Chapter 5

In Chapter 5 of Lord of the Flies, Ralph calls an assembly.  He plans to have complete control over what goes on during the meeting and achieve order that can be used throughout their stay on the island. The meeting starts off as planned, but as it continues and the kids get tired of all the talking, things start to get out of hand. They get less and less accomplished as people start of fight and argue.  Eventually, the meeting ends and everyone runs off to do their own thing.

This chapter really shows how much power Ralph actually has and how much Jack really dislikes him. Ralph has more power than any other single person.  His has little control over everyone else though, which minimizes his power.  They respect him enough to listen for a few minutes and do what he says for a minute or so.  But after a while, they get restless or bored and they don't do what they were told to.  Ralph makes it so that if they do something wrong, nothing happens.  Piggie knows that Ralph needs to show his power but making the others listen to what he has to say and actually do it.  His power has been "thwarted" when he built the shelters and nobody helped, when nobody was caring for the fire, and when even something as simple as to where they should go to the bathroom.  Ralph gets aggravated easily and would like help, but realizes that nobody will help him other than a select few.  He wants to use the assembly to make things work more smoothly and get people to help him, and therefore have a better, happier life.  Things don't work as easily as he hopes because nobody is really willing to listen to him for long, let alone carry out their tasks.

Jack really hate Ralph.  He wants Ralph's place and power and respect.  He sees himself as the ultimate best.  He thinks that he is perfect and is better than everyone else in everything.  He values singing over the best ways to survive and get rescued.  He believes that he should be chief because he can sing.  This would not ever help anybody get off the island.  The big difference between Jack and Ralph and what makes Ralph a better leader is that Jack acts without thinking and doesn't think of the big picture.  He only thinks about what he wants to do and how to achieve it, whether it would help them survive or not.  He values killing a pig more than the fire and the ship that could have gotten them off the island.  Jack doesn't really seem to realize that that might have been the only ship that would every come by there, and therefore their only chance of being rescued.  Ralph seems to realize this.  He sees what a problem this is and wants to fix it.  This shows that Ralph thinks more of the big picture rather than the individual actions and problems.  Ralph acts more like the adult rather than Jack, who acts more like a kid. THis gains Ralph respect, but also makes people not as keen to have him as their leader, like Jack.  Jack want to have fun and not worry about every little thing.