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Leadership In Lord Of The Flies

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Leadership Essay What qualities make somebody a good leader? And how might one leader be better than another? In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Ralph is shown to be the leader of all the boys trapped on the island. In the TV series The 100 by Jason Rothenburg, Clarke becomes the leader of the ninety-nine other teenagers sent down from the Ark. Although both of these characters prove to be the best leaders for their groups, once one compares these characters side by side, it is evident who is the better leader. Clarke is a better leader than Ralph because she prioritizes the group’s well-being over her own. Clarke is a better leader than Ralph because she not only cares about herself but also cares about the well-being of …show more content…

When all the boys first arrived on the island, Ralph's first instinct was to make sure they survived. This led to him making a fire and coming up with the idea that they “got to have special people for looking after the fire” he also believed that “any day there may be a ship out there [...] and if [they] have a signal going [someone will] come and take [them] off” (Golding 42). It is shown in this quote that Ralph really did care about getting everybody off the island. Some people may interpret this as Ralph cared about all of the boy's safety since he was willing to create the fire and make rules that make sure it stays lit as well as keeping hope that they will be rescued. However, it is clear that Ralph is not the better leader because he is unable to come up with solutions in stressful situations. After Jack ran away due to the boys refusing to go against Ralph, Piggy was the one who was helping Ralph come up with what to do next since they discovered the beast. Piggy could tell Ralph was upset so he came up with a solution on his own and told Ralph they’ll “need to stay close to the platform [since] there’ll be less need of [Jack] and his hunting” but Ralph only responded with “There’s no help, Piggy. Nothing to be done” (Golding 128). Once a challenge arises, Ralph is quick to give up and refuses to come up with any solutions, this includes ignoring the solution Piggy gave him. The counterclaim fails to support this evidence because if Ralph truly cares about the safety of the group, he would be able to come up with a solution when they really need one. Even though one might say Ralph is the better leader because he cares about everybody's safety, it is evident that he isn’t since he is unable to come up with solutions in stressful or difficult

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In the Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of British boys are stranded on an uninhabited island and try to govern themselves. The leader of the group is Ralph, the main representative of order, civilization, and productive leadership. Ralph exhibits the traits of an excellent leader throughout the novel by being kind, responsible, and determined. Because of the aforementioned traits, the boys feel safe and even hopeful about being rescued.

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Towards the beginning of the book, when they are discussing plans for survival, Ralph mentions, “If a ship comes near the island, they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire.” This is one of the first things Ralph mentions after landing on the island which shows that rescue is the main thing on his mind. He thinks logically, strategically, and has his priorities straight, making him a more effective leader.

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In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, there are many possible leaders. Ralph’s adversary on the Island had been Jack, who had been pushing to take over as leader. This caused a lot of controversy among the common people on who is the more powerful leader, rather than the most effective. Throughout the book Ralph has proven to be the better leader in two ways; he’s civilized and organized.

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Good leaders skillfully manage tense topics and situations. In Lord of the Flies, Ralph is the best leader because he is selfless, appreciative of others, and diplomatic. The first good leadership quality Ralph possesses is selflessness, he prioritizes everyone’s safety and comfort over his own desires. Jack returns to the beach from hunting to see Ralph working on the shelters with only help from Simon.

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A leader is a person who commands and is followed. A good leader is a person who is selfless, flexible and smart among many other qualities. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the character Ralph has proven to be an effective leader by showing his ability to gain and show respect and prioritize what is important for everybody on the island. Respect is the feeling of admiration towards somebody for their abilities, qualities, or achievements. Ralph has managed to obtain the kids respect as well as transmit it.

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Everyone on the island for the most part voted for Ralph to be the leader right away, so it is possible that they did not fully know Ralph and voted for him just because of first impressions. After he becomes leader, he did show great care for everyone and did what was best for everyone and that was one of the reasons why he made the signal fire, so they could potentially get saved. Making the signal fire shows all the boys that choosing Ralph was a good choice because he is responsible. Another example that shows why they could have second thoughts about Ralph being the leader is because Ralph simply isn’t providing the proper necessities to survive. For example, Ralph ran out of food, because he never killed a pig.

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Although Ralph seemed to be a leader but he never really took control of his power and authority as leader. From the outside Ralph was good looking and seemed to be the best candidate as a leader. But soon after he began to show that he may not have been the best choice for leader, he gave up very easily. Ralph decided that he wanted to build a fire on the island that would double as a smoke signal. He assigned Jack and his hunters to keep the fire going and they failed to do it.

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Ralph makes way more rational decisions than Jack, and his solutions to problems always have a better outcome. Since we see Jack desperate for people to join his tribe, and when someone refuses, he orders his followers to "Go on [and] tie them" (Golding 179) and then proceed to torture them until they finally do join the tribe. Jack is a ruthless leader who is willing to do whatever, abuse power, and go on to make the most irrational decisions only to accomplish his single goal, to become the absolute leader. While Ralph is seen with only a few followers, he makes reasonable and rational decisions. For example, after Piggy's glasses get stolen, Ralph suggests, "... take the conch to say this.

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Ralph’s clear ability to assess situations and make the decisions that would best help the group is a reason why he is a better leader.. According to Peter Economy, “They [Leaders]

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Some boys are born natural leaders and some are natural followers, but one big problem is that two boys , Jack and Ralph, want to lead the group. Ralph would be a better leader than Jack because he has better qualities for leading and has not completely lost his sanity. To begin with, Ralph would be a better leader than Jack because throughout the book he wants to focus on the boys main goal of being rescued along with being able to listen to ideas from other boys. Jack wants to do other less important actions like hunting pigs, stealing from others, and killing the beast.

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Or that Ralph really communicates with the boys, and he is confident and dedicated to being the leader. To begin with, Ralph is a better leader than Jack because he has a clear vision and goal to be rescued. A clear vision, according to the text titled “The Traits of Good and Bad Leaders” means “vivid picture of where to go, as well as a firm grasp on what success looks like and how to achieve it.” Ralph knows where he wants to go, and that is being rescued.

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This is a terrible leadership quality. A third reason why Ralph’s style of leadership is better is that Ralph knew what was best for the boys overall. He was always looking for the boys best interest and had good intent, while Jack’s dictatorship consisted of Jack thriving off of the power making only himself feel good and trying to make that last. In the novel Lord of the Flies, there are various types of leaderships evident. Ralph and Jack, both showed a great sense of leadership on the island and towards

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956 Words | 4 Pages

Although this may be true, Jack was the one provoking Ralph, causing the chaos ultimately. Therefore, When Ralph and his tribe are going to confront Jack he forgets about the smoke, Piggy and Ralph say, “Course we have. ‘Cos smoke’s a signal and we can’t be rescued if we don’t have smoke.” “I knew that!” shouted Ralph. He pulled his arm away from Piggy.

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1078 Words | 5 Pages

What makes up a leader? In the book Lord of the Flies, whose author is William Golding, this question was not well thought through before a leader the choice a leader. Though the main characters are only little kids, they had a hard choice they had to make; they had not the slightest idea that the choice that they would make might cost some of them their lives. In the Lord of the Flies, a group of boys from an all-boys school, crash-landed on an inhabited island. Upon arriving on the island, they had to choose who would be chief.

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“No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it.” (Andrew Camegie). Lord of the flies is set after a crash landing on an island where there is no adults, no authority figure, just a group of young boys. William Golding shows the duality of leadership between two of the boys, Jack and Ralph. Based off the duality of leadership that takes place, Ralph is a better leader than Jack because of his priorities on the island.

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