Human civilization has failed repeatedly throughout history due to a variety of different factors. Many crave to hold power over others in society. In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, the society that is created is overwhelmed by a constant need for power, as well as in Henrik Ibsen’s play, An Enemy of the People. A power struggle is a circumstance in which individuals compete for control over others whom they see as below themselves. Piggy in Lord of the Flies asks, “what makes things break up like they do?” (Golding 139) in reference to why a society can fail. Literature demonstrates that societies quickly crumble when they no longer have a trustworthy leader to uphold the rules and ideals. A power struggle between two headstrong …show more content…
In Lord of the Flies, Ralph is elected chief of the island and symbolizes a democratic, fair leader. Ralph wants what is best for all the children on the island and sets up goals that will lead to long term success. Ralph becomes a person that the other children on the island look up to. Ralph’s role on the island symbolizes a popular and liked democratic leader who wants the best for the society they are leading. For example, Ralph recognizes that they, “want to have fun,” but also that they “want to be rescued” (Golding 37). Although Ralph is a popularly elected leader, his contrast Jack challenges his methods of leadership. Jack is “the boy who controlled [them]” (Golding 19). Jack becomes captivated with leading the choir boys to hunt a pig, especially after his first encounter when he misses his opportunity to kill the pig but, he promises that, “next time there would be no mercy” (Golding 31). As the protagonist, Ralph is the representative of productivity and long-term success. Jack represents savagery and violence among the boys on the island. Both demonstrate a struggle to become the most powerful leader in their newfound world. Throughout the novel, Jack’s tendency toward hunting and killing took precedence to Ralph’s goal of helping others long-term. To Jack power is all he cares about, “... his mind was crowded with memories; memories of knowledge that come to [the boys] …show more content…
Rather than being physically violent, Peter and Dr. Stockmann disagree over what is the best for the town. Dr. Thomas Stockmann sees his town as a place of “life… promise… [and] innumerable things to work for and fight for” (Ibsen 160). Dr. Stockmann puts the good of the town before anything else and wants to do what is right. Peter Stockmann, Thomas’s brother, is the mayor of the town and chooses to take the easy way for things that will only then be fixed temporarily. Peter Stockmann technically holds the position of a democratic leader in society but chooses to disregard the ideals that come along with the title and does what best benefits his own personal agenda. For example, when Dr. Stockmann discovers the truth about the Baths, Peter tries to conceal that he was the one responsible. Dr. Stockmann realizes that, “it was owing to [Peter’s] action that both the Baths and the water-conduits were built where they are…” (Ibsen 185). Thomas Stockmann has always tried to see the best in people and his town but when it comes to this, he calls Peter out on his wrongs, “it is that what [Peter] won’t acknowledge!” (Ibsen 185). Dr. Stockmann upholds the democratic ideals and looks into the long-term plans that will benefit the town as a whole. Peter Stockmann uses underhanded tactics and disguises his self-interest as what is best for the town. Thomas
In “Lord of the Flies” Ralph has the goal of getting himself and the rest of the tribe off the island. His plan to execute it is by making a signal fire that a passing ship or boat will see to rescue them. Ralph realizes that maintaining order within their tribe is crucial to their survival and chance of being saved. As chief of their group, he assigns Jack the leader of the hunters. He then puts them in charge of keeping the signal fire lit. During this process, Jack and his boys get distracted from keeping it lit as they attempt to kill a pig. After a couple of hunts, Jack and his boys finally kill a pig and return in cheers. As they get back, Ralph gets mad at Jack saying “You and your blood Jack Merridew! You and your hunting! We might have gone home” (70). Ralph is angry with Jack because he realizes as leader that he has to make sure everyone understands their main goal, and are able to focus on that by blocking out distractions. These actions that Ralph show display why he is successful as a leader and why they accomplish the goal of getting
The Lord of the Flies is a gruesome story about young boys stranded on an island, who underwent a transformation from polite British choir boys to savage hooligans. One of the main difficulties the boys face during their adventures upon the island, is their method of government, they either follow the path of Ralph, the democratic leader whose main focus is to escape the despairing island; or Jack a power-hungry monarchical leader who won't ever take no for an answer. The two boys are constantly bickering and arguing over who deserves the leader-position. We all understand Ralph wants to be leader so that he can ensure that the boys will return back home, but in Jack's case, it is a constant mystery to us about why he wants power over the other children. But we do get much small hints from the author, William Golding, that Jack's biggest fear among the other children on the island is public humiliation. This becomes more and more evident the farther on into the book, and his fear seems to be what persuades him to reach for a powerful position.
We all want to live in a world where we have freedom, rights, opinions and democracy gives us that. In the book Lord of the Flies, Ralph’s democratic leadership style is much better than Jack’s dictator leadership style because everyone has equal rights and that is fair. Firstly, Ralph gives everyone on the island a chance to express their opinion and contribute. Secondly, getting rescued is the most important thing for Ralph. Last but not least, Jack is very self centered and selfish. He is rude and inconsiderate. He doesn’t care about anyone but himself.
Power is very dangerous, as shown in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. The novel explores the use of power in both the hands of good and evil and for success and for failure. Also, how some characters respond to having power. An examination of William Golding’s LOTF will show how fear is powerful and how the characters use that to their advantage. Also, the power shifts between the characters and the aftermath of that.
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.
The Lord of the Flies, in its’ most basic form, is the struggle between two sides of humanity. We have Ralph, who is the epitome of civilization, democracy, and rationality. And yet there is a flip-side to the coin of society. Jack Merridew is everything that Ralph is not. He is savagery, he is dictatorship, and he is irrationality. Jack spotlights Ralph’s strengths, through his own errors and weaknesses. And yet he also shows Ralph’s naiveté at times. Ralph and Jack complement each other throughout the novel, and indeed they thoroughly illuminate the meaning of the work. They are civilization versus savagery. They are democracy versus dictatorship. They are rationality versus irrationality. And it is just a matter of time before one of them overwhelms the other.
“The Lord of the Flies” is a skillfully crafted novel about the struggle for power when there is a lack of authority. Author William Golding weaves an elaborate story about a group of children struggling to survive on a remote island with no adults. As the characters are developed and the plot is progressed, the manners and customs from society that the boys had grown up with slowly fades from their lifestyle. As the time the boys spend on the island increases, their decline towards savagery becomes increasingly evident. As a direct result of the lack of adult supervision on the island, the children decline into savagery and the customs of civilization are slowly eroded.
Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies, William Golding is able to touch on the many aspects of our civilization through the various characters he creates. Leadership plays a very important role in the novel as it does in real life because the characters need to feel some sense of security in order for them to survive. The two main leaders in the story, through their similar and different leadership characteristics and objectives fight back and forth to gain the discipline of the other boys on the island and generally the power to make the decisions that they feel should be made. Both leaders, Jack and Ralph, experience leading the group in their own style, which is similar in their desire for control yet different pertaining to their leadership qualities and their objectives while on the island.
Ralph is one of the few boys who realize that the only way to survive is through peace and order. Because he summons the boys at the beginning of the novel with the conch he and Piggy find, they look upon him as the most responsible of the boys and elect him as a chief over the humiliated Jack. Ralph creates a stable and peaceful society for the children to live; this significantly bothers Jack because he wants to have fun and do things that he never did back in the civilized society. Jack is eventually successful of pulling nearly all of the children out of Ralph’s control to form savages. Ralph represents the civilization, and Jack represents the primitive society.
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.
We’re strong- we hunt! If there’s a beast, we’ll hunt it down! We’ll close in and beat and beat and beat- !’”(Golding 99). This passage states Jack’s need is to kill and this is the foundation of the rebellion against Ralph’s rules and respect. This states the desperation and the hate for Ralph and his position as the chief. This passion for hunting and killing, for Jack, was from the beginning of the novel Lord of the Flies since the time Jack wanted the duty as the hunter till the end of the novel when Ralph was being hunted. Mainly his fellow hunters appreciate this hunting skill from Jack and to get the littluns attention, he proceeds with his speech about hunting the beastie whom the littluns fear the most. Another advantage for Jack is the pig feasts, which many boys desire to have their dinner to fill their hunger thoughts. To bring the boys to his control, he extorted the boys saying in order to deserve a piece of meat they must listen to him only. Many boys already have interest on feasting upon the pigs again and they are addicted to meat. Lastly, the minor advantage for Jack is Ralph himself. Ralph is excessively forgiving and he realizes his mistake after he has no power over the group of
Throughout William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies there is an ever-present conflict between two characters. Ralph's character combines common sense with a strong desire for civilized life. Jack, however, is an antagonist with savage instincts, which he cannot control. Ralph's goals to achieve a team unit with organization are destroyed by Jack's actions and words that are openly displayed to the boys. The two leaders try to convince the boys that their way of survival is correct.
In William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies Ralph though not the stronger person, demonstrates a better understanding of people than Jack which gives him better leadership qualities. Ralph displays these useful human qualities as a leader by working towards the betterment of the boys' society. He knows the boys need stability and order if they are to survive on the island. He creates rules and a simple form of government to achieve this order. Jack does not treat the boys with dignity as Ralph does. Ralph understands that the boys, particularly Piggy, have to be given respect and must be treated as equals. This makes Ralph a better leader as he is able to acknowledge that he was not superior to any of the other boys. Ralph's wisdom and ability to look to the future also make him a superior leader. Ralph has the sense to keep his focus on getting off the island. He insists on keeping the fire burning as a distress signal. Ralph's leadership provides peace and order to the island while Jack's leadership makes chaos.
Contrasting Ralph and Jack in Lord of the Flies & nbsp;& nbsp; & nbsp; Ralph and Jack are both powerful and meaningful characters in William Golding's novel, Lord of the Flies. Ralph is an excellent leader; responsible, and stands for all that is good. Jack is a destructive hunter, selfish, and represents evil. These two main characters can be compared by the actions they take as leaders, their personalities, and what they symbolize in the story. & nbsp; 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.&nbs Rules and standards are set when Ralph is the chief. He orders the group to build the basic necessities of civilization, shelters, and most importantly to keep the fire going, in hope that they will be rescued and return to humanity. " But I tell you that smoke is more important than the pig, however often you kill one" (Golding 75). Jack, on the other hand, takes on the idea of every man for himself. He does not care about making homes, only about hunting. When Jack is the leader, evil takes over and all good is destroyed. Under Jack's power both Simon and Piggy are killed. & nbsp; Not only do the two character's decisions clash so do their personalities. Ralph is caring and considerate, being kinder to Piggy, making friends with him and constantly confid Ralph represents law, order, organized society and moral integrity. Throughout the novel he is constantly making common-sense rules for the boys to follow. Unlike Ralph, Jack is unkind, caring about no one
and he is the person who first tries to create an order on the island. In some ways Ralph's motivation for being a good, powerful leader is his longing for home. Ralph's relationship with another boy on the island, Jack is very important also. From the beginning of the book Ralph takes charge over his newly acquainted companion Piggy. When he calls the other boys together he takes control over the entire group and