An individual by the name of Donald McGannon once said, “Leadership is an action, not a position.” In order for a leader to know what needs to be achieved and be able to relentlessly drive to complete it, they must exhibit different qualities and abilities that will be beneficial and vital to their success. This is important in view of the fact that it prompts and inspires others to be able to follow in their example. In Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, after a group of boys crash onto a deserted island, an example of this is seen through Ralph, who best exhibits good leadership qualities that will help bring the boys to safety and rescue. This is especially in comparison to the power-hungry Jack Merridew. The three main leadership qualities …show more content…
Unfortunately, it is because of his age and lack of experience that he understandably fails to maintain order when the constraints of civilization are overpowered by the boys’ savage impulses. Had they listened to him, many wiser decisions would have been made regarding their survival. Firstly, a notable trait that distinguishes Ralph from the other children on the island is his ability to think more rationally. As the boys become influenced by Jack’s rule, they regress into uncivilized savages that lack discipline. Whereas, Ralph is wisely able to keep the boys under order, which is particularly apparent through the meetings that he regularly holds. It is in those meetings that circumstances can be confronted with rationality and equanimity. For example, Ralph instructs the boys with, “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking,” (Golding 36). By saying this, Ralph enforces his role of a leader by making rules for the boys on the island to …show more content…
In spite of this, this novel proves that civilization has the power to keep one’s innate cruelty under control. The instance of a society running rampant with evil is seen when the group of boys abandon the civilized behaviors of the adult world, and predominately begin to take in Jack’s vicious influence on them. Thus, as the boys began to act more barbaric and savage, they do not feel the need to listen to Ralph's wisdom and guidance anymore. If they had listened to him, Piggy and Simon, in all likelihood, would not have had to die, and many wise plans would have been followed. Overall, the author reveals that due to the savage and violent nature of humans, qualities of physical power are more prominent than the often under looked qualities of civility and common intelligence in
According to Peter Drucker, he claims, “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes.” Leadership is a commitment that is meant to be kept and done accurately. Leading a group or a society can lead to dreadful obstacles, but it’s your responsibility to have a solution to end. Ralph and Jack as a leader cause a majority of downhill for the boys. Affecting themselves and their surroundings to abruptly fall into pieces. Which lead to a mass destruction of the island, Lord of the Flies. The devastating events on this island lead to the massive chaos of Lord of the Flies, blaming Ralph and Jack for denial, lack of cooperation and inefficient leadership.
There are two different types of leaders: one who is loved by the people while acts responsibly and one who is feared by the people while being respected. These forms of leadership are shown throughout Lord of the Flies with Ralph and Jack. Niccolò Machiavelli uses The Prince to discuss how a leader should act and what leadership style is the most effective. Machiavelli clearly illustrates the types of leaders Ralph and Jack are by providing examples from ancient history.
As Ralph is trying to hide from them overnight, he wonders, “Might it not be possible to walk boldly into the fort… pretend they were still boys, schoolboys who had said, ‘Sir, yes, sir’- and worn caps? Daylight might have answered yes; but darkness and the horrors of death said no” (186). No matter how hard Ralph tries, he cannot discard his new knowledge of Jack and his tribe’s potential for evil and corruption. For a long time Ralph seems to be in denial; like many others, he seems to want to stay true to his belief in the overall goodness of the human heart. Ralph’s expectations for human kindness are finally challenged to the point of irreversibility when Jack attacks him and tries to pursue him on a vicious manhunt. When Ralph collapses on the beach and a naval officer arrives, “With filthy body, matted hair, and unwiped nose, Ralph wept for the end of innocence, [and] the darkness of man’s heart...” (202). One might think it strange that rather than rejoicing over rescue, Ralph and the rest of the boys cry out in grief. The young schoolboys come to understand the enormity of human greed and evil, and unfortunately it is a lesson that they will not be able to ignore or forget. They witness and play a role in their own loss of innocence, and the time they spend on the island teaches them what
Ralph likes to enforce the rules and get things done and likes to establish rules. In the text it states, “‘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 around the mouth. ‘Then I’ll give him the conch.’ ‘Conch?’ ‘That’s what this shell’s called. I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.’... ‘And he won’t be interrupted: Except by me’” (Golding 33). This demonstrates that Ralph likes make and enforce the rules and likes to have order. Ralph likes to be as civil as possible and doesn’t like the boys acting like
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.
Ralph’s ultimate goal is rescue and it is through his establishment of order that the boys temporarily remain sane. For example, when Ralph first finds the conch, he intends on blowing it to call and organize the boys for an assembly. This characterizes Ralph as a logical leader who leads by regulation. This shows the importance of organization to Ralph, which is how a leader should think, caring about all his people. In addition, he begins to build shelters after a while on the island so they can have protection against the strong heat or rain on the island. Shelter is one of the basic necessities for life and Ralph’s action of building those shows his commitment and hope for survival until they can become rescued. Furthermore, during their first assembly, Ralph suggests to build a fire so that if ships pass by they can see the smoke, as a sign of life. This is significant because it shows Ralph’s priority of rescue. It additionally shows not only does Ralph rule by order, but also with respect. He wants the other boys to obey his order, not by force, but because they respect him, as they should do to thei...
“A leader or hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself” (Joseph Campbell). A leader is there to, manage, guide and provide assistance to a group in a situation. I Believe The best leaders in the world are those that put themselves before others and not doing it just for attention. Most, people tend to look up to the strongest and attractive person to follow, but that is not always the best option for them. In Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Ralph and Jack the two main characters both display good leadership skills during different phases of the book.But, I believe Ralph displays specific characteristics that define him as a more mature leader. He was a great leader in many ways because of his
A good leader is someone that can take responsibility, and be in charge of who they are leading; this doesn’t mean that these ideas have to be right and moral. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, some critics argue that Jack is a better leader than Ralph, while others believe that Ralph has the upper hand on leading over Jack. Even though many readers feel that Ralph is the best leader, it is clearly shown through evidence that Jack is the more superior leader.
Much like the article, The Teenage Brain, Ralph would be faced with making serious choices that would have serious consequences. In chapter two, he lays down the rules for the boys about keeping the rules and using the conch, as well as the rescue. He knows there needs to be some sort of order on the island if they are going to survive. He sets up a simple form of leadership and creates straightforward rules. Although this doesn’t last very long, it still shows Ralph is a better leader than Jack. Unfortunately, Ralph soon finds that simply saying, “I’m chief”, isn’t enough, there must be people to enforce the rules. (Golding 23) Ralph is constantly keeping his mind on the most important goal, to be rescued. When the fire goes out, Ralph gets upset because he feels their only hope of being rescued is gone. He enforces his leadership and surprisingly gives the boys a sense of stability and continues to help them work together. Seemingly, Jack continuously causes chaos on the
Ralph is elected leader as he calls the boys on the island with the conch. Immediately, it is clear that Ralph and Jack do not get along. Jack has his own group of boys, the choir. The two boys even argue who should be leader. Tension arises as Ralph is elected leader. Ralph has an exact idea of what the boys should do doing on the island. There is to be a constant fire, water in coconut shells, shelter builders and hunters. The only issue is no one is following the rules Ralph as constituted, destroying Ralphs democracy idea. Ralph conjured a meeting to discuss inefficiency on the island. Jack suddenly questioned how the leader was controlling the boys, why is there to be rules? This is when Ralph lost it, “Ralph summoned his wits. ‘Because rules are the only thing we’ve got’” (91). Ralph and Jack have extremely different personalities and ways of ruling over the boys. Ralph listens to everyone in meeting, and takes everything into consideration. He even uses Piggy and Simon for reason and support during meetings. Ralph treats each boy with respect. Even though he told everyone the fat boy’s name was Piggy, he was truly sorry for what he did. Jack, on the other side, is violent and uses intimidation to scare the boys. He thinks his ideas are the best, and values no other opinions. Nothing is up for consideration when Jack is leader of
At the beginning of the boys’ time on the island, they form a democracy that was ruled by Ralph. He called for order and did not enforce any of the rules he put in place. “Not for these things, But to put things straight” (Goulding 79). This quote shows the order in Ralph’s rule. It also shows that he is the voice of productivity and civilization on the island. Compared to Ralph, Jack is savage and bloodthirsty and is much more powerful and able to control the boys. The boys needed a strong monarch to control them and as Ralph was not strong enough to control them, his rule crumbled to make way for Jack’s reign. Jack does not believe that order and logic is the right way to rule. “He says things like Piggy. He isn’t a proper chief” (Goulding 126). To Jack, strength and fear are more important to leadership and because Ralph, like Piggy, uses rationality and reason, he is not suited to be the boys’ leader. Goulding demonstrates his belief that people need a strong monarch to rule them through his illustrations of a disputed
Leadership is required in order for a group to succeed. In the book, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of British boys are left stranded on a tropical island. They are faced with many difficulties as the young boys must discover a way to survive until they are rescued. The boys quickly forget about social norms and disregard rules that their parents have taught them. Then a charismatic boy named, Ralph, is elected leader of the group and rules with a conch shell that he uses to call meetings. However, this presents a problem as the choirboys already have a leader named Jack. Jack feels as if he is more qualified to be leader and ultimately, Jack splits from Ralph's group. The two groups quarrel throughout the novel, but Ralph is
“You could see now that he might make a boxer, as far as width and heaviness of shoulders went, but there was a mildness about his mouth and eyes that proclaimed no devil”(Golding 10). Ralph was born a leader and thus is why he is elected. Throughout the novel, Ralph endures and endeavors for society that abides by the rules and laws. He urges, “We need an assembly. Not for fun. Not for laughing or falling off the log, not for making jokes, or for cleverness. Not for these things. But to put things straight” (Golding 79). Ralph has good morals and worthy intentions in being that he wants to help for the good of society. This law abiding mentality categorizes Ralph within Kohlberg’s Level Two, Stage Three of Developmental Stages. In this level of Kohlberg’s theory, a person is “oriented to abiding by the law and responding to the obligations of duty.” According to literary critic S.J. Boyd, “One of Ralph's problems as chief is that the boys fail to abide by the rule” (Boyd). This is true because even though rules are needed for a functioning society a good leader should be able to control his people. Ralph represents the conch in the story because the conch is what brought the boys together and Ralph symbolizes law, order, and authority” (Barger 1). Ralph is a noble leader and tries his best to help all the boys as a whole unlike Jack. Ralph had morals, but he emphasized
Ralph’s loss of order results in the inability for him to be trusted by the littluns, eventually leading to his fall from authority as a leader. Jack’s aggressive presence creates a common fear among the boys, and fear is the primary reason for his gain of control over both them and the island. Using his selfishness and impulsiveness in order to take advantage of the boys’ innocence, Jack develops leadership qualities which emphasize Ralph’s insecurities regarding his ability to obtain power. This emphasis brings Ralph to disappointment in himself and in the island’s corruption. Unknowing of how to react to their loss of sophistication, Ralph is left with only “his fading knowledge of the world” (Golding 162). His failure to obtain the role as a leader leaves him unable to fix the savage mistakes in the boys whom are now ignorant to the idea of a properly civilized society. The ideas of power and earning superiority over Jack distract Ralph, demonstrating his distinct values as an individual. Although the principles by which he lives are conducted under circumstances revolved around escaping the island, his individualistic approach to survival opportunities being evident through the isolation of Piggy. It is only when his death is upon Ralph that Piggy’s existence is recognized, confirming his value of self-involvement over companionship. The older boys see immaturity in the littluns because of their age and, consequently, lack of independence. Their weakness causes them to follow Jack even though they are fearful of his intimidating appearance and his potential as a powerful, evil force. Therefore, because of the littluns’ vulnerability, Jack is able to develop power in evil, resulting in
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