Ralph’s Failure as a Leader. Leadership is the ability to take action when no one else is capable, giving strict orders that must be followed, and making sure that the group is together and well. In the Lord of the Flies, there is a group of little boys that are stranded on a deserted island that must act quickly or they will all die. In doing so, they pick a leader to assign them different roles so they are able to survive and flourish on the island. However, society tends to sometimes pick role models because of their appearance; charisma is a powerful leadership trait but lacks control and knowledge. Being charismatic will make people look up to one’s looks, but when it comes to making logical decisions, their charisma won’t be of any use. …show more content…
Golding states, “‘I’ll blow the conch,’ said Ralph breathlessly, ‘and call an assembly.’” A sense of desire engulfs Ralph as he tried to bring the group back together (151). Ralph is apprehensive at the idea of losing contact with the tribe, which the reader can sense at Ralph’s desperate need to call a meeting. Similarly, Ralph not only lost his group, but also lost Piggy. Due to Ralph being oblivious to his surroundings, one could blame Ralph as being the cause of Piggy’s death. “‘Ralph--remember what we came for. The fire. My specs.’ Ralph nodded.” Piggy reminds Ralph to retrieve his specs and depart (Golding 177). Although Ralph is showing that he paid attention to what Piggy said by nodding, Ralph is too distracted and focused on hunting Jack which in the end kills Piggy. Ralph, incapable of keeping the group united and preventing Piggy’s death, illustrates that Ralph doesn’t have what it takes to rule as a leader. Being a leader doesn’t only mean giving orders and bossing people around; being a leader means listening to others opinions and being open to any changes. In the end, if those people chose Ralph to be their ruler, he must at least listen to their opinions. Ralph contradicted this idea as he mostly gave the orders and wasn’t that open to different ideas
The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is about a group of British boys that were on a plane and they got shot down onto a deserted island. The boys are alone on the island without any adult supervision because the pilot died during the crash. The boys split up into two groups focusing on different aspects, specifically shelter and hunting. During their survival, they face many obstacles such as the beast and the pigs. In the end, they get rescued by a ship passing by.
Piggy also informs Ralph
Piggy Subject of the group's ridicule for his weight, asthma, and general lack of physical prowess or stamina. He provides the brains of the group, as well as the spectacles necessary to start the fire. Loyal to Ralph and all he represents, Piggy's death leaves Ralph alone, pitted in social isolation against Jack's tribe.
Leadership. Noun. “The action of leading a group of people or an organization.” An amazing leader guides others by setting a good example, and not ordering them. They communicate well, listen to everyone’s opinion, and use their intelligence to do what is best for their followers. Also, they are kind to everyone and care about them. In contrast to this, a bad leader does not care about anyone but him or herself. They are unable to use communication throughout their community, their choices do not express logic or intelligence, and they do not treat people the way that they deserve to be treated. Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies, Ralph demonstrates characteristics of both a good and bad leader. He learns from his mistakes as a bad leader, and is able to reconnect himself with the group and become a great leader.
Before Simon is murdered, Jack and his tribe celebrate their kill of a pig by joining together in a circle while reenacting the vicious kill and “Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society” (Golding 152). As the chief, Ralph desperately tries to maintain structure in a society that is rapidly falling apart. However, the ominous storm in the sky, the exotic dance, and the savage chant intrigue both Ralph and Piggy, so they feel inclined to join in. Simon then wanders into the circle and is mistaken for the beast, causing the boys to attack and tear into him. Piggy later denies his involvement and attempts to convince Ralph of their innocence. However, Ralph recognizes the event for what it truly was, telling Piggy, “That was Simon… That was murder,” demonstrating his responsibility and desire for a stable society (Golding 156). It shows how Ralph is willing to take responsibility for his moment of weakness, rather than be purposefully ignorant of an occurrence that furthers society’s descent into a complete
The boys on the island in Lord of the Flies had two different leaders over the course of their time spent on the island, Ralph and Jack. Both of the twelve year old boys had some considerable leadership qualities but also made some bad choices during their time as leader. Ralph was a nice person who was favored over Jack in the beginning. Jack was awful person, but could lead a group of boys better than anyone on the island. He was able to get respect from all the boys at one point in the book. You can be a terrible person, but become a wonderful leader based on the way you lead.
Ralph wants everyone to voice their opinion when they had the conch at assemblies. He only lets the person with the conch talk at the assembly, and when someone tries to cut in he would stand up for them. “Jack! Jack! You haven’t got the conch! Let him speak.” (91). This is how Ralph stood up for them, is someone would but in when someone else was talking with the conch. But he also had bullied piggy a little bit also, he does not really mean it but Piggy didn’t like it so much. “Piggy! Piggy!” (11). Piggy does not want people to know that’s what they used to call him but Ralph does not care at the beginning of the book. W.G. demonstrates great evidence of Ralph being a bully and a good person.
Until Ralph and Jack were bickering all the time. Then Piggy was also upset about the stupidity of the group. Ralph realizes that group is falling apart and convinces that they’re going to die. “Ralph wept for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart, and a wise friend called Piggy” Chapter 12 pg. 184.
Flashes of savagery within Ralph reveal during the killing of Simon, contributing to the reader’s understanding of Ralph as a character. Furthermore, Ralph feels guilty, and Piggy is in denial, “gesticulating, searching for a formula” (224). Ralph confesses it was murder and Piggy counters, “We was scared! Anything might have happened. It wasn’t—what you said” (224).
Aspects of an Effective Leader Many individuals have the opinion that being a leader is an easy role, however; it is a challenging position. A young boy named Ralph had been put through multiple difficult situations as he was self taught on how to be capable of taking care of himself regarding many other young boys who had all been stranded on an island as well. In Lord of the Flies, William Golding presents how Ralph learns about responsibility, leadership and being liberal.
Ralph saw that he needed a new way to make a fire so he could make smoke signals. Ralph was creative and noticed that Piggy had specs. So he could use the lenses to get a single ray of light on the rotten wood. Ralph is creative and showed that through the course of the
As the novel goes on, Ralph realizes all of the great ideas Piggy is bringing up and what good innocent character he is. He then states this when the boys are finally rescued and Piggy is
Secondly, Ralph is not only a rational leader but also a moral person, who cleverly keeps the fairness in his group. “Ralph, looking more understanding at Piggy, saw that he was hurt and crushed. He hovered between the two courses of apology or further insult ‘Better Piggy than Fatty” (25). Ralph is sincere and considerate for other people. He apparently understand their feeling and particularly shows his sympathy for Piggy. Ralph is sensible enough to realize that everyone deserves to be respected. He believes no one should have to put up with being tormented. Ralph gently gains others’ support by treating them equally, showing his compassion and ability to empathize with them. Opposite to Ralph, Jack is immoral, violent and condescending. “He’s going to beat Wilfred” (159). He does not care or understand the natural equality of
When Jack slaps Piggy and purposely breaks his glasses, Ralph calls it "A dirty trick." (p. 76) This shows Jack's selfishness and his failure to respect other people, while at the same time Ralph's concern is understand others. Ralph manages to treat each boy equally with his own form of control while Jack treats the boys, especially Piggy lower. After hunting, the group sits down to eat and Jack gives everyone a share except for Piggy. When Piggy asks for some, Jack says, "You didn't hunt." (p. 78) Neither Ralph or many of the littluns hunted but they still got their portion of meat. This was only being directed to Piggy. Jack's behavior towards Piggy shows that he is unable to understand other people. A good leader would have taken care of all his/her group. Ralph understands that he must treat everyone equal or he will not be respected and is a better leader than Jack because of this knowledge.
Many times throughout the book, Piggy is the voice of reason and helps to guide Ralph along that same road if he loses his way. After scolding Samneric for being pessimistic about their fate, Ralph momentarily forgets the reasons why the signal fire is so important. "He tried to remember. Smoke, he said, we want smoke. Course we have. Cos the smoke's a signal and we can't be rescued if we don't have smoke. I knew that! Shouted Ralph" (Golding 172). Ralph begins to lose his initial cheerfulness and enthusiasm and replaces it with disinterest and pessimism. Piggy and Ralph separate themselves from Jack and his tribe and continue to maintain their "government". However, when Jack and his tribe kill a pig and invite Ralph and Piggy to join their feast, the two accept and cannot resist the temptation of the meat. Later on in the celebration, Jack and his tribe perform a ritualistic dance, in which Piggy and Ralph later join. "Piggy and Ralph, under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secure society" (Golding 152). They realize that the dance fueled the boys to murder Simon, and later deny their participance in it. "We left early, said Piggy quickly, because we were tired" (Golding 158). Ralph and Piggy recognize the evil in the dance, and know that if the others found out about their participance in it, then the boys would claim that Piggy and Ralph would be