Powerful Leadership In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

Jack respects Ralph as a leader and another alpha, however deems himself the higher qualified to lead the group; bringing forth a vote for a chief. However, the choir boy followers weren’t strong enough in numbers to counter the seemingly endless supply of little kids that voted for Ralph. After this unexpected result, Jack develops an instant grudge towards his only competition for power. Ralph begins to form a democratic society solely focused on rescue; yet jack has other plans in agenda. Under Ralph’s seemingly boring command, Jack develops other outputs for his primal necessity of dominance. Jack begins focusing on the task of hunting animals and finding weaker beings to prey on. Jack even blatantly leaves the rescue fire to chase after a pig; had he not have done so, the group could have possibly been rescued by the boat passing by during the fire’s absence. Once Jack finally has enough of going in circles with Ralph, he makes the decision to shake off Ralph’s influence and create his own niche. Within Jack’s tribe, lifestyle is greatly different to that of one designed by Ralph. Jack and his followers seemingly devolve into primal beings, as Jack gets his fill of power. Control over others was all that Jack longed for, with a crazed and burning

The argument begins as Ralph expresses his frustration while constructing the shelters, and quickly shifts to the lack of control among the boys. Jack thinks that Ralph is not exercising the amount of authority he should among the younger boys, and Ralph is unsatisfied with Jack’s performance as a hunter (51). This is the first spat between the boys and is largely brushed off as an isolated event. The issue is that this is the beginning of the fallout between the boys, shortly after this they begin to break into their individual groups. The end of chapter four is really the last time we see Jack act in a self conscious and civil manner. After he lets the signal fire go out, and they ruin their chance to be rescued by a ship passing by, he apologizes. It is obvious by his actions at this point that he no longer considers Ralph to be in control of him, and thinks his own needs are more important than those of the group. This recurring theme of self righteousness becomes more apparent as the story

By using their fear against the tribe, he makes them feel like Jack can protect them. Jack is very manipulative for that reason. Jack taunted Ralph into doing something with

A good leader is one who knows how to lead with control and has strong leader characteristics. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, some readers support the fact that Jack was a better leader than Ralph, but others feel that Ralph was the better leader. Although many supporters feel that Ralph is the best leader, it is evident that Jack is the better leader because he can effortlessly control the group on the island.

The power-hungry will often feel the need for absolute control, hardly ever getting what they desire, they will often be portrayed as crazy and vicious. The same can be said for Jack; all he wants is to be the leader and make the decisions, but Ralph is the one in control. Jack’s desire for power is ruining his own image, and the well being of the other boys. Without the supervision of adults his morals and values took a turn for the worst.

Jack demonstrates leadership qualities at the first place when coming up with a plan of being rescued. Nonetheless, as the time passes, he begins to enjoy a sense of power. He becomes forceful, hazardous, and is willing to kill. Jack and Ralph attempt friendship even though they have extremely different personalities. Their original feelings were

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.

When Jack was first asked to kill the pig he hesitated. He said, “ ‘I was waiting for a moment to decide where to stab him’ ” (Golding 31). Although it is not directly stated why Jack didn’t kill the first pig, it is assumed that it is because he is a child and this is his first time killing. This is the only time Jack struggles to kill as it starts to consume him from not only killing just animals but people too. An external conflict is Jack wants to be chief, which causes a tension between him and Ralph. When it was first decided that the boys needed a chief Jack said, “ ‘A Chief! A Chief! I ought to be Chief!’ ” (Golding 22). This was the first time Jack showed any interest in becoming a leader which grew stronger the longer they where on the island. He lets becoming chief consume him and he begins to loose sight of who he

When Ralph is making plans for the smoke, Jack is talking about hunting pigs and confuses Ralph. Frustrated by Jack’s priorities, Ralph shouts ‘“I was talking about smoke! Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig”’ (54). This displays Jack’s obsession with the pig and how much more primitive he is than Ralph. Later, during an argument, Jack breaks the rules by speaking without the conch and Ralph tells him to be quiet. Jack however, responds, “‘Bollocks to the rules”’(91). This supports the idea that Jack is becoming more crude because he disregards the rules thus disturbing the order. In addition, he leads the younger boys into savagery because they follow Jack with “screams and laughter”(92). Immediately after Jack’s rebellion, the “assembly scattered” and “the sound of mock hunting, hysterical laughing and real terror came from the beach”(92). With Jack’s actions, he leads the group away from the assembly and arouses the boys’ savagery. He begins transforming the boys into barbaric beasts. Jack is the symbol for savagery because his focus is always on hunting which makes him more primitive than Ralph, he disrupts the order and peace by breaking the rules, and he leads the other boys into

From these examples, we can see that.. When Jack became chief on his own, the boys had no discipline and became savages. Jack does not treat the boys with respect nor cares about their well-being like Ralph does. Once the boys transferred to Jack's side, Jack only pleases their short term wants and needs. Jack still does not understand the boys need security, order and stability in their environment.

Since Jack isn’t being forced into a civil lifestyle. His savage side is coming out. Even though at the beginning of the book he kept saying that they needed rules because they were English. “We’ve got to rules and obey them. After all, we’re not savages. We are English, and the English are best at everything. (42) Jack is contradicting himself since the beginning of the book. He preaches that the English need to be proper, but only halfway through the book has abandoned the rules and a civil society. It can be seen in the earliest chapters Jacks thirst for power. Ralph on the other hand just accepts that he was elected leader. “I ought to be chief, because I’m a chapter chorister and head boy.” “Jack's in charge of the choir what do you want the choir to be.” (28) Jack however accepts his role as hunter in the tribe, but as the book progresses it shows how he makes himself leader. In chapter two jack is using the boys ignorance of their situation to give him power. “A fire make a fire” (38) it's easy to see how eager the boys are to do something. Although Ralph told them to make a fire he didn’t want them to do it immediately. This is blind obedience to orders

seem to see Jack as their leader. This is the beginning of the struggle of power that both Ralph and Jack face. The quote said by Ralph “seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide

Ralph insinuated that since they haven’t gotten any meat, the hunters were using hunting as an excuse to not help build. Jack told Ralph the boys wanted meat. Jack also talks about how when he’s alone, that he feels like he’s being watched. They continue to argue and become

Jack, negatively portrayed in comparison to Ralph, tempts the boys with an array of forbidden treats, indulging their most violent, suppressed desires in an attempt to lull them away from the security of Ralph. In a sense, Jack is negatively compared to Ralph throughout the novel, and is often portrayed as confused and violent, very aware of the evil inside of him: “The real problem that arises among the boys involves their own inner nature…” (Johnston 2). When his plan fails, Jack feels as though his seat of power is threatened and therefore resorts to terrorizing, threatening and essentially forcing the boys to join him and align themselves against Ralph, alienating them from their former, comfortable life-style and thus making what they once failed to appreciate all the more desirable.