Ralph And Jack's Leadership In Lord Of The Flies

Words: 1019
Pages: 5

Jack and Ralph are two of the most powerful, interesting and stubborn characters in the novel “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding. Throughout the story, the two boys get into numerous disputes, with neither boy willing to give up or admit that he is wrong. They both want to win which is what makes them so powerful, yet stubborn. These two characters are such a huge part of the story. This is the type of person that would make a good chief. Jack and Ralph are similar and different in many ways. Ralph and Jack show different styles of leadership, they both have distinctly different visual appearance and they each have their own opinion about being in the island.
Jack and Ralph show different styles in leadership. Ralph, on one hand, is focused
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Both of their appearances change throughout the novel. Golding often tells how long the boys hair is getting; “Ralph pushed the damp tendrils of hair out of his eyes.” (Golding 165) When Ralph first got on the island, his hair was describes as short, now his hair is tendrils that are long enough to be in his eyes. Although Ralph and Jack are close in age, there is a difference in height. Ralph is described as being averages height and weight, whereas Jack is ‘tall, thin and boney’. In the beginning of the novel, Jack is presented as a poised choir boy with short hair and a clean face. As the novel progresses Jack level of poise starts to decrease; his hair grows, he paints his face with blood and coloured clay. Jack is no longer wearing his choir boy uniform. Ralph does not at any point paint his face. Jack ends the novel with the appearance of a savage, the exact type of person he said he was not. Jack states “‘I agree with Ralph. We've got to have rules and obey them. After all, we're not savages. We're English (…)”’ (Golding 42). That moment is the moment when Jack stands up and tells every boy there to be civilized, that he is civilized and they need to stay that way. Little did he know that he would end up being the savage like person, with Ralph on the other