Ralph Lord Of The Flies Quote Analysis

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A major theme that seems to steer the book's plot is the fight for leadership. Ralph thinks a lot like piggy. He makes decisions out of reason, not anger or jealousy. On the other hand, Jack does exactly this. He is arrogant and generally makes decisions with his strong ego, rather than his reasoning. Unfortunately, humble and smart leaders can sometimes be looked over, and the more arrogant and vocal ones are followed.

Starting from as early as the first chapter, Jack's ego is clearly shown. The quote on page 22 is a representation of this. "Shut up," said Ralph absently. He lifted the conch. "Seems to me we ought to have a chief to decide things." . . . "I ought to be chief," said Jack with simple arrogance, "because I'm chapter chorister and head boy. I can sing C sharp." Jack believes that his …show more content…
“(Ralph is) like Piggy. He says things like Piggy. He isn't a proper chief.” He has a distinct lack of empathy; a setback for him considering that he wants to be the leader of the boys. Jack tries to dictate in a Machiavellian way, by fear, but he is quite terrible at it. He argues with emotions and consistently fails to see the bigger picture. "Men judge generally more by the eye than by the hand, for everyone can see and few can feel. Everyone sees what you appear to be, few really know what you are. -Niccolo Machiavelli." This quote can lead us to think that Jack puts on a tough-guy persona only to try to get his peers to agree with him. On the inside, his emotions are fragile like glass. “'Who thinks Ralph oughtn’t to be chief?' He looked expectantly at the boys ranged around, who had frozen. Under the palms there was deadly silence." The questioning is carried on even more, but he is only answered by silence. “'All right then.' He laid the conch with great care in the grass at his feet. The humiliating tears were running from the corner of each eye."(page
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