In Lord of the Flies, why is Ralph fit to be a leader? Why is Simon fit to be a visionary?In Lord of the Flies, there were some leaders, and visionaries.   

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lsumner | High School Teacher | (Level 2) Senior Educator

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In Lord of the Flies, Ralph fits the leadership role. He is tall and fair haired. He is twelve years old. He has a great physique. He is flat-stomached and could grow up to be a boxer. Likewise, he is of a calm nature:

In the beginning, he is mild-mannered, carefree and fluent, exuding sunny confidence. He finds the conch. Is elected leader and initiates necessity to build shelters and a fire.

Ralph represents leadership through a common sense approach. He also represents governmental authority. Ralph insists on keeping the fire going to signal a ship that may be passing by. He also encourages the boys to create shelters. 

Ralph has a directness in his leadership approach. The narrator calls it "genuine leadership." 

Simon is a visionary. He likes to get alone and meditate. He often goes up the mountain alone. He has a secret hiding place where he sits and meditates. Simon is the most symbolic in the story. He has the vision of a religious prophet. He compares to the Christ figure. He can see things in a different light than the other boys. His behavior is that of a spiritual nature. He is Ralph's faithful helper in building the shelters. He has a sense of understanding why Ralph thinks the shelters are so important. He is sensitive and faces his fears directly. He has the clearest vision of all the boys. He dies a cruel death and all because he was trying to share that he had seen the beast and knew it to be a parachutist who had died. He died before he could share his good news. 


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