Leaders and Success

No matter the situation there will always be a leader. For a student the leader is the teacher, for the teacher, the leader is the principal, and for the principal the leader is the superintendent. No matter what the position is there will always be a leader. Without a leader there are no rules, no order, and no peace. Without a leader there is no civilization and only savagery. The reason for this being is because, for any group to be successful there has to be a leader that is willing to take on the responsibility of managing the group and leading them onto the right path. There must always be a leader that is willing to do as the name implies, lead.

In William Golding’s Lord of The flies, the question of what would happen when a group of small boys are trapped on an island is answered. The boys are trapped on the island after their plane crashes and there seems to be no adults in sight. After the boys all find each other as well as introduce each other, the book states that Ralph says; “Seems to me we ought to have a chief”(27). The boys, who barely know each other, all quickly agree with this idea and vote for a chief. It is declared that Ralph, the one who gathered the boys, is the chief and leader of the band of boys. From the fact that the first action the boys took as a collective was vote for a leader, the reader can see that the young boys understand that since they are in a foreign location where many, if not all, of them know little to nothing about how to survive on this island, a leader is needed. The boys are able to understand that without a leader many of them will die and not be able to succeed on the topic of leaving the island,  because as the saying states “United we stand, divided we fall”. And to truly be united there must be a leader that can help the group to become one. Therefore, the boys pick who they believe to be the most responsible amongst them, which they believe to be Ralph. The reason why they believe Ralph is the most responsible is because he is the one that united them. As many of them awoke on a strange island they heard the sound of a conch shell. This shell was blown by Ralph, showing that he was intelligent enough to comprehend that the sound will draw any other survivors. By doing this Ralph is already managing the boys, and leading them on a path that he believes will allow them to escape the grasp of the island, before he is even elected leader.  

If the reader delves further into Lord of The Flies they will reach a part where there is great tension on the island. This tension causes Jack to say; “You go away, Ralph. You keep to your end. This is my end and my tribe.” At this point in the story Jack, the only person that when the voting occurred in the beginning of the book was able to run for chief against Ralph, is gaining followers through the misadventures of Ralph. Ralph has set up attempts to escape the island, such as the signal fire, but they have all failed. When he attempted to organize the boys and build huts he also failed. Whilst Jack on the other hand has accomplished something that the boys have greatly wished for; hunting down and killing an animal so that they might be able to dine on meat. Under the leadership of Ralph the boys have constantly failed in everything they have done, but Jack has been able to lead his small group to success. This notable difference in the leadership of Ralph and Jack causes the boys to slowly start moving toward being ruled by Jack. From the beginning Jack has managed a group of choirboys, as the reader can see from page 19 where it says; “The creature was a small party of boys, marching approximately in step in two parallel lines….the boy who controlled them was dressed the same way….when the boy reached the platform he shouted an order and they halted” Before all of the boys are able to vote Ralph as a leader, Jack is already demonstrating that he possesses leadership qualities. Therefore it is only fitting that after Ralph has failed as a leader the boys move to Jack who has shown that he is able to manage a group of people, and even lead those people to success.

This belief and principal is also shown in the real world. After the American Revolutionary war, a new independent country faced the task of choosing a leader. According to historical records found on history.com; “On this day in 1789, George Washington becomes the first and only president to be unanimously elected.” As the American Revolutionary war proceeded George Washington became a name that everyone knew. Washington led the to be country to many victories, and essentially became a legend. Therefore when the founding fathers of America decided that there should be a president it only seemed logical for him to be president, and as history can show Washington was unanimously chosen. Much like Jack, Washington had already proven that he could lead groups to victory during the war. During the battle that occurred in the war such as the battle of Trenton and the battle of Princeton, Washington demonstrated his talent of leading groups to success, by leading the continental Army to victory. With these major victories the citizens of the thirteen colonies are seeing a person that is bringing success at a time when many people were losing hope of winning the war. From this the similarities in Washington and Jack increase even more. Washington is showing he has the potential to be an amazing leader, as Jack did, and some people even believe that if Washington was not chosen for president then the country would have rebelled and moved to Washington.

Looking at the most recent presidency, the 2012, presidency, Obama was running for re-election after successfully being elected president in 2008. Obama wins this election and is able to be president for another four years. According to a website called Chicagonow.com one of the reasons why Obama wins is because; “He has a strong incumbent in a country that is searching for a leadership miracle worker.” The fact that the website chooses to use the word “strong” shows that even when given the option of removing Obama the country will not choose to release him from office because we as a country are searching for a “leadership miracle worker” and Obama has a strong incumbent during this search. This means that Obama was essentially becoming the miracle worker that the country of America was searching for. After four years under the leadership of Obama, he has led the country on what the general public accepts as the right path. Under the rule of Obama America had greatly improved from it’s previous position. Therefore unlike Ralph, Obama is being a successful leader that is quenching the thirst that America has for success. So when the choice of voting for him a second time is given it was logical for the country to vote for him.

Ralph, Jack, George Washington, and Obama are all extremely similar people. Each single one of these people are examples of times when a society/group has noted that to be successful there must be a leader that is willing to take on the title of being responsible for a group and leading the group to success. This major characteristic that is found in these people allowed them to be the leaders they were. Ralph at first showed this trait and had a brief period where he gave the group he was in charge of ideas to success, therefore Ralph led them on the right path for a very brief time. Whilst Jack, Obama, and George Washington were able to lead their respectable groups on a pathway to success, which is shown by both Obama and George Washington being reelected, and Jack’s leadership never being ended by another leader.

Works Cited

Golding, William. Lord of The Flies. New York: Perigee,2006.

"The Story of the Founding Fathers' Debate Over Presidential Power." Utne. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.