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Lord of the Flies

Comparison Between the Leadership of Jack and Ralphs in the Lord of Flies

In the Lord of Flies, Jack and Ralph serve as some of the main characters. However, despite having the notion of being leaders, they depicted different leadership qualities. They differed in personalities and other leadership traits. In this paper, I will discuss both the differences and similarities between Ralph and Jack's two characters, as depicted in the novel, The Lord of Flies.  

In the novel, Jack depicts a trait of dictatorship, especially in his leadership styles. He failed to listen to the ideas of others. For instance, in the first chapter, Jack stopped Piggy from expressing himself by saying, "You are talking too much," (Golding, William page 14). Jack has also depicted arrogant characteristics in his leadership qualities. On page 15, he commanded the other boys with simple arrogance by saying “he ought to be the chief because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp.”(Golding, William 15). The example referenced apparently depicts him as an arrogant person since he exaggerated his position to be the best, yet he might not have been. Despite Jack being an arrogant dictator he was a very influential leader. For example, by showing the character of the savage, he was able to control the entire group. The novel shows that the group followed Jack primarily in casting off moral restraints and embracing violence and savagery. All these traits of the people justified that Jack loves authority, violence and intimately linked to the feeling of utter power and control. 
 
In contrast to Jack, Ralph was selfless, fair, and straightforward. He offered others time to share their opinions as he listened to them to make judgments. Ralph was a peaceful leader who did not tolerate violence. An example of this is after Piggy opened his zip with the verdict and dragged the whole windbreaker over his head, Ralph did not say anything. Piggy remained talking to which Ralph could first listen (Golding, William 5). Ralph was a patient, intelligent, and reliable leader. Ralph can be categorized as an honorable leader who, unlike Jack, abused power in order to influence his peers. Ralph is a leader who would prefer to set the pace as others follow peacefully. 
 
However, Ralph lacked the convincing power to gain authority over the group. Ralph practices the highest level of intelligence in his leadership throughout the group. For instance, in the island, which had run true to form and incredible, Ralph could first inspect the thirty yards before plunging in (Golding, William 6). He had to take time, and with the help of his intelligence, he walked around the waters. "Ralph did a superficial dive and swam underwater with his eyes open; the sandy edge of the pool appeared up like a hillside” (Golding, William page 7).
Further, Ralph was kind. He showed his kindness when he went with the boys in the woods, where the boys wondered for breezes. Ralph could explain kindly to them that “You couldn’t have a beastie, a snake-thing, on an island this size” (Golding, William page 28). 

However, despite the depicted differences, the two characters reflect some similarities. For instance, Both Ralph and Jack reflect the personality of bravery and intelligence. For example, in the boys being stranded on an island due to the plane crash, both Ralph and Jack fought for survival. Ralph is seen dancing out in the beach's hot air and returned as a fighter plane (Golding, William 5). Such reflects the brave character in him since he can withstand all the temperatures despite the heat.

Further, both Jack and Ralph were influential in their leadership styles. For instance, Ralph could always focus on making the boys think of the right way to exit the crash and leave the island. Likewise, Jack could influence the group to follow him and respond to the given tragedies despite his dictatorship traits. 

Work Cited
Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. Penguin, 1987.