The Island of Equal Rights and Freedom in Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Ralph made sure all the older kids on the island had a key job role to ensure safety and survival by setting things straight. Ralph orders the hunters to keep the fire going because it produced smoke which could signal the ships nearby securing their rescue. Ralph spotted ships and knew there shouldn’t be any fooling around because it is up to them if the fire stays lit or not. He, himself, was focused on providing everyone with shelter and was determined to do it by himself if he had to, whether the hunters did their job or not. Unlike Ralph, who is doing his job, the Jack’s choir ignores the fire and goes out hunting. When the fire goes out, the hunters aren’t really upset with the fire going out while Ralph saw that the situation could’ve been their rescue saying, “There was a ship. Out there. You said you’d keep the fire going and you let it out” (70)! If he had the same attitude as the other boys nothing would likely get done and he would remain the same as before and not care about the aftermath, but he continues to act mature and not this incident stop him from trying to seek rescue. This shows his change because of how he sees the priority of being rescued and keeping the fire lit expressing his maturity and showing his understanding of life not just about having fun like most adults

He is very strong and wants power and this makes him dangerous. In order to control Jack you need to give him the freedom and praise he desires. Jack craves attention and glory because he is insecure. By the way Jack always insults and attacks Piggy, he shows just how insecure Jack really is. He shoves and constantly insults Piggy beyond teasing. He fully wants Piggy to feel horrible and bad about himself. There is no childish game to him, Jack sincerely hates Piggy. To make himself feel better and more powerful he steps on people smaller than him, like Piggy. His behavior shows he can not be trusted to lead or confide in as a close friend. You need people to help you lead but, Jack will cloud your judgement with thoughts about unimportant ideas. His problem with Piggy will spread to the other boys and soon he will turn his back on anyone he perceives as weak. This is no way to run a successful government. If you trust Jack you mine as well burn the island down because there will be no one left to live on it when he has power. Not to mention Jack’s struggle with killing a pig makes him even more dangerous and out of control. By being unable to provide meat for the group Jack is becoming unhinged and more savage. He is so obsessed that he can't think of anything else. He is so consumed with the idea of hunting anything else is meaningless to him. When people get like this it is just best to let them figure it

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.

Both Jack and Ralph were struggling for power. At first, Jack and Ralph had similar goals for what they should do on the island. They quickly retreated when Jack became obsessed with hunting for pigs on the island. Ralph thought that they should keep the signal fire going at all times. Jack started to see that he did not want to leave the island he like that there were no rules. Ralph on the other hand felt that they could not be here forever. Ralph wanted to be rescued from the island. They're very different opinion forces Jack to leave Ralph's group and start his own. Jack toke most of the other boys with him leaving Ralph with very few people. From all of this Ralph started to realize that leading a group of people was not easy. There would always be people like Jack that would disagree. Jack left feeling insulted from Ralph insulting his hunting he felt that Ralph had undermined him as a result Jack turned mean and

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.

Ralph concentrates on being rescued and Jack goes along taking on the responsibility that he and his choir will mind the fire. “We’ll be responsible for keeping the fire going-”, (Page 38) but while Ralph remains focused on being rescued, Jack’s new-found interest in hunting leads him to forget about rescue. “Jack had to think for a moment before he could remember what rescue was. “Rescue? Yes, of course! All the same, I’d like to catch a pig first-.” (Page 58) This also starts to show that Jack has entered the realm of savagery.

Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies, Ralph tries his best to create a society based on survival. As time progresses, it is clear that Jack's feelings are towards living life and having fun. Jack's society eventually leads to corruption, killing innocent people, while Ralph's prevails as the boys are rescued. Ralph uses a repetition of hope towards being saved while Jack's technique with no thought clearly flounders creating savages out of the once civilized boys.

I don’t know why,” (Golding, 82). In addition, the author of Lord of the Flies uses the theme that people abuse unearned power, which shows people that there will always be a leader, and that leader will not care about the people he is ruling over. Ralph and Jack were just put into leadership roles without doing much, and since then, many negative events had occurred. Those negative events had been caused by the misconduct of power. “Jack held out his hand for the conch,” (Golding, 35). Jack had wanted to be in power over Ralph, even though he had not won the vote, so he kept trying to abuse the small amount of power that he did have. Jack was very power hungry and didn’t care what precautions he had to take in order to gain power. “And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to do,” (Golding, 91). Jack had been very upset with Ralph for trying to suggest different ideas than what he had wanted, and Jack felt that he was the better leader over Ralph. Thus, Jack was using the power that he had to try and dominate over Ralph. Leaders arise in everything and some of them use their power to benefit

Ralph specially cared about keeping the fire burning as a distress signal since he believed there’s no better way to help them be rescued. “The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don’t keep the fire going?” (80). Ralph common sense to determine what is best for the group as a whole further demonstrates his superior leadership skills. He insisted on keeping the fire and exasperated when the boys ignored their mission. Ralph is not easily distracted person like the other boys, especially Jack when he tried to hunt the wild pig and let the fire out.

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

Something deep in Ralph spoke for him. “I’m chief. I'll go. Don't argue." (p.155)Throughout the novel, we notice the similarities between the two characters Ralph and Jack, however, there are several great differences in the way they use these traits to benefit both themselves and others. In the novel Lord of the Flies, the contrasts aid in displaying the variances between Jack and Ralph, such as their leadership styles, civilization vs savagery, and their motives throughout the story.

Power is key part of the book “Lord of the Flies”, the topic of power in the book can relate to a quote by Martin Luther King, Jr., “I am not interested in power for power’s sake, but I’m interested in power that is moral, that is right, and that is good.” In the book there are two characters that can somewhat relate to this quote, one character affirms the quote and one refutes it. Ralph is the character that affirms the quote he uses his power to help the community not use his power to command the community. Some actions that Ralph takes that shows are “If we have a signal going they'll come and take us off. And another thing. We ought to have more rules. Where the conch is, that's a meeting. The same up here as down here.” This shows how Ralph tries bring the

In our society we have our system for power set up making the understanding of who is in charge easy; However, when the boys are stranded on an island they are forced to come up with their own system, causing rivalries and corrupting rights and values. Before being stranded on an island Jack was an innocent, well-behaved child, however, when thrown into a foreign place with no society and no system of power it is very easy to destroy all of your innocence when obtaining most power. Jack was a hunter and was in charge of all the hunter, he eventually made his own tribe and almost everyone followed him, giving him a mass amount of control. Golding shows that Jack uses his power in ways only beneficial to him, easily seen when the remainder of Ralphs tribe approach Jacks and see him, “ painted up and wearing garland around his neck” (54). Jack uses his power to idolize himself and make the other

Jack was one whose personality caused the civilization to come tumbling down. When we first discover the boys on the island and get a mere glimpse of their personalities, it is quite apparent that Jack is going to be one who is power-hungry. He already has a group of followers, the choirboys, of whom he has the utmost power over. He has a very controlling personality that cannot be subsided by the obstacles that are shown in the novel. Jack suffers from wanting to be the best. When he is not chosen as the chief and supreme ruler in the very beginning, it is proven that he will find a way to claw up to the top and take the spot that in his opinion is his right. Jack has quite a reckless personality, and will risk all to be standing alone at the top as king or leader. Jack is also guilty of envy, which goes hand in hand with power. He is envious of everything that Ralph has. Ralph is the chief, and has much common sense. Jack senses this and is jealous of the fact that Ralph can command attention and a following that easily. I also believe, when reflecting back, that Jack is in a sense jealous of Piggy, without being aware of it. Piggy is the complete intellect on the island. While Jack is quite smart, he certainly is not as gifted as Piggy. Piggy can interpret any situation and be the lone voice of knowledge of the masses. Jack not only gets jealous

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.