Lord of the Flies

The character of Ralph begins as a strong and brave character in "Lord of the Flies", and we have sympathy for him when things go wrong. All the boys follow Ralph at the start, and then eventually turn to Jacks side. "Lord of the Flies" starts in unity and peace and ends in war of the many to the one. Why did the boys change sides when Jacks side is clearly portrayed as the bad side? Why did they all turn to Jack? And what was the difference in leadership in Jack and Ralph? These are all questions that can be answered simply; The stronger leadership won.

It is strange how the boys turn on Ralph as they elected him chief at the beginning of the novel. Although Ralph is a natural born leader, Jack had the anxiety to be in charge from the moment he met Ralph and orders his choir around in front of all the boys. ”Choir stand still!” & “All right then. Sit down. Let him alone.” This first impression of Jack could have been what sparked the boys to want to be like him, he has so far been the most adult and mature boy that has been encountered with and as he is already in charge of one group to him it may seen right that he is in charge of all of the boys, including Ralph.

When Ralph is elected, is shows kindness but at the same time this is a weakness. He tells Jack that he is still in charge of his choir. “The choir belongs to you, of course.” This is also suggesting that Ralph dose not want to upset or offend Jack and that Ralph, although he is chief, is going to treat Jack as chief as well. Ralph also brings about the idea of the boys being hunters “They could be the army- Or hunters.” It is because Ralph starts of the notion and the beginnings of the hunters it is ironic that they turn on him.

Ralph's take on leadership is noble, fare and British, Ralph stands for order and calmness in the novel. Just as in the army, there are many groups of people with different leaders, but Ralph is almost to nicer leader to the boys and lets them decide what they want to do. When Ralph is enforcing and alerting the boys that the fire went out, most of them are not listing and are more interested in Jack talking about the hunt. “You let the fire go out” Shortly after this Jack turns the subject back around to the killed pig “You should have seen the blood!”

Jack and Ralph are continuously equal throughout the novel, Ralph allows this, this could be for assertion or more power in numbers but Jack dose agree with Ralph many times, this helping Ralph keep control and the faith of all the boys. Jack says “I Agree with Ralph. We've got to have rules and obey them.” Once Jack stops agreeing with Ralph and is more concerned with the hunting, the mood changes and Ralph is struggling to control the boys and to keep them under his command. Ralph is moaning to Jack saying “You remember the meeting? How everyone was going to work hard until the shelters were finished?” Jack simply replies “Except me and my hunters”, he is not directly disagreeing with Ralph but is telling him what he has said. What makes Ralph's situation even worse is that he is chief and is moaning at Jack. Although there are not boys around, only Simon, but he is showing his weakness to Jack, his rival, this is a fatal step or Ralph to have taken.

Jacks leadership and representation is a big kid, he is interested in hunting and this is all that matters to him. Jack stands for killing, blood, war and bullying, all of these are negatives showing the true colors of who Jack really is.

Once Jack has control of most of the boys, is hunting obsession seems out of control, Ralph shouts at Jack saying “You and your blood Jack Merridew! You and your hunting, we might have gone home!” Ralph has humiliated him in front of the boys, to Jack this is the ultimate bring down or Jack as his status with the boys is the one thing that is feeding his obsession to kill, without all of this followers he would have nothing.

The main differences concerning the two boys are that Ralph wants to get all the boys home and be mature about it all, but Jack dose not want to leave the island when he has all his power, outside of the island once again he would only lead a choir, no blood, no violence, no killing. Ralph stands for the good things that the boys should aspire to, bravery, courage, kindness and the will to be British. Jack and Ralph are both the same, were they both were born to lead, but they clash as Ralph stands for peace and Jack stands for war.