Lord Of The Flies

Ralph and Jack: Leaders or Losers?

Peter Ferdinand Drucker said that "effective leadership is action, not position and it's not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes." (Quote Land) Peter is absolutely correct. In order to be a good leader you must be effective and effective leadership has nothing to do with how pleasant you are, rather as long as you get positive results you are a good leader. Jack is an effective leader; therefore he is a better leader than Ralph. Jack is a better leader because he is intelligent and authoritative. Despite the fact that Ralph is more democratic, he doesn't offer the boys what Jack offers.

Jack is intelligent. He knows how to survive on the island. He can hunt where as nobody on the island can. For example: He is the only person on the island that supplies his tribe with food that is high in protein. Sure Jack's tribe can feed on leaves and grass but he makes living on the island more interesting and fun. Jack is more intelligent than Ralph. Jack took Ralph's leadership away from him. He used his good hunting skills to convince the tribe that he is the one that they can rely on when in need of food and that he is more effective and should be leader.(148)

Jack says "take some more meat."(149) By giving the tribe food, Jack gains control over them thus succeeds in his plans.

Jack is authoritative. A good leader has to be authoritative and commanding. He has to have control over his people. Jack lets them do whatever they want so long as they have fun. He is very convincing and can convince his tribe members to do almost anything. For example: he had convinced his tribe members to hunt down the sow and they had successfully done so. (136) Jack has gained his authority by feeding the boys and by letting them what they want to do.

Jack