The Sense Of Leadership In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies

Francis B. Sayre once stated, “Unless man has the wit and the grit to build his civilization on something better than material power, it is surely idle to talk of plans for a stable peace.” People control society because people set the rules and inform others what is right and what is wrong in which the rest follow through their actions. On the other hand, one may believe society controls the people because they view society as the one who is in charge and supposes that society advises people what to do and how to do it. People assemble the choices of what is justifiable in society, therefore controlling how society is perceived., In Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies, a society is controlled by a select few: allowing the boys to develop their own society through their rules and decisions, and entitling their society to transform into savagery

William Golding presents the idea that abusing power can have an effect on a society. The Lord of the Flies is a novel about a group of boys trying to survive on a deserted island following their plane crashing. No adults were aboard the plane aside from the pilot who was killed during the crash. The events of the book follows the boys and how their actions change after living without an authority figure for a long period of time. Golding’s message that the abuse of power leads to the deterioration of society is shown when the authority of the conch is ignored, Jack creates his own tribe, and when Jack’s tribe steals Piggy’s glasses.

A good leader needs to have confidence in their knowledge and experience to be able to lead others. Ralph shows this confidence through his initiative. When a situation occurs on the island, Ralph is one of the first people to react and step up and take control. Ralph uses the conch as a way to show authority among all of the other boys. By maintaining order with the conch to hold meetings, Ralph is showing initiative. He attempts to tell the boys what to do so that they can survive. When most of the boys are off playing games, Ralph takes it upon himself to build huts. One major event that truly represents initiative on Ralph’s part is when he notices a ship in the distance, and runs all the way up the mountain to try and light the signal fire.

One time when I was playing soccer in my yard, I wondered how far I could kick the ball, so I kicked it but if flew off and landed on the roof. I couldn’t reach it, it was just too far. I had lost my soccer ball on top of my roof, my only soccer ball. So my brother put my other brother on his shoulders, then I got on his shoulders and they lifted me up and I got my soccer ball back. In the story Lord of the flies by William golding, it is a story about a group of kids that crash landed on a tropical island where they had to survive, but they couldn’t work together. People ended up forming different alliances to take control of the island, and some died in the process. But in the end, they were rescued by a naval officer. One of the main characters Piggy, died within the book, but that wouldn’t have happened if they just worked together, that is why a theme for the book lord of the flies would be, teamwork makes the dream work.

“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.

Ralph possesses the ability to take responsibility and maintain organization on the island. He first takes leadership on the island when the kids vote to have him lead the group, he is voted as chief, "Shut up, said Ralph absently. He lifted the conch. Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things. ‘A chief! A chief!’” ( Golding, pg 22) Ralph starts to take leadership as he organizes the group with authority using the conch. Ralph does this because he knows that there is not any adults on the island to take charge. "'And another thing. We can't have everybody talking at once. We'll have to have 'Hands up' like at school.' He held the conch before his face and glanced round the mouth.' Then I'll give him the conch.''Conch?' 'That's what this thing is called. I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking.'"(Golding, pg 33) Ralph uses a school-like system to maintain the kids on the island. As Ralph holds organization, he is also responsible for things happening on the island.

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.

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.

Since 1910 The Boy Scouts of America have been teaching boys how to grow their leadership qualities. These qualities have been said to be learned through scouts. Learning that there are many different ways to lead people is a gem scouts teaches young adults. Although the three characters in Lord of the Flies and Beowulf all have different approaches to the way that they lead, all of them have major flaws that diture followers.

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.

There are two types of leaders: those who are feared, and those who are loved. In order to decide which is superior, one first needs to understand what a “good” leader is, and is able to accomplish. Good leaders are able to maintain order, keep their position of power, and have the loyalty of his/her subjects. As clearly shown in Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince, and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, it is better to be feared as a leader than loved. This is proven in Lord of the Flies through Jack’s successful though chaotic rule, and Ralph’s unsuccessful experience as a leader.

In groups of people, there are always ones with better leadership qualities than the rest. The stronger power becomes the greater authority, and the others abide by them. Nevertheless, the strongest leader isn’t always the best. In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, Ralph isn’t the strongest person, yet he displays a better understanding of people, which allows Ralph to lead the boys better than Jack could. Although Jack and Ralph differentiate in their views, they both share the same passion, to earn the role of chief.

When a plane crashes on a deserted island, a group of boys change from pure to barbaric in William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies. The boys must learn how to survive after getting stranded without authority. At first, they create a civil system with an elected leader, but as time passes, they approach new scenarios that have the ability to steal their harmlessness. When taken away from civilization, people have a tendency to lose their innocence.

There are many different qualities when it comes to leadership. Everyone has a different idea of a true leader, and sometimes leaders are naturally selected without a choice. In the world today society puts a huge amount of pressure on their leaders, and people who possess major power are always living on the edge of danger because if they make a wrong decision they will face major consequences. In William Golding’s book Lord of the Flies the leaders must decide between what is right and what is wrong. Because their are no adults with the children on the island, they start to establish rules and customs like adults would. Jack and Ralph, the two main characters, are both willing and able to lead the tribe, but their beliefs on leadership

The discovery of the conch led to Ralph taking on the role of leadership. From the very beginning of the novel when Ralph meets Piggy and they find the conch, Ralph decides that he should be the one to blow the conch. “Ralph took the shell from Piggy” (Golding 16) without asking and proceed to attempt at blowing the conch. Ralph does not give Piggy a chance to try new things. Piggy had explained to Ralph how he was unable to blow the conch back home because his auntie did not allow him to on account of his asthma. In this instance Ralph was being a poor leader by not encouraging Piggy to try new things and reach out of his comfort zone. When Ralph does not have the shell in the beginning of the novel he is not responsible, but when he does obtain the shell he gains the leadership qualities that he needs to lead the group of boys. When Ralph exclaims "Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things" (Golding 22) to the boys, is when Ralph decides that he is going to be taking on responsibility as leader to keep the island in order. What Ralph signs up to do is proven to be a much harder task than he perceives later on in the novel.