Ralph's Crowned Chief Analysis

Ralph’s character clearly represents an effectual leader compared to all of the other boys because his superior execution of guiding the boys. Therefore, Golding develops an evident leader in his novel by characterizing the protagonist, Ralph, with imperative strengths that a leader must have in order to successfully command a group of

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

Like democratic governments, Ralph tries his best to maintain law and order within the group of boys. Ralph knows that to maintain order between the boys that there needs to be a chief to decide what they should do to help the group be rescued (Golding 22). Like governments have kings, popes, leaders, and Presidents, Ralph is the leader of the group of boys. Ralph knows there should be a great leader who will keep all the boys safe until someone can rescue them. A journal written by two women examines how the characters in the novel symbolize something more than just characters in the book. The journal states that the first thing the boys think about is how to maintain order and law; they decide to set up hierarchies (Thapliyal and Shakuntala 2). The group of boys take on a democratic role by voting for who will become the chief over them. Ralph wins the vote and takes on the chief position which immediately brands him a symbol of a democratic government. Even as the story progresses, Ralph still tries to maintain order. In chapter five, Ralph talks to all the boys and he basically tells them that in order to be rescued, they need to start following the orders that he commands them to follow. He tells them that they made him chief and that they will do as he says (Golding 79-81). Ralph

Jack insists that since Ralph had never hunted and provided meat for the boy’s he shouldn’t be chief; the other boy’s disagree, and, upset that he has not proven himself to the boys, says, "I'm not going to play any longer. Not with you… I'm going off by myself. He can catch his own pigs. Anyone who wants to hunt when I do can come too" (144). Jack then walks off, and many of the boys follow him and leave Ralph behind; in doing this, Jack takes a good portion of Ralph’s tribe, as well as much of Ralph’s dignity as a chief. Later, Jack names himself chief of the other group of boys. He uses his power to make rules, all of which establish that Jack’s side of the island is different from Ralph’s; "We'll hunt. I'm going to be chief… I say this. We aren't going to bother about the beast… And another thing. We shan't dream so much down here. This is near the end of the island" (146). In his anger, Jack created a society based on what children want instead of what adults need, which Ralph had. Jack has made himself the opposite of Ralph out of

At the time, Ralph heavily influences the boys and their actions for he resembles “the men with the megaphones” (18). He attempts to create order among the boys with rules, but most of the boys would rather play than follow the rules—for there are no adults to enforce them. With the role of leadership thrust upon him, Ralph has no choice but to stop playing games. His goals are to protect the boys and increase their chances of being rescued; however, the responsibility on Ralph’s shoulders soon begins to weigh him down. As “Ralph [watches the boys], envious and resentful” (75), the obligation to care for everyone on the island is a heavy burden to bear. His role as leader has forced Ralph to forget the joys of being an innocent kid and given him the encumbrance of responsibility, which causes the start of his maturation.

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.

Ralph is the main protagonist in the story and he is the leader of the children on the island. Since Ralph was voted leader, he has the characteristics of leadership and he brings civilization and order to the story. Unlike the other boys, Jack and Simon, Ralph’s main focus is to get off the island instead of having fun. For example, Ralph tried constructing huts with Simon; meanwhile, the boys are playing and running off having fun. In the beginning of the story, Ralph’s power with the children was secure; however, towards the end, that power is being transferred to Jack. Ralph represents the

The other led by fear, weaponry, and Jack. This is partly due to the leadership qualities of the ones in charge. The way that both Jack and Ralph view their power is very different, Jack believes all power should be given to him because of his qualifications, and Ralph believes that he should be the chief because the group has elected him as said in an argument between him and Ralph at a meeting of the original united tribe. “ Jack's face swam near him."And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do. You can't hunt, you can't sing—""I'm chief. I was chosen." "Why should choosing make any difference? Just giving orders that don't make any sense—" (Golding 91). Jack believes that intelligence is no match for physical strength and his singing abilities. Though it may be difficult to see now, before the tribe was split into two, Ralph and Jack were not as against one another. They once were able to communicate well and listen to the ideas of each other such as the moment in chapter one when Jack and Ralph decide who is in charge of what on the island. “The suffusion drained away from Jack's face. Ralph waved again for silence. "Jack's in charge of the choir. They can be—what do you want them be?" "Hunters." Jack and Ralph smiled at each other with shy liking” (Golding

“ “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.

Through Ralph being the leader on the island, it shows him as a morally ambiguous character struggling with man’s innate evil. Ralph is clearly struggling to maintain calm when he says, “‘I was chief, and you were going to do what I said. You talk. But you can’t even build huts--then you go off hunting and let out the fire--’” (Golding 70-71). Ralph talks about him being chief in the past tense as if he no longer is because from the ways the boys are acting, he does not feel that he is being respected. Ralph is annoyed that instead of building shelter the boys play in the water and that instead of manning the fire, the only chance for the boys to be noticed, they decide hunting is more important than being rescued. Ralph means well by these orders, he wants to see that every boy on the island survives. At the same time he is struggling to be calm and he is not doing a good job at it. Also as the leader Ralph is not the one

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.

This exchange between Ralph and Jack showed as the leader, Ralph took responsibility for planning and doing tasks for the betterment of the boys. Unfortunately, most of the boys don’t want to help Ralph in jobs like building the huts because they would rather just have fun. Some people may say that the boys want a responsible leader to get of the island faster. That was true at first, but as time went on they lost hope in getting off the island and would rather indulge in the pleasures of the island. The evidence is, “I’m too tired. And what’s the good?”

The boys had no rules, some even had no mercy. The next challenging thing that Ralph had to face is that having an main antagonist against the whole time, that being Jack. From the beginning he was the head of the choir and was wanting to be the leader and Chief of all the boys. 19 “ I ought to be Chief, because I’m chapter chorister and head boy.”

Ralph displays useful human qualities as a leader by helping the boys’ society. Ralph believes that in order to stay civilized , they need order and stability. For example, Ralph says to the boys, “ Shut Up! Wait! Listen!” (38). This text evidence shows how Ralph is taking charge of the society and is trying to figure out the best solution to getting off the island and getting rescued. Ralph also keeps his whole focus on getting off the island unlike Jack. Ralph's leadership allows peace and charge on the island which makes him a better leader than Jack.

Jack and Ralph have contrasting strategies when leading the boys on the island. Ralph, who represents the primary good, prioritizes creating a smoke signal in order be rescued. Ralph also promotes order, representing the civilized instinct of humans. On the other hand, Jack lacks foresight, and prioritizes hunting. Jack also fear-mongers, and appeals to the emotions of the other children, ultimately embodying the savage instinct of humans. The way in which the dynamic of the island devolves reveals Golding’s views of human nature, as well as the importance of a central power, which aligns with the views of Thomas Hobbes. Additionally, Golding’s perspective resembles Hobbes’s, as they both oppose the division of power. Ralph’s priorities while leading represent the primary good, however his passive and weak leadership exposes the evil nature of the boys, and the island degenerates into chaos.