Leadership In Lord Of The Flies

The decisions of just one single person can lead to the success of his civilization, or it can lead to the downfall. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies can be used to show the importance and effects of a leader’s choices. During a raging war, a plane filled with British schoolboys crashes into an uninhabited island and only the children survive. At first, the boys appoint Ralph, a charismatic boy, as chief and are excited at the thought of freedom. However, their feelings change when they attempt to overcome the challenges that come with the island. While the boys face the difficulty of building shelters, disagreements between group members, and the possibility of a beast lurking in the shadows of the island, their humanity and childlike innocence

On the contrary, Ralph is a better chef because he cares about the welfare and safety of his followers and is completely focused on their desire to escape the island unlike Jack, who is selfish and leads the boys into making wrong decisions. When Jack induces the boys to forget their duty of lighting a signal fire, it causes them to lose sight of the only way they can survive, but Ralph reminds them that “[...] the smoke is more important than the pig, however often you kill one. Do all of you see? [...] We’ve got to make smoke up there- or die” (Golding 81). He realizes that by lighting a fire to signal ships, the children can be saved and travel back to their home. By prioritizing the fire above everything else, Ralph is an intelligent chief because he is completely focused on everyone’s safety and understands that ultimately, the fire is more important for the boys than a fun hunting session. On the other hand, Jack only cares about hunting and killing pigs, not about saving other people’s lives. Commanders must be focused on their main goal and Jack does not even care about the boys’ main goal. The amount of supporters do not determine the quality of a leader, but the choices they make do; Jack does not make the right decisions. Therefore, there is no argument that Ralph is a more suitable to be leader than