The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the two novels by focusing on leadership and group dynamics. First, I explain some general terms like primary and secondary groups, leader and leadership, and five different leadership styles (autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, task-motivated and relationship-motivated leader), and then I apply the terms to the novels. In the analysis I examine how some followers and group constellations react to different kinds of leadership, and how the three leaders choose to approach their roles and why they become successful or not. The effect the democratic leadership has on both leaders and followers differs between the novels. Homer in Tomorrow, When the War Began trusts his leadership skills and gets appreciation from the primary group of friends he leads, while Ralph in Lord of the Flies is disobeyed and challenged by his secondary group. The group of teenagers grows stronger together, while the island boys disband as a result of the power struggle between Ralph and Jack. The latter trusts his charisma and threatens and punishes the boys in order to keep them under control. Jack seems successful as an autocratic leader, since his followers carry out his orders and let him be the unquestioned leader, but he is in the final analysis unsuccessful since he fails to put the needs of his followers before his own strong desire for power. Both Homer and Jack are strong leaders of their own primary group, and one argument why they are more successful than Ralph is the loyalty they receive from their followers. However, the reason for their faithfulness differs. In Homer’s case it is friendship, and in Jack’s case it is fear of what he will do to them if they defy him.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:kau-4875 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | Olofsson, Christina |
| Publisher | Karlstads universitet, Institutionen för kultur och kommunikation |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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