Is Ralph a Good Leader in “Lord of the Flies”?

A leader to me is someone who can guide and think about a group just as much as they do to themselves. In the book Lord Of The Flies there is a conflict going on between two boys named Jack and Ralph. More like Jack is jealous because Ralph is the leader of the boys they’re stuck on the island with. The question is, Who is a better leader between them? Therefore if I had to say who I would want as leader it would be Ralph over Jack because of multiple reasons. In the text Ralph cared about the group not just himself.

While Jack on the other hand was the complete opposite , and Ralph may have not been physically the strongest but he had the brains in the group.First they are stuck on a island so he had to come up with a idea to get off the island. The he finally came up with something “ So we must make smoke on top of the mountain.We must make a fire “ pg.38. While the rest had no idea what to do and he came up with something that nun of the rest couldn’t think of.

In addition there is a “ beast “ so they were going to travel up the island anyways. While going up “ One more, from a distance, he heard Jack’s whispers. Scared?” While jack spreads negativity around the boys, Ralph is about nothing but positivity. He even made a rule “ I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak.He can hold when speaking “ pg.33. Therefore it's not like he the leader and they only follow what he just says. They actually get to speak and share their thoughts with the group to make the best decision with ralph.While Jack just wants to take over and everyone just goes by what he says.

Now if you read this book and disagreeing with me so far and say Jack is the better leader then let me change your mind. Now I know what the Jack supporters go say he is stronger and he can hunt and feed the group. Yeah he is good for that but overall no, don’t forget that he is the reason why they were even still stuck on the island. On page 70 “ You and you blood, Jack Merridew! You and your hunting! We might have gone home”. Do you really wanna be stuck on a island ? Just because his decision to go hunt instead keep the fire going for them to go home they had lost hope at that point. There do you really think Jack is leader material ?

Do you know what a true leader yet is ? At least based off the Lord of the flies between Jack and Ralph. Ralph overall is just the better leader to me he has the brains and he has the heart of leader. He can think outside the box between the boys and focus on the main objective which is getting off the island. I'm just saying if I was stuck on a island I would want Ralph as my leader. Who would you want as yours ?  

Cite this page