Ralph has the most power over the group because he is the elected leader. He rules with fairness that the others do not seem to have. At one point Jack tells Piggy to “shut up” (42) because “the conch doesn’t count on top of the mountain” (42) so he does not have the right to speak. Ralph then steps in and declares that the conch rules are “the same up here as they are down there” (42). Although Ralph is a leader he is not very intelligent when it comes to the priorities needed to survive. As Piggy points out, Ralph’s first instinct is to build a signal fire to attract ships that may pass. However, he does not account for that they need “shelters down there by the beach”. (45) Ralph also leaves Piggy with the job of “get(ting) a list of names”
