Although the insular setting affects the boys in many negative ways, it provides Ralph with a heightened sense of leadership and independence resulting in respect from all of the boys and his election as chief. Ralph fills the power hiatus left by the man with the megaphone and lack of another adult figure. Upon realizing this gap, a “Delight of a realized ambition [overcomes] him” (Golding 8), and Ralph’s intrinsic desire to be a leader immediately becomes significant. Instantaneously, Ralph fills the figurehead position that the island’s disconnectedness forces upon the boys. To them, the megaphone symbolizes authority, so when Ralph blows the conch for the first time to unite the boys, a deep respect develops inherently in them for him.