Why Did Ralph Want To Become Chief

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, the first character mentioned in the novel, is depicted as the obvious leader of the boys. When electing their chief, other boys seemed more qualified, but Ralph’s aura of sophistication, not to mention his good looks, led him to be chosen as chief. Golding even described him by saying “You could

Instead of Ralph, Jack starts to receive most of the attention. Ralph begins to talk about not being chief anymore. The boys seem to listen to Jack more, such as the time when he told them to go hunting and they went willingly. The young boys never seem to agree on things but when Jack said “Let's have a fort” (pg. 108) all the boys concurred with him. I suspect that Jack would not be a suitable chief because his main

This quote illustrates that the boys respect and listen to Ralph, and the possession of the conch cements the idea of Ralph keeping the boys sane. Later on, Ralph becomes extremely emotional when the boys were rescued. “Ralph, weeping for the end of innocence and the darkness of man’s heart, is weeping for all men, the officer and his crew included” (Reilly, 10). This quote supports the fact that numerous contradicting emotions go through his head, once the group is rescued. To clarify, Jack is a better leader than Ralph, but some people can argue that this is not a true statement.

Throughout chapter 6, Ralph becomes a more forceful leader as a result of his people become less civilized. Ralph seems desperate for his people to listen to him and as if he can’t get everyone together. For example, when everyone is saying they want to stay near the rock fort, Golding writes, “I say we’ll go on!’ shouted Ralph furiously,” (108). By Ralph “shouting furiously”, we see the weight of authority taking a toll on Ralph through the desperation in his tone. In this chapter, it becomes clear Ralph is getting tired of his responsibility as chief. When walking in a line, he let’s Jack lead the way. Golding says, “Ralph walked in the rear, thankful to have escaped responsibility for a time,” (103). Allegorically, if Ralph symbolizes civility and Jack symbolizes savagery, Ralph surrendering temporary leadership

What happens next shows that Ralph is already starting out as a weak leader. William Golding writes “The circle of boys broke into applause. Even the choir applauded; and the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification. He started up, then changed his mind and sat down again while the air rang. Ralph looked at him, eager to offer something. ‘The choir belongs to you, of course’” (Golding 23). Directly after Ralph gains the role of chief, he already shows that he is a soft leader because he gives up some of his authority just so that Jack won’t feel bad. Even though Jack doesn’t really do anything about this, I think that in the back of his mind he knows that Ralph should not be the one leading the boys and that is why it ends so badly. Ralph should've kept total control of all the boys, so that he would not look weak. If he would’ve done this it would’ve been much harder for them to gang up against Ralph because Jack would have absolutely no power to begin with. At this point Ralph has no control over the choir, but he doesn’t realize the power he had just given up. This is the first of many mistakes that Ralph made leading up to the tragedy on the

he decides whether evil prevails over good or otherwise. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, Golding writes about a group of British military boys who are marooned in a strange island and they decide on how to get rescue. Ralph, one of the main characters in the novel portrays Civilization and race for emancipation, While Jack chooses to continually long for power and immortalises the passion for hunting.

Being a leader is making sure that everything goes smoothly and knowing what's best for the group. I feel like Ralph is capable to do all of this. Ralph had everyone's best interest and not just himself. He listens to what the boys have to say and actually cares about their opinion. Leaders also have to be intelligent. Ralph is indubitably smart. We know this because he had the idea of starting a fire to get rescued for ‘The fire is the most important thing on the island. How can we ever be rescued except by luck, if we don’t keep a fire going?’(pg. 80). The boys are really petrified and Ralph knew that the only thing that would make them maintained is if they make shelter and he proposes ‘So, we need shelters as a sort of— Home’(pg. 52) This also shows that Ralph knows what is in need of priority. He is able to make the boys all listen to him due to the conche shell. Ralph basically formed a type of orderly government to make sure that everything is going the right way ‘We’ll have to have ’Hands up’ like at school’(pg. 33). This shows that he is natural leader and knows to get things done. Ralph thinks that all the boys should be treated equally especially Piggy since he gets pick on a lot ‘Ralph, looking with more understanding at Piggy, saw that he was hurt and crushed...Better Piggy

If you remember earlier in the book, Jack was told by Ralph to keep the signal fire burning.But instead of thinking of the whole group like a good chief would, He only thought about himself and what he wanted to do. “Jack checked, vaguely irritated by this irrelevance but too happy to let it worry him.” (Golding 69). This quote helps show that Jack is not a good leader. He cares more about what he wants than what the whole group wants making him the most irresponsible character in the book. With Ralph actually being the most responsible character in the book ,He is definitely the rightful chief but as we later learn, the right chief doesn't always get picked. Another example of Jack not being responsible as a leader was when the circle chant took place. “All at once, Robert was screaming and struggling with the strength of frenzy. Jack had him by the hair and was brandishing his knife. Behind him was Roger, fighting to get close. The chant rose ritually, as at the last moment of a dance or a hunt.”(Golding 114). This quote explains that if Jack were a proper leader he would not have let poor Robert almost get killed. Jack didn't even try to stop the feeding frenzy that was the hunters. In conclusion, with Jack's new power He does not take responsibility and is not a proper leader and is a great danger to many of the young people on the

Ralph is regarded as a democratic and charismatic leader. He would base any decision on majority votes and he is all about getting a job done effectively and efficiently. For example, he would crack his head to build shelter and figure out ways to get themselves for being rescued. Eventually, majority of the group members become undisciplined and disobey Ralph’s commands and leave to join jack’s group. Consequently, Ralph, piggy and the twins are left on their own to be hunted by Jack’s tribe. Ralph is also a sensible leader; he only keens on being rescued rather than spending unnecessary time to go for hunting. As the novel progresses, Ralph witnesses the beating of Robert and finds it bizarre in chapter 7. Ralph is forced to hunt a boar for

Ralph blew the conch and brought all the boys together and they decided they were going to need a chief, Jack was convinced it should be him, in the novel he states “I ought to be chief, because I’m chapter chorister and head boy I can sing C sharp.” Ralph had no qualities of being chief beside that he blew the conch

     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

In my opinion, not a single boy on the island would have done a better job as chief as Ralph. This does not mean his performance as a chief was successful, though. Ralph was born a natural leader, his determination to lead others is what made the boys who voted for him believe that he was best suited for the job. When placed under stress, Ralph was not able to commit to his role of leadership. He, essentially, broke as a leader and was unable to successfully do the job. Although a leader is somebody with the willpower to bring others down the right path, Ralph showed that he was unable to withstand the pressure of being a