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking” (Golding 33). The conch gives authority to whoever is talking. Everyone on the island has a job assigned by Ralph. “Jack’s in charge of the choir. They can be – what do you want them to be?” said Ralph at a meeting (Golding 23). To make an assembly work they need to all have a job so everyone does their part.
Lastly, Ralph always had a great appearance when he lived in Britain.

His hair has always been important to him. “The boy with fair hair lowered himself down the last few feet of rock and began to pick his way toward the lagoon” (Golding 7). Ralph was always clean because he was able to use running water and soap in Britain. While stranded he has become very dirty and wants to clean up. “He would like a pair of scissors and cut his hair – he flung the mass back – cut this filthy hair right back to ½ inch. He would like to have a bath, a proper wallow with soap. He passed his tongue experimentally over his teeth and decided that a tooth brush would come in handy too. Then there were his nails –.” (Golding 109). Ralph starts to think about what he would clean. In a civilized place like Britain most people bathe and do not have poor hair or

nails.
In conclusion, Ralph clearly shows he is a great leader by his thoughts, actions, and appearance. So Ralph is the best choice for a great leader. If Jack would have become leader, Piggy would be a complete outcast and would be beaten up more and more. Whenever Piggy made Jack mad Jack would hit Piggy. For example when Piggy was complaining about the hunters Jack hit Piggy hard enough that it broke one of his lenses to his glasses. Ralph has always been there for everyone no matter what the cause. At the end Ralph takes complete responsibility over every boy on the island. When the officer comes to rescue the boys when he sees the forest burning, Ralph runs to him in a panic because Jack and his followers are chasing him. Ralph tells him the whole story from when they first came to the island till that very moment. The officer asks the boys who the leader is and Ralph says himself and does not mention the fact that Jack is also a leader. So Ralph did not let anyone else take the blame for anything that went wrong.