Leadership: the capacity to lead; the act or instance of leading (Merriam-Webster). There is a fine line between leadership and dictatorship, a line that people often dance on. Historical figures such as Mao Zedong, Saddam Hussein, Heinrich Himmler, and Adolf Hitler were all labeled as dictators. These men rose to power by manipulating others and sharing beliefs that did not correlate with good morals. In the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Jack rises to power through the same methods used by famous dictators. Jack is implacable as he tries to be the leader of the boys. Jack argues with Ralph and the boys when he is not chosen to be their leader. Jack says, “‘I ought to be chief...‘because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp’” (Golding 22). This shows that although Ralph is more qualified and wanted for the position, Jack believes that he would be the better leader. He has no regard for what …show more content…
Instead of helping Ralph build shelters, he goes into the forest with the hunters and tries to get meat. In the novel, they disagree about which is a priority; “‘Next time! I’ve got to get a barb on this spear! We wounded a pig and the spear fell out. If we could only make the barbs-’ ‘We need shelters’” (51). Jack’s actions show how he has no regard to Ralph’s wants and what would ultimately be best for the group. Jack’s influence over the boys is so powerful that he is able to convince them to kill Ralph. When Ralph asks Sam what is going to happen when they find him, Sam responds with, “‘Roger sharpened a stick at both ends’” (190). This means that Jack plans to decapitate him and put his head on a stick to put in the sand. This is the same thing they did with the pig they killed, The Lord of the Flies. Evidently, Jack manipulates the boys into working with him in bringing down the last semblances of civilization on the
Jack’s statement “I ought to be chief,” displays an initiative to be ruler. This is true especially in comparison to the other boys who, besides Ralph, display no inclination to lead. Jack boasts about his prior leadership position and singing ability in England to swiftly convince the boys that he is qualified to lead. Furthermore, the reader almost
Jack respects Ralph as a leader and another alpha, however deems himself the higher qualified to lead the group; bringing forth a vote for a chief. However, the choir boy followers weren’t strong enough in numbers to counter the seemingly endless supply of little kids that voted for Ralph. After this unexpected result, Jack develops an instant grudge towards his only competition for power. Ralph begins to form a democratic society solely focused on rescue; yet jack has other plans in agenda. Under Ralph’s seemingly boring command, Jack develops other outputs for his primal necessity of dominance. Jack begins focusing on the task of hunting animals and finding weaker beings to prey on. Jack even blatantly leaves the rescue fire to chase after a pig; had he not have done so, the group could have possibly been rescued by the boat passing by during the fire’s absence. Once Jack finally has enough of going in circles with Ralph, he makes the decision to shake off Ralph’s influence and create his own niche. Within Jack’s tribe, lifestyle is greatly different to that of one designed by Ralph. Jack and his followers seemingly devolve into primal beings, as Jack gets his fill of power. Control over others was all that Jack longed for, with a crazed and burning
Upon the arrival of the boys to the island Jack immediately found himself in the center of a power struggle. Although the conflict was brief, there was still a very obvious confrontation between
Ralph and Jack use ethos, credibility, of leadership in attempt of winning the other boys’ respect. For example, as Jack tries to gain the vote of the other boys he declares, “I ought to be chief… because I’m chapter chorister and head boy” (22). Jack feels his ability to sing and experience with controls would make him a good leader. When it comes to survival, singing will not benefit any of of the boys, so it is an unnecessary talent. He believe he has credibility as chapter chorister and head boy, so that makes him qualified for the position. Moreover, Ralph
177).” Getting what he wants, Jack gets the revote, but Ralph still wins. Most of the boys could see through the lies and exaggerations of Jack. They realized that everything he does is for the betterment of himself, not everyone else. He wants the power so he can be in control and do what is right for himself, not the others. Realizing that, they know he is not and will never fit to be the leader or chief of anything.
Even though he has some good leadership qualities, Jack is not the superior leader because he isn’t as rational and as civilized as Ralph is, and he let savagery take over. Jack kills, hurts people, and doesn’t care about other people’s opinions or feelings. As opposed to Ralph, who doesn’t hurt others and cares about respect. In conclusion, although Ralph is a good leader, Jack still shows leadership
Jack becomes obsessed with hunting and changes his appearance by painting his face to resemble a savage. He just leads his tribe to make an act of transgression like raid Ralph’s camp, steals Piggy’s glasses, and orders his gang to hunt and kill Ralph. Meanwhile, Ralph does not fall into the savagery life as Jack did, he remains determined not to let this savagery -overwhelm him, and only briefly does he consider joining Jack’s tribe in order to save himself. When Ralph hunts a boar for the first time, however, he experiences the exhilaration and thrill of bloodlust and violence. When he attends Jacks feast and participates in the killing of Simon, he starts to realize that evil exists in him as well as everyone else. This new fact made him fall into a restless despair for some time, however, this knowledge enables him to cast down the Lord of the
By disobeying Ralph’s rules, Jack is trying to weaken the rules. Jack still has an effect on the boys, and his breaking of rules weakens the their will to follow them. In a later meeting, Jack claims that Ralph “isn’t a proper chief” and that “[he’s] going off by [himself].” Jack’s departure weakens Ralph’s tribe, since the choir has been with Jack before the crash on the island, and showed loyalty to him on the island. This results in a majority of the boys abandon Ralph for Jack. Some of the non-choir boys go off with Jack’s tribe, because of the beast they want protection from. They believe his hunters will supply that. Jack is no longer under control, but is now in control. Jack’s department of the tribe, and weakening of the boy’s opinion on Ralph leads to his desire for power being satisfied.
Jack tries to tell the entire group that Ralph is a coward who doesn't deserve to be a leader. He asks everybody to kick him out as their leader and to accept himself as the new leader. As the boys are very scared, they do not raise their hand to agree with Jack. This makes Jack very angry and he decides that he can no longer stay with Ralph, and goes to the other end of the island. As many of the boys want meat, they slowly start leaving over time to join Jack's new group. Jack and his followers create a lot of conflict because of this new group. Jack, the self-appointed leader, is the cause of the murder of two kids in the book. Jack, the self-appointed leader, is at conflict with Ralph because he enjoys having power over others, and also because he does not like the rules that Ralph has made, and instead wants to go hunting. Jack is also at conflict with Piggy, because Jack relies on instinct to make his decisions. He does not like Piggy's logical way of thinking as he feels threatened by Piggy's knowledge and wisdom. To get rid of this threat, Jack gets Roger to kill Piggy and destroy the conch at the same time. "See? See? That's what you'll get! I meant that! There isn't a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone---.".."I'm Chief." (Golding 1996, 223). Jack says this right after the murder of Piggy and the destruction of the conch. It shows that Jack really is a very savage person, who is not at al suited to be a leader.
The effect of authority is reflected in the character of Ralph, through his struggle to maintain his power. After the hunters brag about killing their first pig, Ralph declares “there was a ship. Out there. You said you’d keep the fire going and you let it out!” (74). The authority he wields over the boys is beginning to diminish through the boy’s refusal to follow his orders. Ralph makes it clear they must keep a fire burning in order to be rescued, yet the boys who are tasked with tending to it disobey their command. As Ralph’s power is pulled away from him, the majority of the boys turn to a leader who they believe will protect them. During Ralph’s flee from the savage camp, Sam and Eric warn Ralph that “they’re going to hunt you down
However “ ‘ I ought to be chief,’ said Jack with simple arrogance, because I’m chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.” (Pg18) Jack will hardly adopt others’ suggestions and he wants everything in controlled. Jack is like a dictator but Ralph is more civilized from he always thinking about the others and the rescue.
This leads to many conflicts amongst the boys but mainly leads to a conflict involving Jack. Jack strives to be the leader of the group and bullies anyone he can because Jack needs to feel that sense of power and authority that comes along with leadership. At a meeting that Ralph calls, Jack tries to undermine Ralph and his leadership, “And you shut up! Who are you, anyway? Sitting there telling people what to
Jack, negatively portrayed in comparison to Ralph, tempts the boys with an array of forbidden treats, indulging their most violent, suppressed desires in an attempt to lull them away from the security of Ralph. In a sense, Jack is negatively compared to Ralph throughout the novel, and is often portrayed as confused and violent, very aware of the evil inside of him: “The real problem that arises among the boys involves their own inner nature…” (Johnston 2). When his plan fails, Jack feels as though his seat of power is threatened and therefore resorts to terrorizing, threatening and essentially forcing the boys to join him and align themselves against Ralph, alienating them from their former, comfortable life-style and thus making what they once failed to appreciate all the more desirable.
It is clear that Jack is a better leader than Ralph because he is more of a demanding, manipulative person. From the time the boys landed on the island, Jack was in control of the choir. “The other boys, led by Jack, run off in disorganized excitement to light the signal fire”(Reilly, 3). This quote shows
Ralph's antithesis in the novel is Jack, the book's antagonist. Jack is uncompromising as well as domineering and represents impulsive savagery and violence; he has a desire and craving for power, which is shown early in the book when he is infuriated that he loses the election of island leader to Ralph. However, Jack soon learns how to become the real leader over all of the boys. He begins by instinctively appealing to their base instincts, becoming more savage and barbaric; he hunts pigs and obsesses over this violence. He eventually learns to control the boys with their fear of the beast. Jack is the quintessential example of one who misuses free will; Jack chooses to use his knowledge and power to bring out the savagery in the little ones. Jack's savage mindset becomes even more power-hungry and violent after he kills his first pig, "His mind was crowded with memories; memories