Throughout the novel Lord of the Flies different qualities of leadership are shown by different characters, all with different prospects and priorities. All these different qualities help reflect the personality of the different characters.
At the beginning of the novel Ralph is chosen to be chief by his fellow islanders. This may have been because he immediately took charge and blew the conch to gather everybody together; these bold actions may have made Ralph seem a strong leader. However, a reader may infer that Ralph is sometimes reluctant to be leader as he fails to think up new ideas The trouble was, if you were a chief you had to think, you had to be wise. This could suggest that Ralph is insecure about leadership and is obviously not confident with his leadership skills. Ralph could be described as a democratic leader: he may be seen as fair and attentive and treats every individual with respect, epitomised by the way he listens to their ideas and allows them to express themselves openly by using the conch rule, however this could also be seen as a bad leadership skill as we decide things but they dont get done this could suggest Ralph needs to be more demanding and bossy, like Jack. However, Ralphs good communication skills gains him respect and he could be seen as inspirable to the rest of the group No one said anything but the faces turned to Ralph were intent this shows the obvious respect the group has for Ralph and unlike Piggy his ideas are listened to and taken into account. Ralphs leadership skills may sometimes suffer due to his childishness Belly flop! Belly flop! this may be the reason why he lacks the ability to think up new ideas, unlike Piggy.
Piggy could be seen as a caring and sensitive individual as he often takes care of the littluns and makes them feel safer Piggy knelt, holding the conch. Now then. Whats your name? this thoughtful leadership skill goes unnoticed however, as does many of his other talents and leadership qualities due to the lack of respect he receives from his fellow islanders. He is seen, to the other boys, as geeky, annoying and boring: Piggy was a bore; his fat, his ass-mar and his matter-of-fact ideas were dull although this could have been misinterpreted due to his matureness and the way he acts and thinks like an adult; he could simply just be seen as sensible to a reader. He is rarely listened to and is very disrespected, this hurts Piggys feelings and he often gets frustrated with the way he is ignored, especially when he has thought up new ideas Daring, indignant, Piggy took the conch. Thats what I said! I said about our meetings and things and then you said shut up-. Despite this, Ralph could often be seen as envious of Piggy and his bright ideas Only, decided Ralph as he faced the chiefs seat, I cant think. Not like Piggy. This shows how Piggy has good leadership skills but they go unnoticed due to his annoyance and bad communication skills and would maybe be a good leader if given the opportunity to express his good ideas.
On the other hand, Jack has very different priorities and perceptions than Ralph and Piggy. Jack is obsessed with the concept of hunting and killing and thus has a different approach to leadership; he shows an aggressive and demanding attitude which could give the impression of bossiness Back! Back to the fort! this violent language obviously intimidates and scares the other tribe members hence the reason they obey everything he says, this could be seen as good and bad leadership skills as there are no arguments and things do get done but then nobody dares to speak their mind and so Jacks ideas could be the wrong thing to do but cannot be stopped due to his frightening temper and scary savageness. He may also be seen as an ambitious leader as he likes to put his ideas into use Now listen. We might go later to castle rockand about the beast when we kill well leave some of the kill for it so it wont bother us, maybe. This gains him respect from his tribe members and a reader may infer that the tribe members feel inspired by Jack and makes them feel safer, this also could be interpreted as a good leadership skill as he has gained respect and loyalty from his fellow tribe members.
To conclude, the 3 different types of leaders in the novel all have differences in their leadership skills, personalities and priorities and the way they act as leaders reflects this. The other boys on the island also all react differently towards these different leadership qualities, which allows different leaders the opportunity to achieve greater deeds and ideas than others. Therefore, all 3 boys make good leaders for different reasons.
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