Ralph Lord Of The Flies Character Analysis

Lord of The Flies
When a group of British school boys land on a deserted island someone has to step up and lead. A leader should have many noble traits. In the book Ralph is elected leader, in the beginning he was not much of a standout but later in the book we found Ralph has great leadership skills: he tries to keep the peace, was stern when he needed to be, and held everyone accountable for their work.
There are several instances in the story where Ralph, the leader, goes against the majority. Ralph tries to put thought behind the things he does, much like Piggy. Piggy showed this maturity when he said “Acting like a crowd of kids!” and “What do they think they’re going to do on that mountain?”(Golding 38). Piggy said all of this in disgust because he, much like Ralph, thinks differently than the rest of the characters. Throughout the story Ralph was found trying to appease Jack, in one situation Jack had struck Piggy to vent his anger and Ralph replied “That was dirty trick”(72) but did not punish Jack . Ralph allowed Jack to hunt with the choir, his appointed hunters. Jack failed his task of keeping the fire going and Ralph further appeased
him. Ralph was voted chief and saw Jack as a threat when he offered his own choir back to him as a compensation for losing the election. Ralph gave into Jack when the narrator said “Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification--- Ralph looked up, eager to offer him something.” (23) Ralph was able to call an assembly when he had finally had enough of the rule breaking. Ralph said “We need an assembly. Not for fun. Not for laughing and falling off the log---- for cleverness. Not for these things. But to put things straight. (79)”. Ralph put constraints in place at this assembly. Ralph reminded the entire society that in order to survive they would need the fire when he said “The fire is the most important thing on the island.” (80) He further stressed the statement by saying “Can’t you see we ought to--- ought to die before we let the fire out? (81)” He was also very stern when he mentioned to the littluns “If you’re taken short you keep away from the fruit. Thats dirty!” (80) Ralph reminded the littluns that even though they were stranded, they are still englishmen and should act as englishmen do. After the assembly called out “Too many things” (81) and an uproar grew in agreement he overrode them and continued to his next topic of discussion. As all great leader do, Ralph tried to hold everyone accountable for their work.
He did not like that Jack and his gang would much rather hunt than do their assigned jobs. The only way for the island can run smoothly is if everyone does their part. Ralph states at a meeting “You hunters! You can laugh! But I tell you the smoke is more important than the pig, however often you kill one.” (81) and You could have had everyone when the shelters were finished. But you had to hunt---- (81). Ralph lets the hunters know that they are no better than the other members of the island. At the assembly reminded all the islanders that one of the first priorities that they all agreed on became less important over time, Ralph said “We all built the first one, four of us the second one, and me ‘n Simon built the last one over there.”
(80)