Who Is Ralph A Good Leader In Lord Of The Flies

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When a group of young boys is stranded on an island, they elect Ralph as a leader to escape the chaos that the boys might create. The novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, narrates a bunch of boys helpless on an island during operation Pied Piper. A plane taking the boys to a safe destination suddenly crashes on an island and kills all adults. The boys must form their own rules and obligations to stay alive. During their time on the island, the boys vote for a leader with good quality to maintain order amongst the boys. Ralph shows that he is a natural leader, because of his rationality he can tell others what to do first, his responsibility of building huts for all the boys, and his positivity of bringing hope to all the boys’ mind of salvation.
Firstly, Ralph shows good leadership because he organizes the order of chores. When boys come out in all different directions, Ralph suggests to share all the names of each boy present. Then, he stands up and exclaims, “‘shut up,’ said Ralph absently. He [lifts] the conch. ‘Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things’” (Golding, 18). A littlun panics and says he wants to go home, so Ralph calms down the nervous little boys, and decides on a leader to lead the whole group away from pandemonium. Jack becomes frustrated after the vote is over as Ralph wins the position of chief. Ralph suggests that they divide their group so Jack and his group become hunters. When everyone’s position is settled, Ralph orders everybody to stay in place while Jack, Simon, and he explore to confirm if it is an island. Ralph sorting everybody’s name, electing a chief, dividing a group of hunters, and exploring the island confirms that Ralph leads the boys well to establish their own society. Secondly, Ralph has responsibility in taking care of the other boys.
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When Jack reappears, covered in blood and holding a pig, not aware of the passing ship, Ralph decides to sort thing out. He does not want the group to ignore the rules and forget the original intention to find a way for escape. Ralph stands above the boys and strictly declares to get things done and follow all the rules that they have established before. Before this meeting, the assignment is to build huts, and after building huts, Ralph proclaims to Jack that “they’re hopeless. The older ones aren't much better. D'you see? All day I've been working with Simon. No one else. They're off bathing, or eating, or playing" (Golding, 51). One of the problems that Ralph talks about in the meeting is the building of the huts. Simon and Ralph are left to do all the work when most of the boys eventually wander away from the job after building one hut. Ralph finishes building three huts even though he complains about all the workload. This shows that Ralph is responsible for what he does instead of running away from his problems. Thirdly, Ralph is very optimistic to calm others who are panicked and afraid. The littluns especially, who are small and fragile, all under the age of ten, dream of snakes frequently, or what they call ‘beasties’. One of the littluns with a mulberry birthmark asks what they are going to do about the snake-thing.

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