Lord_of_the_Flies

Lord of the Flies Leadership is an act of guidance or direction and it is often an inadvertent act that is demonstrated in daily life. Leadership is what our societies today revolve around and with out it we could not prosper or function. It appears in small communities such as a school and in large communities such as natural government. In an academic environment, leadership is shown through teachers and hall monitors whose duty it is to protect the students around them in a firm but acceptable manner. Their simple acts of guidance save other kids from small to large disasters. While in the government sector it is the job of politicians to show exceptional leadership skills in order to guide their represented country in the right direction. Politicians are very important; their form of leadership can impact an entire country. The many different forms of leadership are illustrated in William Golding’s book, Lord of the Flies, when a group of boys become stranded on a remote island during a time of war with no other human inhabitants. This book details the boys’ struggle for survival and their attempts to establish an orderly society. These attempts for survival could either result in a prosperous civilization or the crumbling of a savage tribe. In the book, Jack and Ralph, two of the eldest boys, compete for the right to lead this tribe of young boys, but in the end one of them will prevail. Jack attempts to lead as a dictator and is determined to take control; this is demonstrated numerous times throughout the book. Although Jack’s rule is cruel he seemingly wins over the popularity of the boys. Ralph, on the other hand, is desperate to be rescued and creates a peaceful, democratic form of government. Leadership formed of the people, by the people and for the people is beneficial and a superior form of government Throughout Lord of the Flies, Jack continually neglects a leadership of the people, by the people and for the people. Through Jack’s words, his dictatorship is frequently shown. Jack constantly degrades those around him to promote himself as the outright leader. From the beginning of Jacks rule, he presents himself as a supreme being who teaches his followers that contradiction will not be tolerated. In some instances Jack presents himself as the “king” of the tribe. “Before the party had started a great log had been dragged into the center of the lawn and Jack, painted and garlanded, sat there like and idol” (Golding 149). Jack also fails to show that his government is for the benefit of the people because he does not show any interest in being rescued. He plainly demonstrates his abandonment of the tribe’s survival throughout the book as he constantly refuses to participate in the upkeep of the tribe. Despite Jack’s control over the majority of the boys on the island, his incompatent leadership caused the boys to live in fear of him. Throughout Lord of the Flies, Jack gains power and eventually enslaves some of the boys into his tribe. As Jack becomes recurrently more corrupt, the people of the tribe become more savage-like and murderous. In the end of the book Jack, along with his unscrupulous tribe even begin a manhunt and Ralph is their prey. Such an intolerable act is unacceptable in any society and does not display an appropriate leadership of any kind, but a terrifying dictatorship. Jack’s leadership demonstrates an almost feudal government that fails to ameliorate the lives of its people. Overall Jack has created a terrifying jurisdiction over the island that destroys people. Jack is not the only ruler on the island; his rival, Ralph, has a different and more practical view of their life on the island. Although being presented with the grim task of surviving on a deserted island, Ralph immediately forms an egalitarian community with the surviving boys. He starts this group in hopes of being rescued, but unfortunately his hopes will crumble beneath him. From the very beginning of this treacherous adventure, Ralph focuses on the ultimate good of the island boys, survival. He realizes, much to the tribe’s dislike, that the first priority to becoming rescued is by a signal fire. The island boys are reluctant of this idea and tolerate it to some extent, but Jack convinces the boys to abandon it completely. The boys do not completely understand the severe importance of being rescued, which shows Ralph’s true dedication to the tribe. Ralph also shows a leadership formed of the people because he allows the people of the tribe to have an equal say in every matter. His representative type government is clearly illustrated through this quote “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking…And he won’t be interrupted” (Golding 33). After a central goal and rule has been established, Ralph concentrates on the necessities essential for survival, shelters. Ralph encourages all the boys to help with the building of the shelters, but he does not force the task upon them in anyway showing his respect as a leader for a free decision of the people. Instead, Ralph and one other boy finish the shelters alone. During this book, the central community begins to deteriorate and although Ralph becomes harsh and he believes it is for the good of the people, his sternness is taken fallaciously by the boys. Ralph may not be the most desired leader, but he shows leadership that is formed of the people, by the people, and for the people. A beneficial and superior form of government is one that is formed of the people, by the people, and for the people. Although they both seek out to lead this band of young boys, Jack and Ralph differed in their methods of leadership. While Jack lead as a dictator, Ralph seeks to unite the tribe as a democratic society. The characters in Lord of the Flies show similar qualities to government in the world today. Like Jack Merridew, in Fidel Castro rules over the Cubans by force and fear. Although Fidel rules Cuba, a group much larger than a few boys, he and Jack show similar tactics. Jack slowly gains more popularity until he takes the remaining of the group by force. Castro showed a similar gambit when he trained a group of revolutionaries called the 26th of July Movement and on December of 1956 he invaded Cuba. By January 1, 1959, Castro took control of Cuba. In this story, Ralph endeavors to overthrow Jack similar to the attempts of the United States to overthrow Castro. While both were valiant efforts, the inevitably failed. Both Jack and Castro do not lead for the good of the people, but for the good of themselves. Ralph was also a very important character in Lord of the Flies, but he represented a different type of government, a democracy. A modern day democracy that resembles Ralph’s leadership would be the national government of France. France has a representative government in which their leaders are elected by the people. In Lord of the Flies, the group of boys elect Ralph as their leader. The significance of the leaderships represented in France and Lord of the Flies is that neither criticizes nor dictates their followers in anyway, but instead the people are given a choice and no matter what the choice of that person, they will not be jugged. Although some decisions made in these democracies are unfavorable, they were made for the good of the people. Both, France and the tribe of boys create a system of government by the people and for the people causing them to not only to be righteous, but more superior forms of leadership.