Ralph Is A Better Leader Than Jack (Essay)

Ralph is a Better Leader than Jack

To be a good leader, one must cater to the people while still being responsible and taking charge. In the story of, “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, a group of boys get stuck on an island without adults from a plane crash. Two of the main characters, Ralph and Jack, wish to be leader, but eventually end up splitting into two groups that result in a bit of a rivalry. Between the two, Ralph is a much better leader.

Ralph cares more for the boys than Jack. When mentioned, Ralph shut down the idea of the beast in attempt for the boys not to worry, “But I tell you there isn’t a beast!” (Golding, pg. 36) Jack let them believe in the beast, “but if there was a snake we’d hunt it and kill it.” (pg. 36) This shows that Ralph doesn’t want the others to think it is possible so they don’t fear and only focus on the beast, while Jack let’s then believe in the beast and fear it. Ralph accepted and listened to everyone, including Piggy, but Jack always shut Piggy down for no good reason and punished anyone that wouldn’t listen to him, trying to take complete control of them like they were his puppets. For example, when Piggy wanted to speak, “’I got the conch-‘Jack turned fiercely. ‘You shut up!’” (pg. 42) Jack shut him down, but Ralph at the beginning of the book said this: “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.” Proving that he would let people have a say, or express certain matters and that he had a way for people to listen to the person speaking without being interrupted. Of course, one may say that Ralph also picked on Piggy and didn’t care about him, but he definitely let him and the others speak more that Jack ever let them, and he didn’t shut them down or punish them.

Ralph cares about being rescued. He always wants the signal fire going, while Jack doesn’t seem to care. Ralph, on page 37, said this: “So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire.” He made the idea of the signal fire, and he cares about being rescued. Ralph wanted to make sure that the fire was always going. On page 42, Ralph also said this: “We’ve got to have special people for looking after the fire.” He was the one to make sure there was a way to keep the fire going. One may say that Jack wanted to be rescued too, but eventually he didn’t seem to care much about being rescued, and made up a life of his own so he didn’t need to be rescued.

Ralph knew what was important for a functioning society. Jack didn’t care much about the rules, while Ralph made rules. There was a point when Jack said, “Bollocks to the rules!’ (pg. 99) This shows how Jack didn’t care, which can have things spiral out of control. Ralph wanted to build huts to make sure everyone had shelter and somewhere like a home for a while. There’s a part of the book that Jack and Ralph address this, and Jack says he cares more about meat; ‘“We want meat” “Well, we haven’t got any yet, and we want shelters.”’ (pg. 51) All Jack cares about is hunting and having fun, while Ralph actually wants to build shelter to keep them from things that may harm them and to create a sense of security. One could argue that Jack’s community did fine, but only because they were scared of what would happen if they didn’t listen to Jack and because Jack had complete control over the boys in his “tribe.”

Ralph is a much better leader than Jack. He cares more about the boys and it’s shown that he listens to them more than Jack, while Jack only controls them and punishes them if the boys don’t listen to him. Ralph cared about being rescued. He made the idea of the fire and wanted to make sure it was always going. Ralph also knew what was important for a proper, functioning society. He wanted to build shelters, he made sure everyone already had access to food, and he made sure there were rules. In conclusion, Ralph was the better leader within Golding’s charming, yet dark book.

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