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By
THE FLIES LORD OF THE FLIES LORD
AMIT SHROFF (2009008)
JAYRAM MAHALE (2009019)
MANISH ARORA (2009022)
PREM SHARMA (2009030)
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LORD OF THE FLIES
in this paper in terms of stages of group development, leadership, and norms. The
stages of group development will be analyzed using the 6-stage model, explaining the
criteria and significance of each stage along with behaviors from the movie associated
The leadership behaviors displayed by Jack and Ralph will be compared using the trait
approach, charismatic leader approach, and the situational approach. Norms will be
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STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT
currently known about the group, and inclusion is more important than individuality, in
this stage the interactions are tentative, polite, and superficial as a way of gaining an
understanding about what the group (and its members) are. Because of these factors,
some people may feel defensive, sometimes not wanting to open up or give too much
away about themselves before they know the same about others. Even with
maximize inclusion.
Examples of inclusion from Lord of the Flies might include the first meeting between the
Boundaries are used to define the limits of a group; who is in and who is out
based on criteria for membership. Boundaries are useful for establishing a sense of
unity within the group, often resulting in a dichotic form of thinking such as “us” and
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Examples of such boundaries are implied at the
included, and those who do not are excluded from the group.
After Jack has gained control over some of the other children,
the boundaries are set that anyone can join his tribe, but they
members being highly dependent on the leader for guidance and instruction. One factor
in this dependency is the assumption that the leader is competent and benevolent. One
slight condition is that group members are not so much trying to please the leader as a
person as they are the authority figure the leader symbolically represents.
Examples of dependency are abound in Lord of the Flies, but only a few
examples are Piggy’s dependency on Ralph, even though much of what Ralph says
may have originally been Piggy’s idea, it is exactly this indirect voice that Piggy is so
dependent on. When Jack decides to leave and create his own tribe, his followers are
dependent on him for his strong leadership skills, which bring protection and food.
needed for efficient functioning in later stages of group development when the group
members need to know how to work even though they have differences. The apparent
hostile environment in the group serves as a way to understand other group members
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Individuality is each group member behaving in a manner that expresses
themselves as unique, with their own ideas. Because of the increase in personal
leadership. Simon’s visions and fainting place him as an individual in the eyes of
others, but it is his expression of ideas, such as the beast being the children
themselves, that shows his individuality. Piggy is constantly trying to show his
individuality through his ideas, but seems to always fail unless he is talking to Ralph.
is sought after by many in the group, with the leader being challenged directly or
indirectly by other group members that may be trying to increase their own influence
over the group, or maybe just lower the leader’s influence over the group. A group
member does not have to challenge the leader directly to gain influence, but more
subtle forms can be chosen to increase one’s influence over the group.
explained later. Other, more indirect, ways in which Jack and his choir challenged
willingness to share views that differ from others. The group members no longer feel
the need to avoid controversial issues and are more willing to engage in open conflict.
Striking examples of open conflict in Lord of the Flies that have not been
addressed previously in this paper, is the constant way Jack is bullying Piggy,
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specifically when Jack steals Piggy’s glasses. This results in Ralph and Piggy
confronting Jack and his tribe for stealing the glasses, which escalates in Piggy’s death,
in group members believing that other group members will invest their portion of time,
resources, and effort. Trust is given out by Ralph to everyone at first, but soon he
learns that he cannot trust Jack after Jack and his choir abandon the fire: the most
important thing on the island to the group at the time, from a utilitarian point of view.
the group members; this results in roles and norms. A role is a pattern of behavior that
a particular person is assumed to fill. Norms will be discussed later. Because of the
strong as before, and thus declines. Many examples of structure will be used later in
the discussion on norms, but there is a very strong structure to Jack’s tribe; Jack
dictates and everyone listens, or else. Ralph attempted to institute structure in his tribe
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perception of the membership value, thus increasing conformity in order to minimize risk
the idea of the beast’s existence, thus increasing cohesiveness and intimacy through
responsibilities of fire and shelter, for each group to work together for a common goal.
committed to achieving them. Ideal conditions for this are when the group members are
comfortable with one another and used to working with each other with everyone
actively participating. At this stage all communication, even disagreements, are task-
oriented and focused on the goal while members continue to build and maintain their
relationships.
At the start of the group, Ralph assumes the group is ready for stage 4 and
makes clear roles and goals involving the fire and shelters, already explained. Later
Jack is preoccupied with getting meat, and then it is the act of the hunt and having fun,
then the need for fire, and the wish to hunt and kill Ralph. All of these require
productivity and its constituent parts to work; clear goals to hunt, kill and burn, the active
participation of all members in the hunt working together with clear communication.
to be met. Members may look for what is best for them, compared to what is best for
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the group. Ralph ensures that everyone has a vote, whereas Jack does not seem to
Jack is obviously looking out for his own needs or wants. Piggy looks out for his own
needs and the needs of the group throughout the entire movie, but he only looks out for
his own needs when he feels threatened, such as when everyone was eating pork and
therefore, the group may need to re-organize and move back to one of the previous
stages, or it may move on to the final stage. Ralph attempted to establish this in the
beginning with the conch, and it marginally worked, but eventually it was to the point
where the conch was no longer respected, and Ralph’s group moved completely on to
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stage 6. At the same time communication under Jack is still efficient and mostly one
completed by the group, assess the quality of both the task and the process, in other
words, assess the means and the end product, and discuss further contact with
members. This was not seen in Lord of the Flies, particularly when Ralph’s tribe
dissipates and turns on him by joining Jack’s tribe. There was no celebration, no
assessing, and the only further contact between members was that of the hunter and
the hunted.
through each stage as different speeds, or may even skip a stage, or revisit a stage
many times. Ralph seemed to believe that the group was farther ahead in the stages
than they actually were, whereas Jack seemed to know what stage the group was at,
LEADERSHIP
Trait Approach
The trait approach is also known as the great person theory of leadership and
suggests that all great leaders possess certain traits that set them apart from most other
particularly flexibility (Zaccaro, Foti, & Kenny, 1991; as cited in Baron, Byrne & Watson,
2001). Drive is the desire for achievement combined with high energy and persistence.
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Self-confidence and creativity are inspirational to other members, allowing others to be
confident in the leader, whom they think is competent. Leadership motivation is the
desire to be in charge and exercise authority over others. Flexibility is the most
important factor; it is the ability to adapt to situational demands. In the movie Lord of
the Flies, Jack is never at a moment when he is not showing self-confidence, arguably
to the point of blatant arrogance a concrete example is when he leaves the original tribe
to start his own tribe. Ralph shows drive insofar that he concentrates on getting
rescued and organizes the group for such a project. Jack shows leadership motivation
in his dictatorship, and constant challenging of Ralph. Jack seems to be more flexible
than Ralph, or perhaps only more perceptive to the group’s stage, being able to use his
leadership style at a certain point in the group’s development, explained later under
situational approach.
Charismatic Leaders
Charismatic leaders, also known as transformational leaders, are leaders who
These leaders tend to generate in their followers strong devotion and loyalty,
enthusiasm for the leader and their cause, a willingness to sacrifice their own interests
for the sake of the group’s goals, and exceptional levels of performance. They achieve
this by proposing a vision, offering a route to the vision, and engage in framing (i.e.
Comparing Jack and Ralph on these criteria, it is obvious that Jack is the better
charismatic leader; his devotion and loyalty crushed (literally in one case) Ralph’s
following. Jack’s followers jump to Jack’s demands, whereas Ralph was not even sure
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if the tribe would come back if he blew the conch. Jack’s tribe showed a willingness to
sacrifice their own interests when one of them volunteered or was chosen to play the
part of the pig or beast in a mock hunt. Ralph only had Piggy watch over the smaller
children as a personal sacrifice, which Piggy may or may not have volunteered for. If
then Jack’s tribe did show it. Either way, Ralph’s tribe did not show exceptional levels
of performance.
Using the charismatic leader approach, these differences in power can be linked
to the visions, routes, and framing Jack and Ralph used. Ralph’s proposed vision
involved getting rescued as soon as possible, whereas Jacks was one of hedonism
(hunting and fun), and protection. The route proposed by Ralph was that everyone has
a responsibility to the group and must act accordingly; Jack’s proposed route was to
hunt and follow him. The framing, or purpose, supplied by each is one of hedonism by
Jack and collectivism by Ralph. Jack offers the boys the time of their lives, whereas
Ralph only offers to get them back into school in a country at war though working
Situational Approach
Using Hersey and Blanchard’s theory of situational leadership, which states that
no one leadership style will work with every group all of the time, but the style used
must match the level of the group’s development by varying intensity of task and
relationship dimensions. The level of the group is related to the clarity of the group’s
goals, the members’ commitment to the group and the group goals, along with the
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overall competence of the members. A competent member is able to complete the
required tasks because they have been trained to do so, or have experience in such
matters.
In early stages of group development, it is best for the leader to behave directivly
with high directive, or task related, behavior, while not being responsive, called. Soon
the leader switches to a coaching style of leadership with high directiveness and high
responsiveness. When the group has advanced sufficiently, a good leader will act
In the last stage of situational leadership, the leader is delegating, with low
responsiveness and low directive behavior, basically allowing the group to function as
NORMS
Explicit Norms
Explicit norms are developed and openly talked about, sometimes even written
down, that describe the behavior that is preferred or to be avoided in the group.
Examples from the movie are the agreement to maintain British society, to believe in the
ghost, (early) that the holder of the conch is allowed to be the only one allowed to
Implicit Norms
Implicit norms are understood by group members, even though no one has ever
talked directly about them, let alone written them out. Examples of such behavior are
that it became acceptable to kill pigs, beasts, and eventually humans in a hunt. It was
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also understood that Piggy was to watch over the younger children and that it is
Idiosyncrasy Credits
Idiosyncrasy credits are permission to violate group norms, which are often
granted to leaders. These are given to Simon very early in the film, when the choir
shows up and Simon has a seizure; Jack explains that it is normal for Simon to act like
that. Jack uses these idiosyncrasy credits very much throughout the film, especially
once he forms his own tribe. Comparatively, these credits are not given to Piggy, whom
most of the older children do not interact with; as a result Piggy is excluded by almost all
older children.
To conclude, it appears that Ralph assumed the group was at a further level of
development and tried to act as a delegating leader would with a mature group,
however the group was still in the early stages of development and thus the leadership
style was ineffective. Jack seemed more sensitive to the group’s level of development
and used a more effective leadership style, eventually bringing Ralph’s following to
extinction. Under Jack, the group seemed to mature faster than earlier, possibly due to
past experience, possibly due to his charismatic leadership style or leadership trait
advantage over Ralph. From the start, Ralph seems to create more explicit norms,
while Jack instigates more implicit norms and uses idiosyncrasy credits more liberally.
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References
Allen, L.(Producer), & Brook, P.(Director). (1963). Lord of the Flies [film].
Baron, R. A., Byrne, D., & Watson, G. (2001). Exploring social psychology (3rd Canadian edition).
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