Lord of the Flies - the Right Leader
The Right Leader
In the novel, Lord of the Flies, there is an on going conflict on who should lead this uncontrolled band of boys, there are two boys up for the job of island chief. The one who is most suited for the job of chief is Jack Merridew, he is the most reasonably choice because he can conect with the boys, protect, provide, and be a friend to them.
The most desirable type of leadership on the island is more of a union, which is represented by Jack, rather than the more classic parliament type lead by Ralph. Since Jack lets the boys figure things out on their own and they can run free where Ralph is so hyper focused on rules and structure.
“Who’s going to join my tribe?” – “I gave you food”, Jack said, “and my hunters will protect you from the beast. Who will join my tribe?” The way things are going on the island right now is more or less a crucial turning point; should the boys join Jack and have food, fun, and a community or not? Jack is providing the essentials for them and in return he wants loyalty. That does not seem to be a lot to ask for when you’re stranded on an island with young, feuding boys. This is the right way to form a strong leadership; I do for you and you do for me. With his offer, Jack is giving the prospective tribe inductees it will give them something constructive to do on the island for the time being. When you think of a leader you want a man with his priorities in line, and an idea of the future of the people. Also, he must have the power and means to protect and provide for them. The question here is will they take the chance to be a part of a community, have protection, food, and shelter; or starve or be killed by nature with no real strong sense of leadership.
Jack leapt on to the sand. “Do our dance! Come on! Dance! ... Kill the best cut his throat! Spill his blood!” Through this quote you can see that Jack is motivated by the well-being of the boys, and he creates a way to distract them from their fears. This dance and change they do is really showing how he has made a strong and united people through all of the peril on the island. These things Jack is doing is making the boys trust him more as he protects them, and gives them freedom; and in an end result that are a strong people with an even stronger leader. Also this can be viewed as a distraction for them from all of the fighting that is going on and to come on this island. The dance and chant may be also to fend off any unknown predators on the island and with a strong and intelligent leader like Jack they will survive the island and come home alive.
“Choir! Stand still!” “Wearily obedient, the choir huddled into lines and stood there swaying in the sun…He was intimidated by this uniformed superiority and the offhand authority in Merridew’s voice.” In a leader you want and need a person who can talk to the people, connect and get them to listen to what you have to say. The way Jack carries himself through the book shows you that he knows and is a strong and effective leader. When Golding writes that Piggy was intimidated by Jack’s uniformed authority and offhand authority it shows that Jack can present himself and come off as the authority figure that can lead effectively. This is before anything had really started on this island so you get a notion that he is a natural born leader from how the choir boys respond and respect him.
“Go on. Tie them!! See? They do what I want…there was silence again the twins lay, inexpertly tied up; the tribe watched Ralph to see what he would do… the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist… “See? See? That’s what you’ll get! I mean that! There isn’t a tribe for you anymore! The conch is gone.” Jack is exercising his power over the tribe here; they listen intently and expect great things from him, since he has given them food, protection and shelter. The conch represents the power he took and controlled. As this is happening the book is winding down to get ready to finish but Jack still the ultimate power and is definitely in command as the boys do what he says and almost always when he says. As you can see the statement of Jack, “ I do for you and you do for me” has really gone well as they do what Jack wants because they know that he has done so much for them and now it is their turn to do something for him.
There for in conclusion the leadership that is more needed and wanted is a union which Jack has successfully lead. When you think of a leader you need and want a person who is strong, convincing, can give of a more authoritative vibe.