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Ralph in the lord of the flies character analysis
The development of ralph through Lord of the flies
Ralph character in Lord of the Flies
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Leaders are very important in life. They can and have shaped the world in many ways. All leaders have different morals and values, and some leaders have been considered monsters. However, no matter how “good” a leader is, they can only be effective if they are strong. The book Lord of the Flies by William Golding shows how weak leaders cause the chaos that is needed for a strong leader to rise. In the book, Ralph had only been the chief on the island for a short time and already no one was listening to him. Ralph said, “All day I’ve been working with Simon. No one else. They’re off bathing, or eating, or playing,’”(50). He told them multiple times to help, but they wouldn’t. This makes it obvious that Ralph was a weak leader. He had no real power over the boys. A while later in the story, the boys signal fire went out and a ship passed by the island without seeing the boys. “Ralph said no more, did nothing, stood looking down at the ashes around his feet. Jack was loud and active. He gave orders, sang, whistled, and threw remarks at the silent Ralph,”(77). During a tragedy like this it is even more important for the leader to step up and take control. Ralph does just the opposite. He crumbles in …show more content…
The boys were breaking up into chaos. Ralph’s poor control over the situation was leading to disaster. Even Ralph himself realized this but he didn’t know what to do about it. He comments, “‘We’ll be like animals.’”(92). This chaos was on the brink of disaster, when Jack created his own tribe. Unlike Ralph, Jack was a strong leader who actually had control over the members of his tribe. One of his members admiringly tells another, “He’s a proper chief, isn’t he?... He’s going to beat Wilfred,”(159). Jack was respected and brutal. His form of punishment made sure that the other boys would listen and obey him. This made him a strong leader with true power and
Throughout the novel when Ralph notices some of the boys have started to turn into savages, he tries to put an end to it as soon as possible. Ralph wants the young boys to remain as close to their old selves as much as they can, rather than transforming into unrecognizable people. Once the boys have gotten somewhat settled in on the island, they forget to watch after the most important job, as seen in Ralph’s eyes, “We’ve got to have special people for looking after the fire. Any day there might be a ship out there” (Golding 42). The majority of the group has turned to having fun rather than getting rescued. Ralph is one of the only people that has common sense and seems to know their correct priorities. We can see that choosing Ralph to be the leader may lead to benefiting them all. In chapter 11, Jack and his group have bombarded Ralph’s group and stolen Piggy’s glasses, so when Piggy asks what they are going to do, Ralph responds with, “Supposing we go, looking like we used to, washed and hair brushed- after all we aren’t savages really and being rescued isn’t a game--” (Golding 170). Ralph ends up handling this given situation like an adult. He can see quite clearly that the thought of salvation and maturity has no meaning to everyone in Jack's’ group. They have been treating their whole situation like it is just a game, but Ralph knows at this point that rescue is
For years, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, has been a staple in college, high school, and even middle school classes. The eloquent story follows a group of young boys stranded on a jungle island. They are left thousands of miles away from civilization and are left to survive by themselves. Throughout the story, many insights in leadership are seen through the power struggle between Ralph and Jack. Both have extremely different styles of leadership with varying levels of success. Lord of the Flies teaches me about leadership in the initial selection of the leader, how they solve problems, and how they motivate others.
In the beginning of the novel, Ralph, is a pure child, who is “turning handsprings of joy upon finding an island free of adult supervision” (Oldsey 3). He is a typical boy with average capacities and desires for rescue and enjoyment. Therefore, Ralph is the standard representation of order, leadership, and civilization. Hence, after landing on the island, he does what civilization has taught him to do, using diplomatic means and intelligence to create a democratic leadership that will help the boys attain rescue. For instance, Ralph calls for an assembly with the conch, a representation of civilization’s order and rules, which helps him be the “strong conscience, the one to bar against savagery and instill civilization” (Anjum 5). Furthermore, his urge for a fire to be made for rescue, huts for safety, and a division of power to gain all survival necessities are other ways Ralph hoped to further civilize the boys. Therefore, Ralph’s determination to keep civilization in the boys’ life is what makes Ralph the better leader than the power-driven Jack ...
As Ronald Reagan, one of the most spectacular and influential American presidents, once said, “In the end, it all comes down to leadership.” Reagan’s statement proves to be entirely true, for a leader dictates how a society functions and what the outcome of it will be. This idea of “leadership” is heavily utilized in William Golding’s novel. For in said book, there are two so called leaders whose character plays a significant role in the story; one being Ralph, and the other being Jack. However, in Golding’s young adult novel, Lord of the Flies, Ralph proves to be the strongest leader, for he is the natural choice for the boys, he appropriately takes on difficult challenges, and he fully understands what he’s good and bad at.
While the boys are under Jack's control, they quickly went back into how they started when they first got there. However, Ralph was able to keep the boys under control by holding meetings. At the meetings, a sense of order is instilled because the boys are not allowed to speak unless they have the conch shell. "I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking." (p. 31) By making this rule, he gains respect from the boys and becomes for confident as a leader. Ralph uses his power to tries to make the boys better people. He shows his by building them shelters. "They talk and scream. The littuns. Even some of the others." (p. 53) Ralph is saying that the boys need the shelters because they are afraid and the shelters will help the boys feel more secure. This shows he has better knowledge of people making him a better leader than Jack who does not understand this. Jack does not realize that the boys need to feel secure and need someone in control.
At one point in the story Jack says “Conch! Conch! We don’t need the conch anymore, we know who ought to say things” This quote really tells us that Jack’s pride has overtaken him and the idea of the kids submitting to him and calling him “chief.” has gone to his head. Jack has become very popular by force and by the kids feeling peer pressured to join Jack’s tribe and be hunters, or else they might be killed by the rest of the tribe. Everyone on the tribe is scared to step up to Jack because the people on his tribe are beginning to get used to the violent acts savagery that have been committed on the island so far. The kids start to let the fear of man overtake them and give into the peer pressure of joining Jack’s tribe because there isn’t really another option. By the kids giving into the peer pressure to follow the “popular” leader, Jack, they are ultimately giving Jack more power so he can do whatever he wants with the support of others who agreed to be apart of the tribe. This theme reaches its climax at the end of the story when it is literally Jack’s whole tribe, which basically consists of all the kids on the island, against Ralph. In the end, Ralph was the only one who didn’t give into the peer pressure to join Jack’s tribe, and ultimately he was rewarded for it because he got what he wanted, to be rescued. Now just because he didn’t give into peer pressure doesn’t mean you automatically get rewarded. I feel that giving Ralph his desire was William Golding’s way of rewarding Ralph for not giving into being apart of Jack's
When considering what makes a leader suitable for the task at hand, what comes to mind? An admirable leader might be someone who leads with a stunning example or supplies the majority with an arm to lean on. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Ralph is the leader of a crowd of British schoolboys stranded on a tropical island. Ralph is the best possible leader of the boys, especially in the case they are faced with.
There are two major types of leaders in this world, there is the genuine, caring, and for the people leader, or there's the greedy scumbag who does for himself, not really worrying about the others. These two leadership roles are both demonstrated in William Golding’s book, lord of the flies, when two of the main characters, Jack and Ralph, take lead of a group of boys who are stranded on an island after a plane crash. Jack and Ralph both have different intentions and goals of what needs to be done. Jack believes that they need mainly focus about surviving on the island by hunting for food, while Ralph somewhat agrees, but believes they should be focused on signaling for help to be rescued from the island. In other words, the goals of every
A leader is someone who is skilled in what they do, who has experience, who inspires others in the group and who works well with other people. Leadership is also about helping other people to do their best and is a reliable person that a group or team can trust and count on. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a large group of young children is stuck on a island and forced to take care of themselves. Four boys step up and take control of the island, thus becoming the so called leaders in the book. Ralph, Jack, Piggy and Simon are forced to overcome many difficult challenges throughout the novel by acting strong, brave, kind, intelligence and gaining respect
“His first words were a gasp, but audible. ‘-Calling an assembly’.” A laudable leader is someone who is fair, organized, can plan, has patience, and has stoicism. Ralph in Lord of the Flies by William Golding exemplifies these qualities of a leader. A leader is important because without them the group of boys may not have found each other in the beginning of the book and would not have worked together to make shelter and find food. Without a leader, assuming the boys still met, the group would have been in utter chaos. A leader is one who can keep the group together and has the groups’ best interest in mind at all times. By allowing each person to keep their freedoms, having necessary tasks completed, and giving security Ralph was proven a
Being in his tribe was desirable, and in the words of one of the few who stuck with Ralph, “‘That’s where [the other boys have] gone. Jack’s party. [...] P’raps we should go too’” (Golding 148). Even though Ralph wrongly refuses to join Jack’s tribe, they have food and resources and community. Jack may make a cruel chief, but he has what it takes, unlike Ralph. Even the littluns agree, as one boy, Roger says, “‘He’s a proper chief, isn’t he?’” (Golding 159). No one wants to do what Ralph says, they argue and bicker and put up a fight when he tries to make them do things, even though he has their best intentions in mind. The children follow Jack, and do what he wants, because he makes them want
For example, Ralph forgets what he is about to say and can’t seem to get the boys to do as he says, Jack has no one’s best interest at heart and is dangerous (possibly psychotic) and Piggy, well that all the boys call him Piggy says a lot for how much everyone respects him, even if he is by far the smartest person on the island. To be fair, all these characters have their good qualities of course, Ralph is focused on rescue and keeping the boys civilized this can be seen even on page 172, “We’ll be like we were. We’ll wash-” and again on that same page, “Well, we won’t be painted, … because we aren’t savages.” Golding, The Lord of the Flies. In both of these it is fairly clear that Ralph wants to preserve the civil part of the boys and keep them away from becoming savage and violent like Jack. He wants them to stay sane and relatively put together until they get rescued. And even though Ralph can’t make the boys do anything to help Jack can, using fear tactics of course, Ralph couldn’t make the boys listen to him as the elected chief because Jack had meat and a fun dance, well for everyone but the one getting beaten half to death. An example of Jack’s power over the boys is on page 182 as he is forcing Samneric to join his tribe, “ ‘What d’you mean by coming with spears? What d’you mean by not joining my tribe?” The Lord of the
Ralph shows that he has a better understanding of the boys than Jack. He knows that the boys need some sort of order on the island in order for them to survive. He starts a simple form of government and sets a few rules for them. Even though they don’t last very long, the fact that he tried to help the group is what makes him a better leader. Ralph’s wisdom and ability to look toward the future also has an advantage over Jack. He has a sense to keep his focus on getting off the island. When the fire goes out, Ralph gets upset because the chance to be rescued was gone as well. Ralph enforces his role of leadership as he gives the boys a sense of stability of an authority figure. He keeps the boys in pretty good order at the meeting by making a rule that they can only speak if they have the conch. Ralph knows that the littleuns are afraid and they need shelter to feel more secure. They work together for a while, but as the time goes on the smaller boys want to go play. They slowly lose all their help until Simon and Ralph are the only ones left to work on them. Ralph knows that this is a necessity and keeps bringing it up at the meetings. Jack, on the other hand, is doing nothing but causing chaos.
Under Jack's rule, the boys become uncivilized savages. They have no discipline. Ralph, however, keeps the boys under order through the meetings which he holds. At these meetings a sense of order is instilled because the boys have to wait until they hold the conch to speak. When Ralph says, "I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking." (Golding 36) he enforces his role of leader by making rules and gives the boys the stability of an authority figure, mainly himself. By doing this he wins the boys respect and confidence in his leadership abilities. Ralph uses his authority to try to improve the boys' society. By building shelters he demonstrates his knowledge of the boys' needs. When he says to Jack, "They talk and scream. The littluns.
However, he lacked the abilities and qualities that allowed him to become a strong and efficient leader. Alongside Jack, Ralph also desired to become the leader and rule the others. Despite the personalities and characteristics of each of the boys, power struggles between the two often emerged, resulting in a period of conflict. The different beliefs and perspectives of Jack and Ralph often led to competition between them. This negatively impacted the society and civilization of the island that the boys had formed. However, the conflict that emerged among the boys was able to benefit the civilization and society on the island, as it expressed their ambition and desire to guide the others. Although Jack and Ralph faced issues, they were able to determine their strengths and weaknesses in order to fulfill the role of a