Leadership In Lord Of The Flies

Even though many supporters suggest that Ralph is a great leader, it is obvious that Jack is the best leader on the island. Since the boys set foot on the island, Jack was honest, and he never hesitated to express his feelings. “Human nature cannot be so irremediably bad if the arrival of one adult can immediately put everything to rights” (Reilly,10). This quote explains that when Jack was introduced on the island he was a great leader, and this made the boys realize they each have individual responsibilities in order to contribute to the group. While being honest, Jack demanded the group to do what he wanted, and the boys would obey him. “Jack at first demands to be called as at school, Merridew, the surname his mark of superior age and authority”(Oldsey 4). This quote illustrates that Jack immediately separated himself from the other boys on the island.

“ “Shut up,” said Ralph absently. He lifted the couch. “Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things around here.” (Chapter 1, Page 22) Ralph immediately notices the boys need some leadership his natural choice is to help guide these boys. He, however, lacks this responsibility. He doesn't continue to command respect from the boys. Ralph grows up faster in the book due to Jack. Later Jack breaks the tribe apart with his appealingly savage ways. Jack ended up establishing a hunting tribe. Once the tribe breaks Ralph tries to bring it back together, but since he didn’t have solid leadership skills even though he might have developed some compassion. He tries to convince Jack that he is still in charge and has power over the boys. The changes Ralph undergoes, from self-centered to group centered, doesn't reflect the island as a whole. They are all too elated to abandon the trappings of society.

A true leader is a person who takes initiative and does what is needed to lead a group of people. If they need to, they will make any sacrifices, take the ability to take control and charge of a group. Ralph displays initiative and leadership in the book, “Lord of the Flies”, by William Golding, by leading the innocent group of kids to survival.

Over time there have been many leaders of countries, groups and societies that are believed to be the “best” or what someone could only dream of. However what if a perfect leader doesn’t exist? In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies Ralph’s sense of leadership declines throughout the novel. So what if he doesn’t actually possess the skills the boys had hoped he for.

In society, there are often people who acquire strong leadership qualities and understand what it means to be a favorable leader. Other times, there are people who have strong qualities to lead, but they do not understand how to be a favorable leader and create a safe and comfortable environment for those following them. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the characters of Ralph and Jack arise as two different leaders who bear strong characteristics and they both seek power on the island. The boys become leaders in their own ways, creating individual environments that prioritize different matters, all while trying to work towards their rescue off the island.

Ralph and Jack are very different leaders in many different ways regarding themselves as people and as leaders on the island. Both leaders display very different versions of a human act in this book. Ralph is a person who acts more with ego, which is the most controlled part of human actions like being more civilized and organized with decisions regarding the island. He does this by assigning different roles to the littluns like the ones that are responsible for shelter, the hunters, and fire keepers. Jack, on the other hand, acts more with the ID, the animal part of a human, with his decisions as a leader. Jack favors, food over the shelter, which is the total opposite of Ralph, in fact, that is what he promises his people when the split of the two “tribes”. He told all the littluns that he promises feasts of meat every night and a lot of fun. In chapter five of Lord of the Flies gives a great idea of how Ralph is like as a leader. When he calls the littluns with the conch shell and has to remind the littluns about the rules he says, “‘The rules!’ shouted Ralph. ‘You’re breaking the rules!’” (Golding 108). In this event, Piggy was holding the conch and the others weren’t respecting

In the words of William Shakespeare, “uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.” In William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, many of the characters are faced with the responsibility of authority. Throughout the events of the novel, Ralph tries to keep his power. Jack works to gain power and the role of chief. Piggy, as opposed to Jack and Ralph, works to achieve respect. In the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding effectively conveys the idea that the responsibility of leadership can weigh heavily upon those unfit for power, resulting in fractures throughout society.

The boys don’t want to be told what to do. This is not only true in the book but is a simple fact of adolescence. For example, the American Academy of Pediatrics states that, “From time to time most children defy the wishes of their parents. This is a part of growing up and testing adult guidelines and expectations. It is one way for children to learn about and discover their own selves, express their individuality, and achieve a sense of autonomy.” (American Academy of Pediatrics) The same goes for Lord of the Flies. The reader can think of Ralph as the parent who has the best interest for his son/daughter and Jack as his/her’s disobedient troubled friend. In Lord of the Flies the boys are at a stage where the disobedient troubled friend has a significant pull compared to the knowledgeable parent. The friend’s opinion can trump the parent’s in real life and does in Lord of the Flies when in chapter 8 some boys leave Ralph for Jack. This is concerning and is one of the main conflicts in Lord of the Flies. The loss of leadership was inevitable for Ralph because the boys are at a point in their life where they cannot exercise good judgement. For example, Jack is over the moon telling Ralph and the boys about how he killed a pig. Ralph who has better judgement has to remind Jack and say, “There was a ship-” (Golding, 75) This shows that Jack and the hunters do not have a good sense of judgement because they don’t do the most

Ralph cares for the greater good of the group of boys rather than just for himself which signifies one of the traits a leader should have.   Golding tries to show that leadership is an important part of keeping an island civilized and from keeping it stable.  Ralph’s leadership is the only hope the boy’s have to be able to survive on the island while they wait to be rescued.  Ralph's leadership starts to change as he and Jack have a power struggle because he starts to lose faith in himself as well as the boys.  In a sense, it would seem as though Ralph’s leadership was the one to cause the boys to rebel against being civilized because they didn’t want to listen to someone who would tell them what to do when they could do whatever they wanted and become savages without morals.  Ralph’s leadership helps the boy’s civilization have stability.  Leadership relates to the meaning of the work as a whole because leadership is what keeps a civilization from going into ruins, but the boys instinct to do what they want is much greater than that of living a life with rules.

Ralph is a good leader but most of the boys follow Jacks lead because of a few reasonings and one of them being that he can hunt and he provided them with food. Even though it was uncooked meat at least it was protein that needed. At this point in the book William Golding has been foreshadowing how the boys split into two “tribes”. One of them being Ralph and the other of course being Jack. Ralph is the nice and kind leader who wants to get off the island. Jack is the type of leader who rules with fear and power. His power as being able to provide meat for his people.

What makes one country greater than another is their government. The form of government being used, and how it is being regulated can leave a grand impact on the overall status of the country. When governments fail, it is often tied to flawed leaders, and the country takes gradual steps towards savagery. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies features an example of a flawed government structure and the impact on its people. The stigmatized government structure is the initial reason why the boys in Lord of the Flies turn to savagery.

Many people have many different views on what a leader is. Leaders vary from team captain to the President of the United States. Of course, the leadership skills a team captain have are much different from those of the President of the United States. In the book, Lord of the Flies, leadership skills show through many of the characters. Boys ages 6-12 years old are left to fight for their lives on an abandoned island after their plane crashes. At this age, some of the boys may think they deserve this position, but the boy with the best leadership skills needs obtain it for the good of the group. The characteristics of a leader in Lord of the Flies vary from being a good public speaker, to being brave and to being willing to listen to the others opinions.

Leadership is the key to survival. It means the position or work of a leader, a person who guides or directs a group. In the classic novel, ‘Lord of the Flies,’ by William Golding, leadership plays a large role in how the boys create law and order on the island. Three of the main characters are Ralph, Jack, and Piggy, who represent leaders in society. The well-known Autocratic, Democratic, and Laissez-faire leadership styles are expressed through the authors’ tale requiring leaders for prosperity.

What is more important in a leader is doing what is right for the people, and not what the people want which is shown in the book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Ralph does what is honorable for everyone and shows it with his priorities. The power starts to shift over to Jack. Jack shows his “leadership” with his only priority.

The theme of leadership is uncovered by the symbol of the conch. As the connection grows between the protagonist and the conch, outer forces break the bond in attempt to take the position as leader. Ralph along with other boys in Lord of the Flies by William Golding are trapped on an island due to the crash of their airplane. With no adults on the island to discipline the boys, one must step up and take on this role. The discovery of the conch encourages Ralph to become chief, Ralph has the ability to use the conch to enforce his rules, but the unfortunate shattering of the conch breaks Ralphs hold on to leadership.