Jack And Ralph's Leadership In Lord Of The Flies

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In the Novel, Lord of the Flies, there are two boys that take on leadership roles while stranded on an island. They both want to be in control and have the power, but they have a contrast in the way that they gain control and gain their position. While Ralph’s leadership is taking a more democratic approach, Jack’s is more like a dictatorship. When comparing the two, one clearly is more effective than the other.

Instead of forcing his leadership on everyone, Ralph decides that they should have a vote, and leaves it up to the other boys to decide who should be leader. He uses the conch to bring order to everything, which also gives everyone a fair chance to talk. Ralph doesn’t just focus on his own needs, but he also shows concern for the little un's well being, and their health, he cares about everyone there with great compassion, and does anything for the group that he can. Ralph uses his role as a leader to focus on actual issues, mainly being rescued. He is always working to make sure that the fire is kept alive, so that any boats passing by can see them. He also assigns the boys to make shelter, and collect food. He doesn’t do …show more content…

After Ralph hands the role of leader of the hunter to him, Jack decides that he wants to be leader of the whole camp, and devises a plan to gain that power. He uses his skills as a hunter to assert himself above Ralph as a leader. Jack is very keen to have the rules nearer to the beginning of the novel, but he never actually keeps them. His position as a hunter excludes himself from keeping some of the smaller tasks, such as building shelters or keeping the fire. Jack usually downplayed the ideas of the little un’s, he viewed them more as babies, this led to the conflict between Jack and Ralph when the signal fire goes out. Jack doesn’t really take the time to discuss other people's opinions, and does whatever he feels is