Angel Gardner
4/19/19
2nd Hour
FCA’s
1. The essay includes an organized intro, body, and conclusion. Including thesis, topic sentence, and transition statements.
2. Evidence from the novel supports the thesis and includes pieces of evidence including 1 quote
3. Formal Style
Type 4 Writing
To be a good leader, one must listen to people while still being responsible and taking charge. In the novel, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, a group of young boys get stuck on an island from a plane crash without adults. Two of the main characters, Ralph and Jack, wish to be the leader, but eventually, end up splitting into two groups that result in a bit of a rivalry between the two. Even though Jack took over the leader position at the end and was experienced in that field of work, Ralph is a better leader because he treats people with respect, he is organized, and throughout the whole novel, his mindset is focused on being rescued.
First, Ralph is a better leader because he treats people with respect. When Ralph and Piggy first landed on the island they found a conch which could call the boys together when they need to hold a meeting or when someone wants to talk. But, whenever piggy tries to talk jack always tries to shut him down or tries to punish him like he is one of his puppets. For example, when Piggy wanted to speak, Jack would tell him to shut up, therefore, saying that he didn’t care about what he had to say but Ralph at the beginning of the book said: “I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak.” He can hold it when he’s speaking. Stating that he would let people have a say, or express certain matters and that he had a way for people to listen to the person speaking without being interrupted. Some may argue that Ralph also picked on Piggy and didn’t care about him, but he definitely let him and the others speak more that Jack would ever let them.
Additionally, Ralph is a better leader because he is organized. As the boys settled down on the island, Ralph started to establish rules to make a model civilization. Ralph wanted to build huts to make sure everyone had shelter and somewhere like a home for a while. There’s a part of the book that Jack and Ralph address this, and Jack says he cares more about meat; ‘“We want meat” “Well, we haven’t got any yet, and we want shelters.”’ (pg. 51) All Jack cares about is hunting and having fun, while Ralph actually wants to build shelters to keep them from things that may harm them and to create a sense of security. Jack’s community did fine, but only because he used fear to gain control over them by saying he would protect them from “the beast” and that they would have fun on his side of the island, so they were scared of what would happen if they didn’t listen to Jack.
Lastly, Ralph is a better leader because throughout the whole novel his mindset is focused on being rescued. When Ralph and Piggy both met up on the island Ralph brought up that his dad was a navy commander and that it would not be long before he found them. In Chapter 2, Ralph tries to create an orderly civilization among the boys by prioritizing the signal fire and establishing rules about meetings and communication. Throughout the novel, Ralph insists on the need for an organized system of government, as symbolized by the conch. Ralph also prioritizes the need for maintaining the fire over the need for hunting, which leads to his eventual clash with Jack. Ralph was very strict about keeping the fire going because he wanted to make sure that the smoke signals were seen by the navy ships so they could get rescued. Ralph tells the boys that they may be there a long time and that they need to face that possibility by taking care of things such as making shelter, finding food, and making rules. He still hopes that the signal fire may alert someone to their existence.
Although Ralph is the weaker person, he is still able to show a better understanding of people than Jack who is stronger. Ralph demonstrates his excellent leadershipskills throughout the book by treating everyone with respect, he is an organized leader, and his mindset is focused on getting rescued.
