Leadership Qualities In the novel Lord Of The Files Essay

In the novel lord of the files both Ralph and Piggy demonstrate qualities of a leader and others that would make you think otherwise. In this essay I will evaluate how each character has leadership qualities and how they are shown in the book. Firstly Ralph demonstrates leadership qualities by taking the lead on the expedition. He immediately seems like the one in charge. He is confident, â€Å"He hastened back into the forest.† Ralph shows that he knows exactly what he is doing and is confident in his own judgement. This is a quality that leaders have, they are able to trust their own judgement and be a go-getter, Ralph shows a continuous sense of self-confidence in his actions and decisions and isn’t afraid to take a leap of faith. However, Piggy does not demonstrate this leadership quality. He is reserved and very self-conscious. He †glanced over ralphs shoulder before leaning†; this tells me that piggy is very self-conscious of peoples opinion about him. He confides in Ralph after trusting him with his name and seems like a follower. By taking the back seat in the first chapter Piggy shows us how intelligence isn’t always directly visible. Piggy is more intelligent than Ralph as Piggy comes up with suggestions that are both productive and extremely important for survival and information about the Island. â€Å"‘I expect we’ll want to know their names,’ said the fat boy, ‘and make a list. Although Ralph seems like the boy with the leadership qualities and the knowhow, Piggy comes up with probably the most important plan to get off the island. He assumes that he and Ralph could not have been the only survivors from the plane crash and quickly devises a strategy to make every one accountable for themselves. This intellectual mind-set portrayed is a leadership quality, despite it not being as obvious in him due to his withdrawn, following nature. Also, from appearance Ralph seems like a good leader. He is describes as † the fair boy†, as opposed to †the fat boy†. This is significant because the writer uses contrast to make ralph look better outwardly and arguably make Piggy look better inwardly. The novel is a question on society’s judgment on the word leader; what is a leader? is it appearance or content?. Ralph seems like the perfect man for the job. He is described as having a developing torso, putting emphasis on his physique and physical aspect and he seems a lot more fit that piggy. Ralph also doesn’t seem to have as much problems as Piggy. Piggy has Asthma, seems to have a fear of his controlling grandma and also seems to pant a considerable amount of times. Through the writer making Piggy seem like the one with the problem the effect given is that Piggy begins to show unusual leadership qualities. Piggy is a quick, calculated thinker and most of his ideas are shunned by Ralph until he supposedly ‘thought them up’. This Shows that although Ralph is ignorant in terms of praise for Piggy he does acknowledge that Piggy does come up with the ideas much quicker than him. Ralph, on the other hand demonstrates attributes that are not normally considered leadership qualities. â€Å"They used to call me ‘Piggy’. Ralph shrieked with laughter. He jumped up. ‘Piggy! Piggy!†. Ralph shows childishness in this passage which is an attribute that is not considered a leadership quality. Through Ralph’s childishness we begin to consider how important Piggy is. We see Piggy although he does not evidently look it, is a far more mature boy. He calculates and makes educated conclusion’s whereas Ralph seems to just be an adventurer and a depiction of a leader in those harsh times. As It was a time of war children would have been expected to have physical strength (to work for their guardian in the country) and mental strength. Ralph and Piggy alone do not have full leadership qualities enough to be a leader but collectively they join up to have essential skills for survival on a deserted Island