Preview

Ralph Leadership In Lord Of The Flies

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
628 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ralph Leadership In Lord Of The Flies
LOTF Rough Draft Imagine a world without leadership and order. One that wasn’t civilized, had no control. Such a world would be classified as savage at the very least. Ralph represents this leadership and order in the boys’ new world on the island. When he loses his ability to stay sane and keep order, everything turns for worse. Golding portrays the importance in control and advantageous leadership through the protagonist, Ralph in the novel Lord of The Flies by illustrating him as a natural leader, then having him shift into an uncivilized animal whose losing control. With his obvious leadership skills, Ralph runs up against Jack for the position of chief. Ralph, with the conch in hand was elected chief and “smiled, [then] held up the conch for silence” to reassure his power (23). Even with Jacks leadership skills, the conch determined both his and Ralphs fate. New found chief has many roles to play and Ralph intended to fill every one of them. The boys, clueless on how to maintain order, listened for the sound of “Ralph… blowing the conch” (32). This conch and Ralph were a great …show more content…
But, how could someone who turned savage weep “for the end of innocence [and] the darkness of a man’s heart” (202)? Savagery was definitely not the intent, however it happened and it took over Ralph. Realizing that all went to dust when he got sucked into his savage ways, was the worst for him. He only wanted the best for everyone and wanted to be civil. However, things didn’t go as planned and along the way he lost a “wise friend called piggy” (202). Piggy, a sweet, kind-hearted boy lost his life to everyone’s foolish and savage actions. Ralphs savage ways blocked him from realizing the affect his and the others actions had on each other. Weeping was never going to be enough to illustrate Ralphs

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Have you ever been stuck or stranded on an island with no adults and a monster that haunts you and you are elected chief? Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding in 1954. Ralph, a 12 year old boy, known as chief or leader of the group. He was tall, skinny, and charismatic. The novel takes place during the Cold War; however the novel bases during World War 2.…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ralph was one of the schoolboys who became chief of the civilization by vote because he possessed a conch and the kids saw it as a symbol of order and power. He represented leadership and demonstrated common sense. He was the one who thought of the meeting place, the signal fire, and shelters. But the main antagonist, Jack, leader of the choirboys, disapproved of the votes and thought he should be chief because he craved control and wanted to lead both his choir and the group.…

    • 482 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the book, Lord of the Flies by: William Golding Ralph shows the most leadership throughout the novel. Ralph is the leader because he is direct and knows his priorities. He knows what is best for the group. Ralph always makes the best decisions and plans throughout the book. That is why he is the leader in this novel.…

    • 305 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Several examples of Ralph’s deteriorating leadership position include, “I say! You voted me for chief. Didn’t you hear the conch?” (Golding) As said from Ralph, this explains how he is barely respected as a leader anymore, only to the Littleuns, Piggy, and Samneric. He is trying to hold on to his position, but he has dropped in favor for many of the older bigguns follow Jack now, no longer Ralph. Ralph has lost most of the useful boys on the island as he is not an effective leader. He cannot create a reason for them to stay together, as Jack did with the beast, nor draw fear from them, which Jack has Roger do, in Jack’s tribe.…

    • 774 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The novel, Lord of the Flies draws in realistic political views in relation to the author, William Golding’s concept. Golding adopts contrasting views of leadership and quarrels between leaders to attempt to properly represent the national government leadership. The United States government leader, President Obama once said “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek” (Brain Quotes 1). He instilled a concept of self production, hands-on leadership and not to wait for change. The exact same concept was expressed in depth in Lord of the Flies, the author William Golding uses a deep inner character contrast in order to reveal their individual style of governing. The author customizes his writing to show the power within Ralph and Jack which are driven by inner moral and reasoning for Ralph, and for Jack a sense of dictatorship and holding utter control. All in all, Golding approaches the concept of leadership from an angle perceived by the reader to be an honorable way of living--Ralph and an unfit…

    • 1260 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are several instances in the story where Ralph, the leader, goes against the majority. Ralph tries to put thought behind the things he does, much like Piggy. Piggy showed this maturity when he said “Acting like a crowd of kids!” and “What do they think they’re going to do on that mountain?”(Golding 38). Piggy said all of this in disgust because he, much like Ralph, thinks differently than the rest of the characters. Throughout the story Ralph was found trying to appease Jack, in one situation Jack had struck Piggy to vent his anger and Ralph replied “That was dirty trick”(72) but did not punish Jack . Ralph allowed Jack to hunt with the choir, his appointed hunters. Jack failed his task of keeping the fire going and Ralph further appeased…

    • 596 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Golding emphasizes the conflict between two opposite impulses that are inside every one of us: whether to follow the rules and be in order, or to go into violence and turn into savages. Golding expresses this by using the protagonist and antagonist of the story, Ralph and Jack.…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When chaos strikes a group of people they look for a person. Not just a person, they look for a leader. They look for someone who can inspire the masses. The definition of a leader is the person who leads or commands a group, organization, or country. There are many great leaders in the country’s history that took charger during the challenging times. Leader like Abraham Lincoln during the civil war or Ronald Regan during the Cold War. The same sense of a need of a leader in our history is the same feeling in the book the Lord of the Flies. A group of boys are stranded on an island and no one knows where they are. This challenge causes a need for a leader. The group decided on one leader but there are three different people who display different types of successful leadership.…

    • 657 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    However, Ralph is the only character to acknowledge the true savage nature of Simon's death: "that was murder". This highlights the fact that he is more mature in comparison to the other boys, as a result of his additional responsibilities on the island. Ralph is willing to admit to his mistakes, unlike at the start of the novel when he tried to justify his cruelty towards Piggy. This shows that Ralph's position as 'chief' and the responsibility it brings has had a profound impact on him, making him more mature than he would have been without this position of…

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ralph reacts with an unexpected level-headedness when a boar comes charging down the path: ?Ralph found he was able to measure the distance coldly and take aim. With the boar only five yards away, he flung the foolish wooden stick that he carried, saw it hit the great snout and hang there for a moment? (123). This event suggests that Ralph may possess hunting skills that rival Jack?s, as such, it seems that Jack will attempt to show up Ralph in some other way.…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    With leadership comes power; some use their power for the greater good and some abuse it. Many people want to be the leader of a group, but may underestimate the amount of responsibility it actually takes. Although everyone is capable of using their power for the greater good, it is easy for someone to get caught up in power and abuse it. In Golding's novel “Lord of the Flies” Ralph, one of the main characters, shows how people are capable of using their power for good. The plane Ralph, and a group of other british schoolboys are on, crashes on a tropical island. Right away the boys call a meeting by using a conch shell blown by Ralph, and declare him as the leader. However not everyone likes Ralph as the leader. Throughout the book Jack, another boy on the island, tries to prove he is worthy of being the leader. The boys slowly but surely leave Ralph’s group to join Jack’s. Soon Ralph barely has anyone on his side, and he is watching all the other boys turn savage under Jacks power. In WIlliam Golding’s novel “Lord of the Flies” the characters learn the…

    • 1120 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    What kind of characteristics would be needed for a chief to deliver a group of young boys from both the island and the hidden savagery of the heart? In the Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of boys under twelve years of age face this exact situation. The boys are stranded on a tropical island with no adult supervision, and vote Ralph as their chief. However, their decision was predominantly based on his ownership of the conch. After a few weeks on the island, with a more thorough understanding of the boys’ personalities and an increase in conflict and fear, is Ralph really qualified to be chief? Ralph is the best candidate for chief because he knows how to solve problems quickly and efficiently and prioritize ideas and tasks.…

    • 1052 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    “‘Kill the pig, cut his throat, kill the pig, bash him in!’ Ralph too was fighting to get near, to get a handful of that brown, vulnerable flesh. The desire to squeeze and hurt was over-mastering.”…

    • 1393 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The conch bestows a strange power on Ralph: it is with this that he calls the all the boys together from where they were, scattered and lost all over the big island. By blowing into it, Ralph produced a blaring, strident noise, booming across the jungle. When everyone is gathered, Ralph immediately has the other boys in awe and interested by the conch. He has their uninterrupted attention as they make plans to figure out the situation that they have, literally, “landed” into. The boys ignore Jack’s arrogant confidence and unanimously turn towards Ralph as their leader, for “there was a stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, and attractive appearance; and must obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch (22).” The conch, again, gives Ralph a mysterious power; this “gleaming white tusk” has the gift of bestowing power upon the person holding it.…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Civilization Vs Savagery

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The characters in this novel struggle internally to avoid the conflicting human instincts, savagery, which is brought by the characters being free from adult society.Characters begin to acknowledge this lack of oversight when Golding writes, “In his other life Maurice had received chastisement for filling a youngster’s eye with sand. . . Maurice still felt the unease of wrongdoing” (60). In this quote, Maurice is remembering how when adult supervision was present, you were punished for your crimes. Except, now there is no instruction which, as a result, cultivates savagery because they are not being monitored for their wrongdoing. Ralph illuminates his signs of transformation when he mockingly claims, “‘He’s not Fatty,’ cried Ralph, ‘his real name’s Piggy!’. . . A storm of laughter arose and even the tiniest child joined in” (21). Without civilization or control, acts of evil can go undisciplined. This happens in Lord of the Flies and gradually becomes worse as this previous quote just displayed it beginning to worsen. The absence of discipline is at its pinnacle when Ralph forgets about his upbringing and as a sign of defense Ralph launches “himself like a cat, stabbed, snarling,with the spear” (195). The change the characters experience are all quite similar, starting with showing signs of savagery then becoming consumed by it. Ralph experienced this the slowest but once he adapted this lifestyle there was no return. Avoiding savagery was not possible in Lord of the Flies as time passed and horrible acts of savagery continued, at some point the character would be overwhelmed. This conversion from good to evil took place in everyone and at some point inhumanity would overpower…

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays