Leadership In Lord of the Flies

The Novel Lord Of the Flies by William Golding revolves around a group of school

boys stuck on a deserted island after their plane crashes. No adults survive the crash,

so it is up to the young boys to work together in order to stay alive. However, the

isolation from the island brought out a dark side in all of the boys, and as the novel

progressed, the boys became more and more savage as the concept of becoming

rescued became less and less likely. Throughout this entire novel, signs and acts of

leadership were shown by some of the older boys in the group. Out of all these

leaders, some were good, and some were bad, which left many readers wondering,

what did William Golding consider to be a good leader? According to William Golding,

a good leader is someone who is most fit for their position. In order to determine this,

one must take initiative and prioritize the most important problems which will help them

gain followers who respect their ideals. Once a role of leadership is established, good

leaders must do things for the greater good of the group, not just to aid themselves.

To begin, one of the first steps Golding shares with us is taking initiative to become a

good leader. Those who take action first are the ones who become the leaders.

Towards the very beginning of the book, two of the main characters call the first

meeting in order to find out who is on the island, and what to do. One of these

characters, Ralph, takes initiative in this meeting, and shares what he thinks the boys

should do. He declares that the boys should discover if the island is inhabited or not or

if they are even on an island. Ralph then further takes initiative by saying “Everyone
must stay round here and wait and not go away...three of us will go on an expedition

and find out” [Golding, 23]. This statement made for taking initiative in a chaotic time

shows that Golding found Ralph to be a good leader, and proves that he believed that

good leaders took initiative and were bold. Later on in this chapter, when the boys

were out exploring after Ralph’s suggestion, Ralph took yet another action of initiative.

The boys quickly realized that the island they were on was big and scary, so Ralph

declared that “We ought to draw a map.” [Golding, 23]. Again, these actions of initiative

in an uncertain situation shown again and again by Ralph throughout the beginning of

the book proves that Golding believes that good leaders take initiative. Typically,

things repeated throughout a book often are of significant meaning to that author or

the story itself. By Golding repeating the fact that Ralph often takes initiative, it is clear

that

Golding wants Ralph to be shown as a good leader, and what’s the reader to know that

a good leader takes initiative. Towards the end of the chapter, when the boys finally

discover that they are on an uninhabited island, Ralph, the clear leader of the group,

suggests that the group should head back to camp, and takes initiative on this action

by saying “Come on,’ said Ralph. ‘We’ve found out what we wanted to know.”

[Golding, 31]. The fact that Ralph leads over his peers and takes initiative in every

group decision that the group makes, such as the one described above, proves that he

is the strong leader in the group. Not only did taking initiative land him the role of

leader in his group, but also makes him a good leader because he takes action in the

group.
Typically, good leaders are known as someone who took action that had an impact. By

Ralph making these decisions to explore the island, to look for inhabitants, to make a

map, and to head back to camp, although they are small, proves him to be a good leader.

To continue, this constant repetition of Ralph being shown as a good leader through the

strategy of taking initiative proves that Golding too believes that good leaders take

initiative. Repetition is mostly used to show important symbols or parts within a book,

and by Golding constantly repeating instances where leader Ralph is being beneficial to

the group by taking initiative makes it clear that Golding too finds that good leaders take

initiative.

Once a role of leadership is established through taking initiative, a good leader

must prioritize their problems. One of the first things the boys do on the island is

discuss how they are going to get rescued. Given that the island is completely cut off

from the rest of the world in terms of communication, and the fact that nobody knew

the boys were out there, this task seemed almost impossible. However, Ralph, being

the good leader that he was, came up with an idea to solve this problem and increase

their chances of being rescued. He proposes this idea to the group by saying “If a ship

comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the

mountain. We must make a fire.” [Golding, 42]. This action of prioritization made by

Ralph shows that a good leader, such as Ralph, should prioritize the most important

problems. It is clear throughout the book that Ralph’s main priority is to get them off

the island. It is often repeated by Ralph that the fire must keep going, so that any ship

could see them and save them. Of course, on an island full of young boys, mistakes
are going to happen. So when the fire on top of the mountain went out, Ralph got very

angry. Although Ralph was a prominent leader throughout the story, there was also

another leader named Jack. Their personalities often clashed, and they had different

things in mind while on the island. Jack had his own personal goals, which became

darker and darker the more time he spent on the island. Initially, Jack's goal was to kill

a pig so that the boys on the island can get a treat of pig meat. However, Jack’s main

priority got in the way of the most important priority in the island, being rescued. When

the fire first went out, Jack was to blame. To express his anger at Jack, Ralph yells “I

was talking about smoke! Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig,

pig, pig!” [Golding, 63]. This contrast in priorities by Jack and Ralph prove that good

leaders put the most important priorities first. In fact, Golding goes on to explain that

there were consequences to not prioritizing correctly. Since Jack focused on getting a

pig and not keeping the fire going, he sacrificed the boys’ chances of being rescued,

which showed that he was a bad leader. On the other hand, it was Ralph’s main goal

to keep the fire going, and even though he failed in the book, if jack acted differently he

would’ve saved them all, and not only been an excellent leader, but a hero. In yet

another instance where Ralph prioritizes the most important problems, we can look

further into the book. At this point, most of the boys have gotten used to the island, and

have settled and become lazy. This lack of effort leaves the boys ill prepared in case of

danger, so Ralph calls them out on it. Although Ralph complains about a lot of other

things that have yet to be done, such as the lack of shelters and effort, he also

complains about the lack of water the boys have been supplying. Instead, the boys
have been drinking from the ocean. To this, Ralph says “Only we said we’d have the

water brought. And now not. There were only two full shells there this afternoon.”

[Golding, 97] Even though this statement was unpopular among the group, the

prioritization made by Ralph proves that he is a good leader. Other boys on the island

would’ve just left these problems alone, but in order to keep the community safe and to

be impactful, Ralph had to make this statement. Time and time again, we see Ralph,

the “good” leader on the island, showing signs of prioritization. We even see Jack,

another leader, also prioritizing. This constant repetition by Golding of more than one

leader prioritizing shows that he thinks it is necessary in order to be a good leader.

After prioritizing problems and taking initiative is complete, a good leader must gain

followers who respect them and their ideals. As the book progresses, Jack and

Ralph’s leadership techniques clash more and more until finally, Jack has enough.

Furious at Ralph and his followers, Jack storms away and creates his own tribe.

Initially, only a few boys wished to join his tribe, but once Jack started to cater towards

the group, his follower count went up exponentially. While on the island, the boys are

constantly worrying about a mysterious beast that the boys keep seeing. They believe

that the beast is out to get them, despite it being a figment of their imagination. Since

Jack knew that most of the boys in his tribe were terrified of the beast, he found a way

to keep them at ease by saying “We aren’t going to bother the beast.” [Golding, 168]

This action of keeping his followers at ease allowed for him to gain more followers and

for them to respect Jack as a leader. Even though Jack often mentions killing the beast

and overall being a gruesome and cruel character in the book, Jack changes his mind
once he becomes leader in order to cater to his followers. When one’s ideas drastically

change, it is usually to please others. By Jack doing so, it is clear that he is trying to

please the group. Even though Jack gained a steady following of people, he needed

more in order to take out Ralph’s tribe. In order to convince more people to join his

tribe, Jack decided that he and his group should “...kill a pig and give a feast.”[Golding,

168]. Given that the boys have only been eating fruit on the island for weeks, Jack's

clever thinking not only satisfied his need for gore, but also piqued the interest of the

meat craving boys on the island. Of course, this tactic of creating a pig feast worked,

because at the time of the feast, “All of the boys on the island, except piggy, Ralph,

Simon, and the two tending the pig, were grouped on the turf.” [Golding, 189]. This

outcome of Jack's idea to give meat to the boys proves that a good leader always

gains followers who rep set them, and caters to their followers in order to do so. Given

that this virtually is the only way for a crazy, gruesome character like Jack to get

followers, it is clear that Golding believes that good leaders also have followers who

respect them.

Once gaining followers, a leader can then become best fit to be a leader. How

might this be done? Despite prioritizing, taking initiative, and being selfless to gain

followers, leaders must have the most experience, knowledge, maturity, and so on. In

Lord of the Flies, two different leaders form two different societies. Although each of

them aren’t necessarily fit to run the other society, they are definitely fit to run their

own. Jack’s tribe was known as gruesome and horrific, or the evil tribe, so it made
sense when they chose the most savage boy on the island to be their leader. In fact,

time after time again, Jack proved to his tribe mates that he was most fit to be leader.

In one instance “Jack was on top of the sow, stabbing downward with his knife.”

[Golding, 171]. This horrific action by Jack proves that he is the best fit to lead the

grosser, more savage tribe on the island. Typically, young children take after their

leaders or parents, and since Jack was their leader, and there was no adults on this

island, it was easy for him to turn the rest of the boys on the island into savages

through his tribe. However, Jack wasn’t always as savage, and he lost his humanity

the longer they were on the island. Towards the beginning, before Jack and Ralph’s

leadership styles clashed, they worked together as leaders, despite Ralph being the

voted upon leader. Jack acted mature and knew who to calm most of the kids down

when in uncertain situations. Initially, when the beast was first introduced, Jack took

initiative and gave a mature answer to the boys' speculations about the beast by

saying “There isn’t a snake thing [beast]. But if there was a snake we’d hunt it and kill

it.” [Golding, 40]. This reassuring statement made by Jack proves his maturity and that

young boys such as the ones on the island need a mature leader. Jack not only had

the maturity to be a leader, but wasn’t afraid to do the dirty, gross, and disturbing

works such as killing pigs or killing the beast. On the other hand, Ralph wasn’t

considered a good leader in this case. He was not most fit for the position of the initial

tribe leader, and it can be shown as detrimental to the tribe towards the end of the

book. In fact “None of the boys found a good reason for this; what intelligence had

been shown was traceable to piggy while the most obvious leader was Jack.” [Golding,
21]. The fact that none of the boys found Ralph to be a good fit as leader shows that

Golding didn’t necessarily find Ralph to be the best leader either. Despite having good

qualities in leadership, Ralph overall wasn’t the best fit to be a leader, and that shows

later on when all the boys leave Ralph to join Jack's tribe. Typically, a good leader is

the obvious choice. Since the boys thought Jack was the obvious leader but chose

Ralph anyways, it helps the reader explain why they all left Ralph’s tribe later on in the

book. If Golding thought Ralph was good leader, he wouldn’t have included the boys

thoughts in the initial vote on who should be the best leader.

Finally, once a leader gains followers who support them, one must do things for

the greater good of the group to become a good leader. Jack, despite being an evil

and savage person, was very good at doing things for the greater good of the group,

and was often a reassuring presence and made the island more fun. Even though Jack

didn’t often supply necessities like Ralph, he still did things for the greater good of the

group such as reassuring the boys that the beast was not real by saying “There isn’t a

snake thing. But if there was a snake we’d hunt it and kill it. We’re going to hunt pigs to

get meat for everybody. And we’ll look for the snake too...” [Golding, 40] This action

catered towards the young children shows that although Jack wasn’t talking about the

absolute necessities, he was still talking about doing things for the greater good of the

group such as hunting the nonexistent beast and finding meat for the group. Although

neither of those things were a top priority, Jack still insisted on doing them to comfort

the group. In fact, even Ralph gets in on the idea of hunting because it would help the

young boys feel more at home. He agreed with Jack and took initiative and decided
“We need hunters to get us meat.” [Golding, 35]. This prioritization of getting meat

proves that along with Jack, Ralph was also doing things for the greater good of the

group. However, the two leaders also do more important things for the greater good of

the group, such as prioritizing rescue. In fact, Ralph made it his main priority to keep a

fire going on the mountain so any ships that pass the island by will notice the

inhabitants. Ralph goes on to explain this idea to the boys by saying “If a ship comes

near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the

mountain. We must make a fire.” [Golding, 42]. This prioritization of getting saved

made by Ralph further shows that the leaders are doing things for the greater good of

the group, which overall makes them better leaders. In fact, every action made in this

book is meant for the greater good of the group, and the fact that Golding highlights

this through Ralph and Jack proves that he too believes that a good leader will do

things for the greater good of the group. Typically, authors will repeat things if they find

them important. Since Golding often repeats the concept of doing things for the greater

good of the group, he must find it very important in a leader.

After looking through many different instances of lord of the flies where characters

are shown to be good leaders through many different strategies, a reader can assume

that William Golding, author of Lord of the Flies, finds a good leader to be most fit for

their position by taking initiative, doing things for the greater good, and prioritizing. By

doing so, a leader can gain followers who respect them. Golding often shares good

leadership strategies, but never shares who he believes to be the best leader on the

island. Jack and Ralph were both shown to have their leadership flaws and strength,
but it is unclear as to what Golding prefers in a leader. In the end, it is up to the reader

to determine what they would rather have led them, a cruel and soulless dictator or

someone who’s helpless attempts for civility and order get them nowhere? Both don’t

sound ideal, but they manage to show great signs of leadership throughout the book

anyways.