Leadership In Lord Of The Flies By William Golding

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” Abraham Lincoln. Once you give a man power, it all goes downhill from there. In The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, there is one group of boys on an island. The boys elect one chief, Ralph, but another bigun thinks he’s a better chief. So the other boy, Jack, leaves and forms a new tribe with most of the boys. After a little bit of time, the groups begin to fight resulting in a couple of tragic deaths. Why would people follow a corrupt leader like Jack? They follow them because they feel like the new leader can help them better than the old one; they think that the leader or ruler can provide for them and it doesn’t matter who that leader is, they will follow them because there’s no one else to follow.

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” Abraham Lincoln. Once you give a man power, it all goes downhill from there. In The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, there is one group of boys on an island. The boys elect one chief, Ralph, but another bigun thinks he’s a better chief. So the other boy, Jack, leaves and forms a new tribe with most of the boys. After a little bit of time, the groups start to fight resulting in a couple of deaths. Why would people follow a corrupt leader like Jack? They follow them because they feel like the new leader can help them better than the old one, they think that the leader can provide for them and it doesn’t matter who that leader is, they will follow them because there’s no one else to follow.

Imagine a world without order. A world with no leadership—no rationality whatsoever. Take Ralph's character away from the equation and William Golding's Lord of the Flies would be just that—chaos. Being the protagonist of the novel, Ralph is the major representative of civilization, order, and productive leadership. If it weren't for Ralph's coordination, determination, and logical thinking, the boys would never be rescued, and would eventually die. As the novel progresses, Ralph's self-confidence is gradually chipped away, leaving him only enough strength to fight for the one person who should matter most—himself.

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 a group, there are always people who prove to have better leadership skills then others. The strongest of these people can often influence the weaker people into following them. However, the strongest person is not necessarily the best leader as it is proven in William Golding's book, The Lord of the Flies. Although Ralph is the weaker person, he is still able to show a better understanding of people than Jack who is stronger. Ralph demonstrates his excellent leadership skills throughout the book by keeping the group in line, treating everyone with respect, and staying focused on getting rescued.

Humans are a sophisticated and advanced race, one which possess the ability to affect their environment, and one another, in significant and often destructive ways. War is a catastrophic event created by humans, who upon creating it neglect to comprehend its far-reaching effects. The novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, places a group of prepubescent males into one of these situations. After an evacuation aircraft crash-lands, the boys are left upon a deserted island to manage and fend for themselves. As Golding details the trials and tribulations of the young men on the island, it becomes increasingly apparent that the children respect authority and require an organized leadership. The failure to manifest such a system will result in a de-evolution into savagery.

“‘The rules!’ shouted Ralph. ‘You’re breaking the rules!’ ‘Who cares?’ Ralph summoned his wits: ‘Because the rules are the only thing we’ve got!’” (91). In Lord of the Flies, Ralph says this to Jack at one of their assemblies, after having berated the boys for neglecting the shelter building and the signal fires. Ralph’s leadership is built on these rules, and Jack’s breaking of them causes an ideological conflict between them which eventually leads to Ralph’s loss of power among the group. He tries to create a just and orderly society to fulfill their needs and allow them to be rescued, but the boys eventually find Jack’s churlish lethargy and excess to be more desirable. Desirable, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, can be

“Maybe there’s a beast… maybe it’s only us”, This is a thought. A truth. Stricken into a group of British boys caught on an island after a brutal plane crash. The fear and savagery of the boys may have caused this idea to begin. Overall, there can only be one leader and the best choice would be nevertheless, Ralph. There are many reasons why Ralph would make a great leader. He is levelheaded, has a positive outlook on their rescue, and knows what to do awhile they are awaiting rescue. In this essay, the reasons why Ralph would make a great leader will be covered.

Leadership, by definition, is the action of leading a group of people or an organization. However, leadership exceeds barking orders and receiving favors. Leaders are responsible for the well-being of the people they conduct. Regardless of variations in power, the vital aspect is how they use that power. In the novel Lord of the Flies, the author elucidates the different forms of leadership, how the people react to these leaders, and how effectiveness of these leaders can be the cause of triumph or catastrophe of society.

A strong society is built through a good-hearted leadership, not through brute force. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies proves this statement true through the individual yet intertwining stories of Jack and Ralph. At some point during their adventure of being stranded without adults, both of these little boys gain a leadership role on the island, having some amount of control over the other boys. On numerous occasions, Ralph demonstrates good qualities that make him a kind and fair leader, and that also initially make him popular with the other boys. Jack is the opposite, seizing his power through force and violent means. Ralph’s good intentions and strong morales show that he is a better leader than Jack.

One of the main overtones in the Lord of the Flies is the battle between utilitarian and egoistic leadership. I have seen this battle all throughout my own life in different situations like how my bosses have handled themselves or the different styles of leadership I saw from the various leaders I worked with on my mission. This book gives a great example of each of these different ways to lead. Ralph is by no means a perfect leader, we read about many of his faults all throughout the story, but he is a leader seeking to provide the greatest benefit to the most people. Whether it is keeping their signal fire burning strong so that all may be rescued or working together to build shelters so that they may all be protected by the elements, Ralph almost always tries to focus his leadership on helping out the masses. Jack on the other hand is all about egoism, an unethical

I believe that the leader of any group of people should think positively because as a follower, you always look up to the leader. More importantly, followers look up to their leader for advice and guidance when things become unpromising. If the leader stays hopeful then so does the group. On the other hand, if the leader is pessimistic in bleak situations, then the group loses its self-confidence and optimism. Furthermore, in the following setting, Ralph had the group make a fire on the island so they could signal a ship. The reason he wants to signal a ship that is passing by is because he wants to alert that ship about their existence on the island where their plane had crashed on. However, that plan fails because the fire did not produce

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.