Video Transcript
Leadership
Think about any groups you've been in that had a leader. Maybe a captain of a football or a debate team, or a club with a president. How did that person become the leader? Were they elected? Did they choose themselves to be the leader? Or were they appointed based on skill?
There are a number of different ways a person can become a leader, or show leadership skills. William Golding's Lord of the Flies, is about a group of boys stranded on an island and vying for power. In this group, there are three main types of leaders: elected, self-appointed, and background, and there's one main character to represent each type.
Ralph, the Elected Leader
The character that represents elected leadership is Ralph. The boys gather together for an assembly at the very beginning of the novel, and it's at this assembly that Ralph is elected as leader, almost unanimously. He's not elected on the basis of merit, but mostly based on the fact that he was the one to blow the conch that called everyone to the meeting. However, he turns out to have some skill as a leader, or at least as someone people will initially listen to.
Ralph's focus is long-term, as a leader's focus often is. He wants to be rescued, and his main focus is on that goal. His very first act as leader is to figure out the best way to do this. He states, 'Listen, everybody. I've got to have time to think things out. I can't decide what to do straight off. If this isn't an island we might be rescued straight away. So we've got to decide if this is an island.'
Once they decide it really is an island by exploring, his main focus becomes keeping a fire going. They build a fire at the top of a mountain to increase its chance of being seen.
Throughout the story, even when the main power shifts to Jack, Ralph continues to hold on to the idea of rescue, and to try and keep this fire going. The demand to keep the fire going versus just having fun and doing other things is one major difference between Ralph and Jack. As Ralph puts it, 'The trouble was, if you were a chief you had to think, you had to be wise.' As a result, he was always thinking of the future.
Jack, the Self-Appointed Leader
The second type of leadership in Lord of the Flies is self-appointed leadership, which is someone who takes power for themselves rather than being elected. Self-appointed leadership is what we see with the character Jack.
From the start he wants to be in charge. He starts out in charge of the choir, who eventually become the hunters. At the first assembly, when they're choosing a chief, he comments, 'I ought to be chief. . . because I'm chapter chorister and head boy.'
He's not elected, but Ralph puts him in charge of the hunters, and for a while Jack is content with this. Before long, though, he becomes restless, and starts reacting against Ralph's authority. After one such incident, we see this explicitly: 'Ralph sighed, sensing the rising antagonism, understanding that this was how Jack felt as soon as he ceased to lead.'
The antagonism eventually comes to a head, and Jack breaks off from Ralph's group. It's interesting to note that he doesn't just take power from Ralph. He goes off and starts a completely separate group that's all his own. After starting this separate group with just his hunters, Jack invites the rest to follow: 'Listen all of you. Me and my hunters, we're living along the beach by a flat rock. We hunt and feast and have fun. If you want to join my tribe come and see us. Perhaps I'll let you join.'
From this quote, we can see that Jack's focus is completely different than Ralph's. He doesn't care about the signal fire, or being rescued. He wants to hunt and basically do what he wants. He wants to enjoy himself and not do chores, and he's not worried about the future. This is a key difference between Jack's and Ralph's leadership.
Piggy, the Background Leader
The final leadership type is background leadership. This is someone who's sort of running the show, but not explicitly. In Lord of the Flies, the background leader is Piggy. He has the brains and organization needed to keep everyone together, keep the fire going, and make a sort of society. However, he has no charisma, and the boys constantly taunt him for his weight, his asthma, and his bad vision.
As a result, Piggy's leadership goes through Ralph. It's Piggy's idea to call the meeting, which Ralph does. Piggy seems content to let Ralph take credit for his ideas. He tells Jack, 'That's why Ralph made a meeting. So as we can decide what to do,' even though Piggy decided to call the meeting.
Piggy continues to feed Ralph ideas and help implement Ralph's ideas throughout the novel, without ever seeking overt credit or leadership. Piggy's is the least obvious type of leadership, especially compared to the types represented by Ralph and Jack.
Lesson Summary
Let's review. Leadership can show up in many different ways. In Lord of the Flies, there are three main types of leadership: elected, self-appointed, and background. Elected leadership is represented by Ralph, who focuses on the future, and being rescued. Self-appointed leadership is represented by Jack, who focuses on having fun, and hunting. Background leadership is represented by Piggy, who helps Ralph and feeds him ideas, but never takes credit or control himself. Overall, Lord of the Flies is a good example of how much leadership can vary from person to person, even in the same situation.
