Lord of the Flies: Ralph and Jack Contrast Essay

William Golding’s “Lord of the flies” is a novel about group of boys who survive a plane crash and land on uninhabited island, where they must do what they can to live. The situation the boys are in, forces them to act and think radically, to form their own system of rules and to make hard decisions without any influence of adults. It is extremely shocking how they organize their new society, how they treat each other and what results their actions bring. Two main characters, Ralph and Jake, at the beginning of the story become leaders, however their leadership ideas are entirely different. These boys have less in common than in distinction, but I will try to compare them in the light of similarities as well as differences. The first thing similar is that, when they start to be aware of the fact that they are on an inhabited island, far from the civilization, both of the boys are delighted. They think that it is a paradise, freedom from adults and they can do anything they want. When the joy is gone they struggle with fear of the unknown. At first, none of them manifest a susceptibility to violence – they have problem with killing a pig for the first time. Furthermore, reader can say that Ralph and Jack are around the same age, also physically fit and in good shape. Each of them is brave, has strong personality, which gives them adequate abilities to be a leader. Other boys listen to them and carry their commands. They want to establish a right system of rules, like Jack says: “I agree with Ralph. We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English, and the English are best at everything. So we've got to do the right things”. At the beginning both of them think that a proper order of things is the best solution for their situation. Unfortunately, as the story progresses these words become meaningless for Jack. As for the differences, Ralph is a mild- tempered boy who accepts leadership when it is trusted to him. He