To me this article seemed like a good fit to show the main theme of the novel Lord of the Flies. This piece written by Meghan M. Biro discusses the tools that make a good leader.
Most of the tools mentioned reminded me of Ralph for example, collaboration. Ralph desired to collaborate with everyone, hoping to have all the boys doing something productive and positive (aiming towards the goal of being rescued), and this is mainly evident in chapter 4.
Another tool from the article which applies to Ralph is emotional intelligence. For example, although his initial instinct when he came across the boar shows internal savagery, he was intelligent enough to recall civilized manners; he did not have the courage to kill another living thing. I feel like everyone faces situations in life where they must choose between right and wrong, good vs. evil, etc. but it takes more than just willingness and restraint to make the 'right' decision, it takes intelligence as well. In my opinion Ralph is definitely one of the more brighter boys in this novel simply because of this.
Although Ralph may be the more favorable and liked character, he is not the perfect leader. He was unable to get control of the boys (specifically the littluns) and had he the capability to make them follow his plan, perhaps they would have been rescued already. It is clear that Ralph aimed for rescue (which i believe should have been the common goal) while Jack aimed for pointless fun and did things for pleasure, like hunting. However it is not entirely Ralphs fail at being leader which caused havoc as they are just little kids.
Contrast in leadership styles as Ralph displays good leadership traits, while Jack only impacts the boys negatively and is unable to motivate them for success.
No comments:
Post a Comment