He isn't a proper chief" (115). " 'We'll have rules!' he cried excitedly. 'Lots of rules! Then when anyone breaks' em Whee-oh! Wacco! Boing! Doink!'" (32). Here, Ralph's inability to persuade the children allows them to take his statement for granted, believing that the need for rules is not a serious issue. Over time, the children begin to doubt Ralph's ability to lead, to make his own decisions, and instead turn to his competition, Jack, who proposes attractive prospects to the children such as hunting and killing to gain their allegiance: "Which is better-to have rules and agree, or to hunt and kill?" (200). Eventually, most of the boys join Jack, whose tribe becomes increasingly wild and overly barbaric; a complete opposite of Ralph's previous civilized and orderly tribe. In principle, Ralph is a great leader who possesses the ability to see the good in everyone, a characteristic that exhibits his compassion and understanding of others. Unfortunately, the situation that Ralph gets placed in is far from perfect. His leadership style is ineffective with the group of unruly boys, and as a result of his failure to fully utilize his power as leader, the vicious and barbaric Jack was given the opportunity to seize the chief position, leading everyone on the island into a downward spiral which drags them all into the depths of savagery and primitive instincts.
In addition, a theme widely affiliated with Lord of the Flies, the inner darkness and evil within all men, can also be categorized as a major factor in the decline of civilization on the island. The author uses the antagonist, Jack, to symbolize man's inner capacity of doing evil. As the story unfolds, Golding reveals Jack to be selfish, violent and corrupt as he was driven to violence. "The bolting look came into his blue eyes. He took a step, and able at last to hit someone, stuck his fist into Piggy's stomach" (71).
