Jack And Ralph's Government In Lord Of The Flies

A Comparison of Jack and Ralph’s Different Governments Aristotle once said, “Different men seek after happiness in different ways and by different means, and so make for themselves different modes of life and form of government”. The Greek philosopher’s words explain that people have various ways to be happy and in order to reach that happiness, they will change how they live and how they rule just for themselves. In the novel, Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, the two “chiefs”, Ralph and Jack, both create seperate ways of living and ruling on the island due to their wants. Throughout the book, it is seen that Jack and Ralph are constantly fighting over how the rest of the boys should be in their tribe and whose wants are more important.

From the beginning, Ralph always wanted communication within the tribe and cared about the boys’ opinions. He implemented rules which helped secure order at meetings and gave the rest of the boys a chance to voice their thoughts. Ralph was able to prove his concern for the boys’ thoughts by risking his position as chief. From this, it is understood that Ralph was a selfless leader who was constantly putting survival and the boys before his high position. As seen throughout the novel, communication was a major belief Ralph had and every time something went wrong, he called a meeting to make sure everyone knew the issue and knew how they could fix it. When Ralph said, “‘I’m calling an assembly [...] With the conch. I’m calling a meeting even if we have to go on into the dark. Down on the platform. When I blow it. Now,’” (Golding 75), he was displaying consistency and communication. Ralph always confronted issues, which reveals he was a strong leader and doesn’t let things go

His approach of leading did not support the rescue of the boys, but supported the savagery within. Jack’s lack of interest in a functioning society helped shape the dictatorship type of government that he ran. When Jack allowed his hunters to leave the signal fire to go hunt, it resulted in the fire going out and them missing the chance to be rescued when a ship passed. This action displayed how Jack only thought about what he wanted and not the rest of the boys. Jack’s inferior treatment to the boys on the island forced them to obey him and allowed them to believe that everything he did was acceptable. As the boys’ respect for Jack grew, the more savage Jack became, and the stronger his power came to be. Golding supports the idea of Jack acting like a king or a god when he wrote, “Before the party had started a great log had been dragged into the center of the lawn and Jack, painted and garlanded, sat there like an idol” (148-149). Jack’s savage actions and dictator qualities displays how he ruled as a