Revision

I chose my literary analysis for revision because it was my lowest grade on an essay and because I didn't feel as if I had concluded it well enough the first time. I focused on word choice and sentence fluency because I felt as if I could have used better vocabulary at some points and because I was a little wordy throughout the piece. I mainly changed my verbs to literary present tense because I was not using it correctly and I feel as if it is much smoother now. I also fixed one of my transitions between paragraphs because it was focused on the plot and not on my analysis or argument. I think that my essay is more polished now and all together sounds more professional than it did in the first place.

Leadership

In the Lord of the Flies by William Golding, the boys have clear leadership, but it soon falls into shambles. The hierarchy among those who have crashed on the island extends beyond age. The reader never learns who is the eldest in the group, but a few stand out as definite leaders. Piggy and Ralph seem to be the logical leaders because Piggy is the intelligence behind Ralph’s natural authority. Jack also has power but not in the same sense as the other two. He is not bright nor does he have the positive drive that the other two have, and his lust for power is likely the reason for the group’s decline. However, Jack has a tenacity that the other boys do not and for that reason, the three of them combined would make the ideal leader.

From the start of the story, Piggy identifies himself as one of the most intelligent and logical among the boys. He is naturally observant and didn’t let his fear blind him during the plane crash. He tells Ralph when they first find each other, “When we was coming down I looked through one of them windows. I saw the other part of the plane. There were flames coming out of it […] And this is what the cabin done” (8).  It’s impressive and mature that Piggy was able to process what was happening around him in such a traumatic event. His response to the crash shows that he has some initiative towards finding help on the island or organizing the boys. While Ralph is doing headstands about the lack of adult supervision, Piggy is paying attention to where they are and what they can do from there on out.

Piggy exhibits his awareness of their surroundings further by noticing a conch in the water of the lagoon, which they decide they should try and get. Ralph only views the conch as a nice plaything, but Piggy sees the bigger picture and tells Ralph, “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us” (16). It becomes apparent that Piggy is a bit more concerned and aware of their predicament than Ralph and he is trying to keep everything and everyone in order. Piggy does have the brains of the group, but he doesn’t have the natural authority that Ralph does.

Ralph has an authority about him that proves to be useful when the boys decide they need to pick a fit leader. Jack immediately comes off as dislikable and arrogant so instead of him becoming chief as he suggests, they take a vote. The choir boys vote for Jack out of obligation and then Ralph says, “’Who wants me?’ / Every hand outside the choir except Piggy’s was raised immediately. Then Piggy, too, raised his hand grudgingly into the air. / Ralph counted. / ‘I’m chief then’” (23). Ralph is the choice of most of the group immediately, but Piggy is reluctant, likely because he saw Ralph before the assembly and knows he isn’t as organized and mature as he seems to the large group. The group didn’t see Ralph before though, they just see the conch. To them, the conch is a symbol of power and unity, and Ralph is the bearer of it. Therefore, he is their choice over Piggy or Jack, even though they have more brains or authority.

Ralph causes the conch to be seen as even more of a symbol of authority among the boys when he establishes it as a system of speaking. While the boys have an assembly, Ralph tells the group that they need an organized system of speaking like raising their hands at school and says, “’I’ll give him the conch.’/ ‘Conch?’ / ‘That’s what this shell’s called. I’ll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he’s speaking.’ / ‘But’ / ‘Look’ / ‘And he won’t be interrupted. Except by me’” (33).  Ralph seems to be quick thinking and dedicated to leading the group efficiently, so he does an adult-like thing and sets up a system for speaking in assemblies. This instance not only shows his leadership capability but also the boys' disorganization and immaturity. The moment they start talking about anything of interest, their focus spirals out of control and the order of the meeting is lost. The fact that Ralph was able to come up with a system that will work for the group of boys shows his leadership potential.

Ralph may be a good leader and Piggy a good advisor, but Jack is neither. Once, he becomes so wrapped up in hunting a pig that he leaves the signal fire to burn out and they lose a chance at rescue. When Jack’s group returns from hunting, they find Ralph upset and furious. He tells them, “’You talk. But you can’t even build huts- then you go off hunting and let out the fire-‘ / He turned away, silent for a moment. Then his voice came again on a peak of feeling. / ‘There was a ship-‘” (72). The prospect of losing a chance to get home gets to most of the boys and some break into tears. Jack, however, seems to almost block it out and continues in his tunnel vision fashion and tells Ralph and Piggy that the job was too big and he needed all of the hunters to get meat. It is made obvious that Ralph cares significantly more about the well-being of the boys and getting off the island while Jack cares solely about hunting and having a good time.

After Jack forms his own tribe, he rules over it with absolute power and even goes as far as beating a boy without justification. On the day after Simon’s death, Roger goes to Castle Rock to join Jack and his tribe and finds himself in awe of Jack’s leadership. Being that Roger is warped and ultimately a bad person, he believes Jack is a good chief with his readied weapons defending his fortress against former friends. Not only does Jack have a defense system in place, but he also was planning to beat Wilfred. And about this, Robert says “I don’t know [why he’s going to beat Wilfred]. He didn’t say. He got angry and made us tie Wilfred up. He’s been […] he’s been tied up for hours, waiting-“ (159). This further proves that Jack rules with absolute, undeserved power and does not use it for good. The separation of Jack and Ralph’s tribes leads to more focus on insignificant things like conflict amongst them and hunting and less focus on important things like getting off the island or remaining civilized.

Jack’s leadership of his tribe is not only unfair and harsh, but also detrimental to the success of the group as a whole. As soon as Jack creates his own tribe, communication and cooperation between the tribes of boys becomes tense and minimal. The gap between the boys comes to a peak when Jack’s tribe literally tries to kill Ralph. They even go as far as burning the island again, as shown by Ralph’s thoughts: “Ralph was running beneath the trees, with the grumble of the forest explained. They had smoked him out and set the island on fire” (197). Jack rules in a childlike, rash fashion and not only tears the boys apart but also ruins their island in an attempt to smoke Ralph out of the forest. Ultimately, Jack does whatever he pleases, though it isn’t always the best thing for maintaining unity, and eventually goes as far as attempted homicide of a boy he had once befriended.

Piggy, Ralph, and Jack are all three leaders in their own right on the island in Lord of the Flies. Each show different traits of an ideal leader, but none have the full package. And none of them are perfect. The boys have their faults and their strengths, so with a combination of the three of them, the tribes could have had the perfect balance between morals and pleasure. However, strong leadership is a complex blend of logic, fortitude, and empathy. And these three boys on an island had the potential to have it all.