Arguably the most powerful leader in the world to date Genghis Khan was an immoral leader who successfully built the world's largest empire in history. There have been many leaders, some moral some not. The leaders who rule with fear and violence are more effective because people have motivation to work hard and fast. But leaders who do have morals achieve less than leaders without. In the book Lord of the Flies you can see the differences between Ralph a moral leader and Jack and moral leader and the differing outcomes of both leaderships. You can also see the drastic change in effectiveness by comparing Adolf Hitler to the moral leader Gandhi.The effectiveness of a leader is completely separate from the concepts of moral and immoral. Hitler …show more content…
In the beginning when Jack was moral he was commonly overlooked by the other boys because they looked up to Ralph, but once Jack started to use violence and persuasion he gained followers. “You gotta go because it's not safe - they made us - they hurt us.” (Golding,188) Ralph, a moral leader had followers and their respect, but not their loyalty. When it came to them choosing Ralph or Jack they chose Jack because they would choose saving themselves over fighting to stay with Ralph. Jack asserted his power on many occasions to make a point that he will cross lines to create fear among his followers so they won't disobey him. “The chief was sitting there, naked to the waist, his face blocked out in white and red. The tribe lay in a semicircle before him,The newly beaten and untied Wilfred was snorting noisily in the background.” (Golding, 160) Jack's group was successful and got things done on command. None of the boys would dare to challenge him because they saw what he can and will do. Unlike with Jack none of the boys listen to Ralph even though he was their leader. They knew there would be no repercussions if they didn't and having fun was more important to them then following his orders. That being so it took Ralphs group a long time to accomplish anything. When Ralph was building shelters to keep the boys safe and make them feel protected all of them went to have fun while him and Simon worked
Their punishment for slacking off was nothing, and so they got away with accomplishing nothing. Jack saw this along with many other flaws in Ralph's democracy and continually tried to force his style of governing over the boys.
“‘He’s a proper chief, isn’t he?” Robert nodded” (Golding 159). All the boys respect Jack because he has tricked them to thinking there was a beast. In the start of the book Jack was immature and he was envious of Ralph. Later in the book he began to take charge and step-up as a leader and a non-civilized role model for the littluns.
When Ralph was not completely sane anymore and their hope was getting thinner and thinner, the boys looked to their only other option for leader: the stubborn, commanding Jack Merridew. Jack was not a good leader, even though he did get them meat, he was blood-thirsty and hurt boys left and right, making the other boys even more scared of him. The boys saw Jack as someone they had to obey, or be killed. But, when Ralph was a leader, the boys saw him as someone who would listen to them and give them a say in things. An example of this kind of leadership is when they are about to go hunt the beast. “Behind Ralph the tall grass had filled with silent hunters. Ralph looked at Jack. “You're a hunter.” Jack went red. “I know. All right.” Something deep in Ralph spoke for him. “I'm chief. I'll go. Don't argue.” He turned to the others. “You. Hide here. Wait for me’” (Golding 105). Ralph thinks of hunting the beast as his duty as chief and the other boys seem to admire that. If Jack had been the leader at this time he probably would have had all the boys run around with spears trying to find the beast, but Ralph instead decides that since the boys think there is a beast, he will go and kill it for their sake. The difference between Jack and Ralph is that Jack would rather kill the beast just for the sake of killing, while Ralph, would do it for the good of the other boys. Ralph does what the majority of the boys think is correct while Jack would do what he thinks is correct, not voicing the others at all. When the boys are first voting for leader is when we first see the juxtaposition of the two boys and their personalities. “Shut up,” said Ralph absently. He lifted the conch. “Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things.” “A chief! A chief!” “I ought to be chief,” said Jack with simple arrogance, “because I'm chapter chorister and head
When sifting through history, books, and movies, it’s extremely hard to find a person who truly exemplifies a perfect leader. Each one invariably always has at least one flaw that they have to overcome to accomplish their task as leader. Whether that flaw is arrogance, insecurity, stubbornness, and/or many more, it ails them from guiding their people at some point in their life. However, regardless of the flaws many leaders have, there are still many great leaders out there, whether they are “good” or “bad.” Many of their flaws they have are outweighed by their great leadership skills and strong personalities. An example of a leader who is not even close to perfect, but he achieves so much through his leadership skills, is Ralph, a leader in Lord of the Flies.
His intimidation and his want to be leader helped Jack form his own tribe. In the book, Golding showed that by saying, “Jack stood up and took the conch.” (Golding 20). Jack obviously did not agree with Ralph being leader, and he was going to do anything in his power to be on top. Jack convinced some of the other boys to be on his side, he used his hunting as a way to show the boys that Jack was a better option for leader than Ralph was.
I was shocked to see how Jack has become so vicious since his rise to power progressed drastically. I was also surprised to see how Jack’s attitude has changed extremely. This is because I didn’t expect Jack to use the kidnap strategy to force Sam and Eric to join his tribe. However if they didn’t agree to join, they would be maltreated or possibly killed by Jack. Thus, this shows how Jack is quite violent nowadays. With that being said, as his attitude changes, he position in the community rises as well. This is shown when he calls himself the Chief. As a result, in my opinion, I feel that the author is trying to convey the fact that Ralph has lost most of his power to Jack and that Ralph has barely any power left in the society now. Therefore,
Jack and Ralph were motivated for their actions in different ways. Ralph was motivated strictly by the hope of being rescued. Even though he called meetings and tried to organize the group of boys to do simple things like build huts or keep the fire going so they could be rescued or survive, the boys would go play or bathe. Ralph said to Jack "And they keep running off, you remember the meeting? How everyone was going to work hard until the shelters were finished?" (51) The only person who would listen or work with Ralph was Simon. Unfortunately, the other boys continued to ignore Ralph's leadership throughout the novel and eventually all turned to Jack for leadership. Jack was motivated by hunting and killing. His obsession for this began when he was frustrated with himself for not killing the pig in the first chapter: "He snatched his knife out of the sheath and slammed it into a tree trunk. Next time there would be no mercy" (29).There would actually be no mercy from Jack from that point on. Eventually all of the boys, except for Ralph and Piggy, turned to Jack's evil ways, even to the point of participating in the killing of Simon. Effectively, Ralph was motivated by the hope
The boys had no rules, some even had no mercy. The next challenging thing that Ralph had to face is that having an main antagonist against the whole time, that being Jack. From the beginning he was the head of the choir and was wanting to be the leader and Chief of all the boys. 19 “ I ought to be Chief, because I’m chapter chorister and head boy.”
“Telling us to obey instinct is like telling us to obey ‘people.’ People say different things: so do instincts. Our instincts are at war...Each instinct, if you listen to it, will claim to be gratified at the expense of the rest” (C.S. Lewis). C.S. Lewis, a world-renowned author, believed that human instincts battle against each other in order to influence one’s decisions. Similarly, in the novel, Lord of the Flies, William Golding describes a scenario in which animalistic instincts prevail over societal intuition when a group of boys are stranded on a deserted island without any adults. At first, the boys are generally civilized, working together to maintain a signal fire and holding assemblies. However, as time
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 and Ralph were motivated for their actions in different ways. Ralph was motivated strictly by the hope of being rescued. Even though he called meetings and tried to organize the group of boys to do simple things like build huts or keep the fire going so they could be rescued or survive, the boys would go play or bathe. Ralph said to Jack "And they keep running off, you remember the meeting? How everyone was going to work hard until the shelters were finished?" (51) The only person who would listen or work with Ralph was Simon. Unfortunately, the other boys continued to ignore Ralph's leadership throughout the novel and eventually all turned to Jack for leadership. Jack was motivated by hunting and killing. His obsession for this began when he was frustrated with himself for not killing the pig in the first chapter: "He snatched his knife out of the sheath and slammed it into a tree trunk. Next time there would be no mercy" (29).There would actually be no mercy from Jack from that point on. Eventually all of the boys, except for Ralph and Piggy, turned to Jack's evil ways, even to the point of participating in the killing of Simon. Effectively, Ralph was motivated by the hope of rescue for his actions and Jack motivated by bloodlust.
2 leaders; 1 noble, 1 malevolent. Annie Walgren P.1 Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a dystopian novel written in 1954. Since the book release a large amount of books have been sold and two movies have been made. After reading Lord of the Flies the reader can understand that anyone can be greedy, deceiving or even murderous but still be a good leader.
In today’s world, and throughout the rest of history, we have an array of leaders ranging from magnificent to appalling. For example, Mahatma Ghandi was one of the best leaders in history. Regardless of his lack of government
By the end of the book Jack and Ralph have more differences than anything. Towards the ending the boys split up, and Jack ends up being one of the leaders. Jack and Ralph have different ideas of what a leader is. “He’s going to beat Wilfred,” (Golding 145). As a leader Jack tortures those that don’t agree with him because he is hungry for power. Ralph’s leadership is different compared to Jack’s. Instead of hurting others Ralph want them to get rescued and off the island that has changed them. Another difference between these characters are their beliefs on what is important at this point in the book. Ralph’s eyes have been opened, and he sees that what Jack’s tribe is doing is bad. Ralph believes that it is important that the other boys understand
Even though many supporters suggest that Ralph is a great leader, it is obvious that Jack is the best leader on the island. Since the boys set foot on the island, Jack was honest, and he never hesitated to express his feelings. “Human nature cannot be so irremediably bad if the arrival of one adult can immediately put everything to rights” (Reilly,10). This quote explains that when Jack was introduced on the island he was a great leader, and this made the boys realize they each have individual responsibilities in order to contribute to the group. While being honest, Jack demanded the group to do what he wanted, and the boys would obey him. “Jack at first demands to be called as at school, Merridew, the surname his mark of superior age and authority”(Oldsey 4). This quote illustrates that Jack immediately separated himself from the other boys on the island.