Lord Of The Flies Leadership Essay

In the fictional story Lord Of The Flies by William Golding, Jack and Ralph are two of the eldest boys in the group who soon become leaders on the island. Although they are British and know how to maintain themselves they both simply fail at the end. Though Jack is all about fun and hunting, Ralph is all about order. Also Jack grows stronger but Ralph grows wiser. Finally while Ralph tries to remain calm and kind, Jack on the other hand threatens and bullies.

“...the most obvious leader was Jack. But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out. There was his size, and his attractive appearance. And most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch.” This quote from page 22 in Lord of the Flies begins to illustrate the early struggle for power between Ralph and Jack on the island. From the start, it was a battle between the two boys regarding who was most qualified to take charge and step up as chief. William Golding argues that power is something that comes with responsibility, and struggle. The responsibility that falls on Ralph’s shoulders is tremendous, and there is a very clear struggle for power throughout the novel, which we will later explore.

Piggy lacked the physical abilities to effectively hunt, but Jack lacked the leadership abilities to send Piggy off elsewhere instead of resorting to personal insults against Piggy. Piggy was able to admit when he realized he could not be leader, and that civilization would thrive with Ralph. This is highlighted by the quote, “Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air” (23). Most of the island voted for Ralph, and Piggy does what is best, and stand down. While Jack holds a grudge, Piggy can realize that Ralph is cut out to be a leader. Piggy helped Ralph behind the scenes by being his “prime minister”. Jack however, still vied to become supreme leader of all the boys. Both boys’ have different views on how the island should be lead. Jack leaned toward being self serving, while Piggy wanted what was best for the long term sake of the island.

Although Ralph did receive the vote for chief, Ralph was not the leader of the boys because he showed he would be an excellent leader before the vote. When voted as chief "none of the boys could have found good reason for [voting for Ralph]; what intelligence had been shown was traceable to Piggy while the most obvious leader was Jack," and yet Ralph still became chief. The reasons that Ralph was voted as leader was "his size, and attractive appearance; and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch," not any leadership potential or ability- low exceptions in Ralph's leadership ability can be predicted. Although Ralph may have been voted as leader for all of the wrong reasons, he was not a terrible chief.

When the boys first crash land on the island, Ralph and Piggy quickly try to bring order to the island while Jack shows he has other things in mind. The conch Piggy finds becomes a method of calling a meeting among the boys. At the first meeting, the boys’ conditioning from society shows when Ralph comes up with the idea that the boys “ought to have a chief to decide things” (Golding 18). Ralph knows that in the adult world, having a leader works. He is trying to mimic that with the group by electing someone to make the decisions. However, early on we see Jack acting in ways that would not be considered civilized. When he is out exploring with Ralph and

     When everyone is more settled down, Ralph suggests that they elect a leader and chief. All the kids elect Ralph as the leader, mainly because he is the one who found the conch and the one who is holding it. We at once see how Jack greatly disapproves of the decision taken by the kids. He

Piggy urges Ralph to use what power he has left by calling a meeting: “’What’s grown-ups going to say?’ cried Piggy again…The sound of mock hunting, hysterical laughter, and real terror came from the beach. ‘Blow the conch, Ralph...You got to be tough now. Make ‘em do what you want.’ Ralph answered in the cautious voice of one who rehearses a theorem. ‘If I blow the conch and they don’t come back; then we’ve had it. We shan’t keep the fire going. We’ll be like animals. We’ll never be rescued.’” In this situation, Piggy is still worried about the punishment of his previous life. He is the closest thing to an adult on the island, and Ralph is the only one who advocates listening to him, illustrating Ralph’s connection to the rules of traditional civilization, which the other boys despise and want to escape through the island. After showing blatant disregard to their “chief’s” rules, they decide to escape the constraints of Ralph’s assemblies and embrace their inner savagery with Jack. Piggy urges Ralph to blow the conch, the symbol of his power throughout the book, but Ralph understands that his form of leadership is becoming the less desirable option to the boys: if he calls an assembly and the other boys do not respond, its power, and his civilization, will have completely disintegrated. Ralph constantly emphasizes their responsibilities on the island—specifically, tending to the signal fire.

The boys chose Ralph as their leader over Jack initially because of the power and strength he shows by holding the conch and using it to bring them all together. The defeat shocks Jack, but pushes him to discover ways to make the children bend to his will. William Golding’s brilliant usage of characterization in Lord of the Flies specifically focuses on Ralph’s start as a systematic yet ineffective leader and Jack’s manipulative leadership which causes their transformation from civilized and innocent boys into savage and malicious degenerates. Before the kids decided on a leader, Ralph proves himself a clear choice by using a conch to call the kids together.

Jack’s leadership is lamented with his first appearance, as he leads the choir in an organized manner across the beach to the initial meeting place. Ralph displays his leadership ability when he addresses Piggy after he is teases for his name. “With the directness of genuine leadership,” he dismisses Piggy to go record the names of the other survivors. This is significant because it can be compared to if an adult and ordered Piggy to do something, even though he wanted to help search the island. However, as Piggy respects the power of the democratic election and Ralphs seniority, he complies. This highlights the power of seniority.

Lord of the Flies has quite the turn of events in the first three chapters. As many as there are I’m only going to focus on one. That is when they choose a chief of the group.

“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 is a major quality needed in something like survival, and it is difficult to maintain that concept when in a life threatening situation. Jack and Ralph, two very different types of leaders, go against each other in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. A group of boys gets trapped on an island after a plane crash, having no parents or adults there to save them. Jack, a formal choir director, was always the one to make the grand decisions, and think about what was best for the group. Ralph, a boy with the looks and the appeal, was chosen out of the group to lead everyone. Ralph assigned everyone to do specific tasks, but it ultimately failed because the lack of effort. Jack and Ralph fought because Jack did not like the style of Ralph’s leadership, and had a significant mutiny in his eyes, which led him to make a new tribe himself. The tables turned, and Jack became the better leader, while Ralph was left with only a few people alongside him.

In the book “Lord of the Flies”, two main leaders come out of the group of boys who get stranded on the island. There is Ralph, A person who leads by example and expects everyone else to do the same, and then there is Jack, who bosses and leads by intimidation. I think that Ralph made a better leader for many reasons, and by no means is he perfect, but in this instance, he is the better choice as chief.

I think Ralph would be the better leader out of all the kids. He can hunt, he is active, and he is savage. Jack maybe be active maybe but he is not savage, and can not hunt. I do not think Piggy wouldn’t be a great leader because he is not active at all and he is smart but he can not hunt either.

Ralph is originally the leader of the group and wants to contain a civil society on the island. Unlike Jack, Ralph contains himself and contains the spot as a leader. He creates rules to maintain a structure between the boys and the ife they must live on the island. There are many necessities to becoming a leader and Ralph becomes abstract through his role as a leader. Elected the leader of the boys at the beginning of the novel, Ralph is the primary representative of order, civilization, and productive leadership in the novel.