Leadership in The Lord of the Flies
As Donald H. McGannon says, "Leadership is action, not position." In the novel The Lord of the Flies, author William Golding shows how one boy, named Ralph, takes action from the beginning and is proven to be the best leader on the island in the end. Even though Jack takes control at the end of the novel, Ralph would overall make the best leader. At the end of the novel Jack takes control over the boys through force and leaves Ralph to fight for himself. Ever since the beginning Ralph is the leader of the boys and then Jack starts to be seen trying to establish order. For instance, at one point Jack and Ralph argue over who called the meeting. "I've called the assembly,' said Jack,' because of a lot of things. First of all you know now, we've seen the beast. We crawled up. We were only a few feet away. The beast sat up and looked at us. I don't know what it does. We don't even know what it is" (125). Jack is leading the discussion and he addresses the fears of the boys, which shows that he is trying to win them over. He is starting to do things that Ralph would normally do. Jack also falsely accuses Ralph of things that he did not actually say just to make him look mean. "I've got the conch. Ralph thinks you a
The stillness of Ralph is particularly important because it shows that he is one of a kind in a way that made him stand out. Next Ralph calls meetings to discuss many various problems that they are having and to establish rules. re cowards, running away from the boar and the beast. "Samneric were savages like the rest; Piggy was dead, and the conch had smashed to powder" (186). First of all him having the conch shows that he is taking order. We can't have everybody talking at once. In order to be rescued he knows that their needs to be one specific person to keep everyone in line. Ralph is trying to establish civilization on this uncivilized island by using ideas from their normal everyday lives. The boys have to decide about being rescued and Ralph says, "Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things" (22). The conch symbolizes power and order and since Ralph had blown it that made him look all the better. Jack wins power by forcing the boys to believe that he is the best leader. In the end Ralph's genuine intelligence is confirmed to be dominant when they are rescued only because of one of his brilliant ideas. Since Ralph is relying on Piggy's intelligence this is one characteristic of a good leader.
Common topics in this essay:
Ralph Who's,
Piggy Ralph,
Jack Ralph,
Ralph Symbolizes,
William Golding,
Ralph Jack,
McGannon Leadership,
novel ralph,
Lord Flies,
jack takes control,
throughout novel ralph,
throughout novel,
leader novel,
jack takes,
takes control,
stillness ralph,
trying establish,
island ralph's,
leader island,
|
Acceptance Essays
