Lord of the Flies: Jack and Ralph Comparison

“Jack made a rush and stabbed at Ralph’s chest with his spear. Ralph sensed the position of the weapon from the glimpse he caught of Jack’s arm and put the thrust aside with his own butt. Then he brought the end round and caught Jack a stinger across the ear. The were chest to chest, breathing fiercely, pushing and glaring.”(196). Two strong types of leadership can lead to devastating outcomes. This is shown in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Ralph and Jack have two very different types of leadership that are at different ends of the spectrum. The qualities of Ralph and Jack are different, Jack’s beliefs contrast those of Ralph, and the styles of leadership that Ralph and Jack use are as different as night and day. To begin, it takes different qualities to make a leader. Some of these qualities include sensibility, responsibility, and maturity. First, sensibility is very important when it comes decisions. Jack explains, “I am going off by myself.”(140). By making rash decisions, Jack is showing the lack of sensibility in his leadership. Ralph tells the boys, “I’ve been along. By myself I went, think what’s what. I know what we need. An assembly to put things straight.” (84). Ralph, using common sense, makes his decisions wisely and does what he thinks is best for all of the boys. Second, to be a strong leader one of the qualities you must obtain in responsibility. Ralph shows responsibility over Jack. Responsibility being accountable for one person’s actions. Ralph shows responsibility when he stands up for Piggy when Jack and his tribe takes his glasses. Ralph was somewhat at fault for creating the two different tribes, so when Jack’s tribe takes Piggy’s glasses for fire, he takes responsibility for his actions and goes to retrieve the glasses. Jack does not show responsibility because he does not take accountability for his actions. Jack only cares for himself so when he takes Piggy’s glasses, he does not give them back, even when Ralph tries to ask for

Bibliography: Golding, W.(1954). Lord of the Flies: Faber and Faber Limited