Golding gives the character of Ralph the most positive attitude. He has the ability to lift spirits even in the tough situations. “This is our island. It’s a good island. Until the grown-ups come to fetch us we’ll have fun.” This is a very good skill to have as a leader.
Ralph always thinks of good clear ideas: "There’s another thing. We can help them to find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us. So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire." The fire is essential to their rescue so Ralph’s quick thinking and good ideas are a key skill in his leadership abilities. This forward thinking is a far cry from Jack, who is a destructive leader as he only goes on instinct, not thinking of the consequences.
Lastly Ralph is very loyal especially to his friendship with Piggy. When Jack calls Piggy “fatty” he cries out “he’s not fatty.” Standing up for Piggy shows Ralph is a good person and loyal, this will help Ralph be a good leader.
Golding has placed an adult on the island in the form of Piggy; a critic claimed he is “the perpetual voice of the adult world”. He is terrified by the idea of having no grown-ups to take charge and tries to cling to civilisation as much as possible. He continually refers to his “auntie” who has brought him up in lawful England and taught him to rely on logic and reason. This is why Piggy is so obsessed with the fire. It represents order, which he relies on so much in society at home. Piggy and the fire are the only symbols of order in the novel and when the fire goes out Piggy can’t cope mentally. This means the entire island has lost its much-needed stability. Piggy is more indoctrinated of the good that humans should be this is why he would be a very suitable leader on the island.
Piggy wants the conditions on the island to mirror to conditions at home and is constantly trying to come up with logical ideas and suggestions. When Ralph and Piggy find the conch they play around with it for a few minutes the Piggy has an idea. “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come when they hear us—.” Piggy is very organised and his logical ideas and suggestions are definitely a much-needed skill in view of leadership.
Piggy wants to maintain the order of England throughout the novel. This control and need for order is a good feature to have for a leader. “How can you expect to be rescued if you don’t put first things first and act proper?” Piggy gets very annoyed when all the kids run off and follow Jack. “Like kids” he said scornfully. “Acting like a crowd of kids.” Ironically he is a child himself, he is scornful because he wants to act “proper” and mature for this is the only way to maintain order and be rescued.
Piggy constantly polishes his glasses, this symbolises his desire and need for clear sightedness. This is a good quality for a leader, as it will help them to make clear decisions that are well thought out and precise practically eliminating silly mistakes.
The main problem with Piggy being leader is that he lacks any social skills. It is obvious Jack doesn’t like him from the moment they meet. “You’re always scared. Yah- Fatty!” Even when Piggy has the conch he cannot get respect from Jack and as Jack is a very influential person on the beach the others follow him in his rudeness.
Jack is already a leader before landing on the island “’I ought to be chief,’ said jack with a simple arrogance, because I’m chapter chorister and head boy.” To help his campaign he brags “I can sing C sharp.” but this talent is irrelevant stranded on such an isolated island. Jack needs to feel power always referring to the choir/hunters as “Me and MY hunters.” He cannot control anything on the island except these people and this is why he ends up being such a savage personality. Jack’s arrogance is showed when he has lost the vote as “the freckles on Jack’s face disappeared under a blush of mortification. He started up then changed his mind.” He did go to show his anger as not being chief, being a bad loser is not a leadership attribute.
Golding’s description of Jack makes the reader realise his savage personality, as he gets angered so easily. “Tall, thin, and bony; and his hair was red beneath the black cap. His face was crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness. Out of this face stared two light blue eyes, frustrated now, and turning, or ready to turn, to anger.” He has no reason or morals he just does what he wants not thinking about the consequences.
All he can think of is killing the pigs he does not realise that this is not the only thing that need to survive. “The madness came into his eyes again. ‘I thought I might kill.’” Although he can’t actually bring himself to kill the pig until order has been lost. Ralph loses his temper with Jack because of his obsession with the pig. “Don’t you want to be rescued? All you can talk about is pig, pig, pig!” An animal natural instinct is to hunt and kill for food. Golding is giving the imagery here that Jack is just an animal himself.
Jack defies the rules straight away and makes up his own to get his own way early on in the novel. When Piggy has the conch it should mean he is allowed to speak while everyone must be quiet and listen to what he has to say. Jack doesn’t want to hear what Piggy has to say rudely saying “The conch doesn’t count on the mountain, so you shut up.” This is not the behaviour of a good leader.
Not wanting to count the boys shows Jack as unorganised and that he isn’t concerned with order. Calling Piggy names for his weight shows jack and not thinking of everyone as an equal. “You‘re talking too much,” said Jack Merridew. “Shut up, Fatty.” This isn’t a very worthy characteristic for a leader.
Jack’s ability to tell people what they want to hear means he is able to over take Ralph as chief. When Ralph says “we’ve got to have someone special looking after the fire.” Jack immediately pipes up
The rebellion of Jack is the reason disorder breaks out within the group, disallowing them to have a civilised stay on the island. This shows a contrast of characters between Jack and Ralph and is why the conflict progresses throughout the novel.
The face paint symbolises a mask, which liberates the boys. They become a part of their personality, which has been suppressed in their lawful home of England. It is Jack who really doesn’t need this face paint to release a side of his personality which is savage as he clearly is naturally brutal.
Overall, I think Ralph would be the most suitable and successful leader. Piggy has the most leadership skills but because he finds it hard to fit in with people he would have trouble gaining the respect a “Chief” deserves although his loyalty to Ralph means he would be a brilliant confidante or advisor. Jack, I believe would not be a very good leader, he does have some very good qualities but his inability to listen to others, savagery and disregard for the “little uns” means he would not be suitable.
The first character the reader meets in The Beach is Richard. He appointed himself leader at the beginning of the novel, but this was only to Etienne and Francois but as he joined beach life and a completely different community he was stripped of all his leadership qualities, although, he didn’t have many.
Richard’s obsession for video games symbolises that he lives in a fantasyland and isn’t really concerned with the harsh reality of life. “Game over is my favourite thing about playing video games.” The fact that “Game over” is the best part of it really shows a Richard as a character who does not have many expectations of himself. This trait also shows a somewhat childish manner.
What split’s the group is when Richard refuses to help Bugs in a desperate situation. During the course of the food poisoning Bugs is clearly in distress: “‘No!’ he wailed, then his legs buckled and he slipped backwards.” Richard’s reaction to Bugs clearly being unable to help himself is to say, “Look at yourself, who the fuck do you think is going to clear that mess up?” This is an extremely uncaring and harsh thing to say to someone who is very ill. Richards uncompassionate response is something a good leader would not dream of doing.
As soon as Sal is introduced the reader knows she is a very caring person. “well, let’s get some food, because I know you’re all hungry.” We also know she “smiles warmly” at the strangers. She is very welcoming and friendly. A good leader would have to have these characteristics.
Sal is seemingly organised. She sets out the efficient organisation of the chores for the camp i.e. fishing, gardening and carpentry. She seems like a constructive leader bringing the group together with the festival of Tet. She also organises entertainment “Sal had organised a huge game of football and just about everyone was taking part.” This is an excellent thing for a leader to do. She recognises everyone works hard during the week so this is what he or she gets in return along with a Sunday off.
Displays order
Has respect
Sal is also a destructive leader because she allows her pride and self-importance to take over her in aim of maintaining the islands structure. This is displayed when Sal is prepared to shoot and kill Richard in order to save the existence of the island and it’s community.
Bugs is not an influential leader. He is seen as Sal’s mimic or puppet. The ideas and orders he gives are set by Sal. He has no original ideas of maintaining the island. It also seems that she orders him about. “Bugs, you want to fix some stew?” Knowingly the answer would be yes.
Jed has a natural authority. This is a common trait with people as popular as Jed. He takes lead in situations whereas Richard simply laughs. “We’ll investigate. You take point.” Although nervous Jed is focused and caring which are respectable attributes for a leader only this is the only leadership quality Jed holds.
In conclusion, I believe that Sal was the most suitable leader although being selfish at heart, all she cared about was the beach, which in effect was a good thing. Bugs simply did as Sal said so I doubt in a tough situation alone Bugs would be able to make calm and good decisions. Richard obviously is not really a contender for any type of leadership because of his childishness and uncaring nature.
After comparing and analyzing the leadership in both novels I have evidence to believe that a personality such as Ralph’s would always be best for a leadership placement. He is compassionate, forward thinking and loyal. Both novels show mans natural instinct to resort to destructive violence, Ralph is the only exception to this and is the most focused character from both novels.