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Recommended: Depiction of authority in Lord of the Flies

Trevor Harmon Ms. Walsh English, Period 3 October 17, 2016 Simulated Community When Lord of the Flies was released in 1954, Golding described his point of publishing the book was to show “what a man does defiles him, not what is done by others”. Throughout the novel it is clear that Ralph and Jack have polar opposite ways to govern the boys. The boys elect Ralph as leader in Chapter 1, ‘elect’ being the important word. He decides a democracy is best, where all the boys share obligations and responsibilities. Ralph as the moderator of all the boys, would decide the rules and what can and cannot be done on the island. He knows how to get everything done on the island. Ralph even assigns Jack as head of the hunter, similar to a military leader. …show more content…

Jack uses fear and greed to scare the boys. He has no care for being rescued or getting off the island. Bribery is even used when he promised the boys meat and to kill the Beast. Jack is a dictator because he can’t be argued against and has complete control over the boys. He holds all the power in his dictatorship. Ralph makes a great attempt to prove the boys that rationality is what is needed for a good leader, but desires prevail over necessities. Jack overwhelms Ralph’s regime with his persuasion. Ralph represents the good in society, what is needed to have a functioning community. Jack illustrates the outlaws and people who disobey the law. In the end, craving to kill takes control over the boys, creating a beast within them all. Ralph in The Lord of the Flies makes unsuccessful efforts to improve island life because attempting to make a utopia out of a mock …show more content…

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

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