Why Did Ralph Want To Become Chief

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

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

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

“We want to have fun, and we want to be rescued” (page 37) A good chief or leader is someone that cares about all the individuals in the group, does not break people down, and blunt and honest with a group. In this case, Ralph would be the best choice for chief for many reasons. As shown by that quote he really cares about what was best for the group, but yet was also about having fun on the island while they were deserted. Ralph throughout the novel shows civilization through his action and so many more characteristics that make up a good leader. Ralph is the best leader in the novel. This is evident because he makes good decisions to benefit the group, his priority is to be rescued over everything else, and he is the most civilized of all

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

First Ralph was voted to be the leader or chief on the island for the time being. During the vote for chief Golding points out the fact that Ralph shows the qualities of a leader out of all the boys. “But there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out. . . and most obscurely yet most powerfully there was the conch” (Golding 22). Ralph was seen as the best fit for the new role based the current circumstances. After all isn’t a leader supposed to create a sense of unity? Once the so called “beast” has been discussed, Ralph to restate the plan to be rescued. During a meeting that is then called, Golding talks about how Ralph has to actually wave the conch to grasp everyone’s attention. “The simple statement, unbacked by any proof but the weight of Ralph’s new aurhority, brought light and happiness. He had to wave the conch before he could make them hear him” (Golding 37). The conch has shown much more power of leadership and control than Ralph. If he were to call a meeting without the conch little to nothing would happen, but more frustration of Ralph. Coincidentally this starts to happen when new

leader. Ralph has courage and determination to be rescued, while Jack only cares about hunting. Ralph

Jack shows pride by electing himself to be chief so he can be in charge. “‘I ought to be chief,’ said Jack with simple arrogance, ‘because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.’” This quote exemplifies how Jack volunteered himself to be in charge. Jack wanted to be above everybody, so he tried to convince everyone to let him be chief. He wanted to have power and authority. “We’ll hunt. I’m going to be chief.” This is yet another quote that shows how Jack was stubborn about how he believed he deserved to be chief. He did not bother to ask the others about their opinion on who should be in charge. Instead he just appointed himself. “His tone conveyed a warning, given out of the pride of ownership, and the boys ate fast while there was still time.” This quote shows how Jack was obsessed with the power of being chief. Jack scared the other boys into respecting him as a leader. Jack shows pride in these quotes, because he shows that he believes he should be chief, because he is superior to everybody. All of the other boys chose Ralph as their leader, so Jack creates conflict by challenging Ralph as chief. Jack trying to usurp Ralph as chief shows how he was putting his needs before those of the entire group. Jack was too prideful to allow Ralph to be in charge, and constantly challenged him as a leader. This conflict gets in the way of the boys being able to work together to try to survive and get rescued.

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

Throughout the story The Lord of the Flies, Ralph has proven repeatedly and consistently that he is the greatest leader in the novel. Ralph was originally elected as a leader near the beginning of the story and even though he was titled “chief” he still let the other boys have a say and valued their opinions as a fair leader. He acts with the sake of the other boys in mind, and is viewed as a superb leader by other boys, too. Ralph is the obvious choice when it comes to deciding on the best leader. Ralph was voted into the position as chief through a democratic process, and he values what other people have to say.

Ralphs strong personality is one of the many things that helped him with being the leader. Ralph made himself sound confident even when he was not so sure himself. Having that confidence made everyone believe that they could be saved from the island,

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.

     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

            Ralph first takes on the position as leader at the beginning of the story, when the rest of the boys vote him in as chief.  He carries this position until Jack and his fellow hunters break away

Throughout the novel both characters, Ralph and Jack have a thirst for power. One may say that Jack is a stronger leader due to his persuasiveness with his need for power, but on the other hand Ralph is a great natural leader. From the beginning Ralph shows interest in getting home while leading the group of boys. Ralph may be young but he seems to have a general idea on how to get the group going in the right direction.  He has an innate ability to split the group up and give them the important tasks that need to be done to survive for several days for example: tending to the fire, and hunting which was Jack and the choirboys job. To be a good leader you must stay positive which Ralph is able to do majority of the time by persistently believing that everyone