Leadership In Lord Of The Flies Essay

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One single drop of water can lead to a tsunami of change. Many stories, if tweaked ever so slightly, have the ability to bend and warp into a whole new one. The novel Lord of The Flies written by William Golding tells the story of a group of boys that find themselves stranded on a deserted island. They elect a leader to help them survive and attempt to cultivate a working society. At the start of the book the character Ralph was selected to be chief attributable to his possession of a conch used to call meetings, and had successfully created order among the group. His FOIL character Jack Merridew pioneered the downfall of this otherwise systematic group. Despite Ralph possessing adequate leadership skills, a significant difference could have …show more content…

In account of Ralph’s ability to lead, he is considered to be a remarkable forefront ascribable to his personable demeanor. Notwithstanding the fact that he was responsible and thought through each and every decision he made, he was incapable of making a choice on the fly and thinking clearly in times of need. This is shown in the quote “I can't decide what to do straight off,” (Golding 20). On the other hand, Jack was shown to already be leading a group of choir boys. He believes and states that he should be selected to lead in view of his positions prior to them being on the island. With the selection of Ralph, Jack became angry, almost jealous that he would no longer be considered a higher power. Pulled under the flood of his rage, Jack later appoints himself as the boys’ superior and successfully forms a group larger than Ralph’s. It's feasible that Jack being chief initially could have prevented the boys’ as well as his own descent into mental derangement. The reason being he would have been granted leadership instead of being gifted an entrance to a fit of …show more content…

He does this by successfully retrieving a source of protein for the boys. While Ralph did provide various fruits in his venture to advocate against the slaughter of the pigs on the island, Jack was apt to feed the boys and make sure they were all able to get food. This is shown in the line, “Has everyone eaten as much as they want?” (Golding 165). He constructed his tribe and corroborated that each person had a role and was capable of providing for the group. In contrast, Ralph was able to create a more positive outlook and map out a plan for rescue; nevertheless, he eventually lost his ability to excogitate. Over time Ralph continuously loses more and more of his leadership authority, partly effectuated by himself and partly engendered by Jack’s uprising influence on the