The Poor Leadership of Ralph in Lord of the Flies In William Golding's Lord of the Flies, several boys between the ages of six and twelve are stranded on an island with no adults, and they make the decision to elect a boy named Ralph to be their leader. Ralph is an inadequate leader and is responsible for the tribulations that occur on the island. Ralph does not respect the other boys, he participated in the killing of Simon, he often puts himself before others by acting cowardly, and he fails to keep the group together which ultimately resulted in Piggy’s death. Throughout the novel, Ralph demonstrates a lack of respect for the other boys on the island. In the beginning of the novel, after Piggy asked Ralph's name, Piggy “waited to be asked …show more content…
The morning after Simon’s murder, Ralph and Piggy and discuss what they have done. Ralph realizes the extremity of his actions and confesses that “the things [Piggy and Ralph] did… were murder,” and not just just an accident as Piggy claims it to be (156,157). Although Ralph feels remorseful, he cannot change his actions and he cannot bring Simon back to life, and that cannot excuse what he has done. Successful leaders should be able to sense when something they are doing is wrong, and stop themselves and others before it gets out of control. Soon thereafter, Piggy tries to deny their involvement in Simon's death by stating that it “was an accident” and that the only reason they killed Simon is because “it was dark” and “[the boys were] scared,” but Ralph retorts that he “[was not] scared” and that he did not kill Simon because of the darkness, but out of savagery (156,157). Ralph often refers to Jack and his choir boys as savages, but he now has to come to terms with the fact that he is just like them. Ralph’s poor leadership is highlighted in this incident because a good leader certainly would not kill one of their peers. A good leader should be able to lead others out of bad and harmful situations, but instead, Ralph joins the