Requirements:
You must post at least 3 responses within the allotted time frame. You will lose 2 points for each one not completed.
Grading:
2 points for citing an example from a piece of literature in your response.
2 points for responding to another person's blog AND adding information that supports or refutes his/her comments.
2 points for using a real life example to support your opinion.
1 point for responding appropriately.
Question #1
Is fear an effective means by which to control someone? Why can it be effective? What are some negative consequences of using fear as a means of control?
74 comments:
hello
Fear, is a very strong word. Fear can control somebody and make them stronger. But in contrast fear can make somebody crumble and fall and follow. For example in Anthem, Equality uses fear to make him stronger and more mad. But in the Odyssey, Ulysses has no fear and is strong anyways. So far in 1984 I believe that Winston is going to use fear as a means to overthrow Big Brother.
Yes, fear can control someone because when people are scared they tend to give in to what the sinister person is saying. Therefore, whoever is making the other person have fear is the controller. For instance in the movie nightmare on elm street, freddy controls people with fera and they give into his evil power…!!! He comes in their dreams and stalks them to the point were they are terrified and die.
Yes, because if you can make someone scared of you then you can pretty much make them do anything. Fear makes some people stronger. A negative consequence is the person being to scared. They might get to upset or scared and try to do something uncalled for. In Anthem, Equality gets stronger by being scared.He is scared of the Unspeakable Word. He eventually stops being afraid and stands up and does what is right.
Yes, because i think fear will keep people from doing things such as in Anthem. Some negative effects of controling by fear are that there is a bigger amount of people who are wanting to revolt.
I believe that fear is not the best way to control someone. Although, in some ways it can be effective. Fear can cause someone to listen to everything you say and do everything that you ask of them. There are, however, negetive consequences for controling someone with their own fear. For example, fear can cause someone to resist changing their normal routines, therefore if you ask them to do something they are not used to doing, they will not want to do it. It also causes disrespect and fear of not only the actions you inflict upon your victim, but also yourself. A good example of this is Equality in The Anthem. He eventually becomes sick of living in fear and tries to escape using the resuorces around him
I think that it works in order to like control people but I don’t think it is the best way to do it. It effects people because if they don’t do what is supposed to be done then they could be harmfully punished as in Anthem where they can be put in confinment or slashed. Some negatives to it is that the community has more people than the governed people and can overthrow their power....Yeah.
As a young boy, I was afraid of my older brothers and they knew it. They were much larger and much stronger than I. And they used that fear to make me do things for them. I would go and get them food and drinks and bring their gameboys to them etc. etc. That was their means of getting stuff done: making me do it. That is until that fateful day when I became larger than both of them. They are both still sronger, but I'm 'taller and smarter. So now that fear and that slavedriving they used to do to me has come back to bite them in the butt! Now I make them do things for me!
Good example Clayton. haha.
Good example Clayton. haha.
Yes I think people can be persauded by fear, In Anthem Equality is lives under a rule that fear people of saying anything. The Unspeakable Word makes people scared of what they say, which we all know the word I is the word they are afraid of. A negative aspect is that people might do something and try escape and go into the Uncharted Forest. They will find out that they will be free from all the rules they had to live by and will never go back.
I think that fear is an effective way in which to control people, however, I don’t feel it is the best way to do so. For example, In the book Anthem, they control people by giving them deathly punishments for disobeying their laws, and they don’t always let them know rules that they could break. Therefore, they are constantly in fear that they will say or do something wrong unknowingly. Controling people with fear is not good because it makes people not want to speak or branch out much because they are scared they are doing something wrong.
ckennedy, i disagree that fear makes a person stronger. In some cases that may be true but i think that it will make a person afraid to do anything that they are not permitted to do, it makes them dependent on their society
Fear is an affective way to control someone because if they are afraid of it then they will not want to deal with the consequences of facing their fear. The negative is that you are being mean to that person.
Fear has the ability to control a person. It is affective because the person wants to stay as they are. They will not fight back because they’re afraid of you. Once the people discover how weak you are, though, they will run all over. Take Anthem, Equality found out that the council was nothing more than he is.Equality was frightened by the people of the council because they could kill him easily. He saw a man burned at the stake which gave him fear. But Equality discovered that he was smarter than the council by inventing the lightbulb for the second time. He ran away and planned on starting his own colony away from the town.
I think that controling someone by making them fear you is a weak way of controling them. If you think about it, making the fear you only proves that you are afraid of something yourself. Its kind of like when you get bullied, sometimes the person bullying you might possibly be bullied by someone else.
Controling someone by making them fear you in some cases can be effective. Like when you parents tell little kids a far fetched story to scary them into not doing something. Like for example, parents tell there children stories to keep them from getting into straingers cars. This keep the kids safe and in this case the parents are controling them by scarying them.
We have read several stories so far that involve the emotion of fear. They use the emotion of fear to control someone. I don’t think this is an effective way to control someone. Like in Anthem, they tell the society that they can’t say the Unspeakable Word. So these people are too afraid to talk because they don’t know the Unspeakable Word. So they are living in fear trying to figure out what the Unspeakable Word is. It can be effective because the people are too scared to do anything so they are weak and the Council can control them. Some negative consequences may be people might go insane and do something hurtful to themselves.
Fear is an EXCELLENT way to control people!! Though it is not the most morally correct way to control people. It works so well because for example, who wants to lose their favorite CD or shirt? Well no one does, so if a ffigure of authority comes in and says “If you don’t follow my rules I will take your favorite CD away!” you will listen to what he has to say. This is somewhat like in Anthem where the council says to the society that if you don’t think with everone we will kill you.
I agree with Caitlin,i believe that Equality finally stands up for what he believes. But to elaborate on that i believe that he uses fear to make him stronger. To the point that he runs away and stands up to Elders.
I think that fear is effective to control people, because if you scare people then they will be so fearful that they are not going to try to go against it. Then if they are so scared then they won’t be able to just live life, everyday would be boring, very monotonous. It is just like in Mean girls, how the plastics are the rulers of the school, but everyone is too scared to stand up to them because they will supposedly ruin their reputation.
=]
I agree with Bernadette. In Anthem, as she said, everyone is afraid to speak, because they don’t know what the Unspeakable Word is. This does give the Council complete control over everyone because not knowing the Unspeakable Word their afraid to say it, being afraid mostly of the consequences of saying the word. That let’s the Council tell them what they can and cannot do. One of the other “rules” that the Council invented was that no one is allowed to think what no one else thinks. Again instilling fear into those who live under them. The negative effects of that are that the Council could tell them something that would only hurt them not helping anyone, but because the Council controls them by fear they cannot disobey. They must do as they are told, without asking too many questions.
I disagree with thinking that fear can make someone stronger. Usually if there is one person who has more power and this person scares everyone to control them, then everyone is going to do exactly what they say. Not many people are going to try to satand up to this person and even if one person does everyone is too scared to follow. Just like in Anthem, how Equality stood up to the council, but no one else agreed with what he was saying.Also when Equality and International found the tunnel, international was too afraid to go into the tunnel with him.
Fear is stupid. Anyone can come over their fears and no longer be scared so what's the point if your going to get over it anyway.
(I love how Riley compares fear to "Mean Girls" lol nice)
Making somebody stronger by using fear, get real. There is no way that you can make somebody stronger by scaring them. It will only make them weak and even more scared of the punishments. Thats how the Council of Vocations controled everyone so well.
I disagree with you S Harmon. If someone said to me that if I didn't do something then they would take away my CD, or something else. I would laugh at them. I personally would push it. Just because someone said they are going to so something doesn't always mean they are going to do it.
And comparing taking away a CD and the Council killing someone is a little too different. I mean your right about the fact the Council in Anthem basically said that if the people in Anthem didn't listen, that they would kill them. Now that would get me to stop and listen to someone. I mean obviously Ms. Striby can't walk into class and be like "Listen up class; if you disobey me today I will kill you." But she can walk in and be like “If anyone disobeys my rules today then I’ll send them down to the office and right them up.” I know that she would have my attention.
I agree with Brendan when he says that fear can make someone stronger. Equality uses his fear to invent something. He then will take that knowledge and share it with the future. But that does not work for every situation. I am terrified of snakes. If a snake came up to me I am pretty sure I would run away from it screaming bloody murder. So i think it is just what you think fear can do to you. Do you feel that it makes you stronger or weaker in life?
I disagree with Bernadette and Brendan. I still do not realize how fear can make you stronger. I can only see it breaking somebody down psychologically. If you mean that fear can make a person stronger physically (giving them an adrenaline boost)and give them a quicker reaction then I agree.
To Bernadette's question at the end of her comment: Fear makes me weaker. I am afraid of only a few things and these are ridiculous but I have come to realize they are true. I am most afraid of losing power. Like being the class suck-up for and example. I try to fight off any contenders that oppose me. I am also afraid of being lower than somebody. I never yield to a person unless I can agree to being inferior to their talents/knowledge. I know Mrs. Striby, this doesn't count as a comment.
Fear in some ways is a good way to control people and sometimes its not. Some people who are controlled by fear find a way to turn the situation around and make them fear you. An example for me is that i have a big brother that thought it was funny to torment me all the time and made me do stuff for him all the time. And he would always say that if i didnt do it then I would be locked in my room till my mom got home. So after that i always did what he wanted me to do.One day though i thought i want to try to see what he really does if I dont listen to what he says. So I did and he locked me in my room. So I would sit there right by the door and scream and yell and finnally he got tired of it. So controlling people by fear doesnt always work the way people want them to.
fear can go either way in out world today. Some people arn't afraid some are. Make them stronger i don't know, FEAr can play a big thing in our country today and you may never know when it may come or how it will happen.
For a comment to Bernadette's answer I think fear makes you stronger. For my situation with my brothers I think I became stronger because I didn't let them push me around anymore and i stook up for myself. Despite of what i knew was going to happen to me.
wellll khon, i was just using that as an example to personify a much more serious example that could entail ones life or their loved ones.
To agree with bajame it is very true that if someone is to fear something it is a good way to motivate people. If someone was to threaten me with an angry bear i to would do what they wanted me to do.
In Anthem Equality aand his brothers are paralyzed by fear, because they do not know what they can and cannot do. This controls the people of this society in a way that is contradictory towards human nature. Since Equality and his brothers does not know what to follow they were scared into submission.
I agree with you Tori, fear is effective to a certain point but it is not the best way to control someone. for example when i was younger my grandparents made me fear talking to them because they always contradicted my ideas. although that fear did not make me respect them further it just made me fear them more and aviod them.
good point arod, in Anthem everyone was so scared of breaking the transgression of thinking what no one else is. As a result they did not like to talk to each other rather than neccesary communication.
I think in a way, every person of authority uses fear in someway whether it be fear of being killed or being written up. :) Obviously there is significant difference, however in Anthem fear was a huge factor in the way the citizens acted. They were scared to disobey because if they did they could be punished to the fullest extent of the law. At school I am "scared" (not really but I'd rather not be wrote up) so i dont run around with my shirt untucked, I do my homework, and try to stay out of trouble because detention is not appealing to me. I understand that detention and death are two extremely different things. But hopefully, you all can see how I am trying to connect "FEAR" to different kinds of authority. lol :)
Hey I dont know about making anyone stronger. I can see both sides. If I am scared for someone else I try to be strong for them; if I am scared my self I am kind of a wuss. I also think if someone is too scared to do something or stand up to something, then they are "CONTROLLED". Take me for example, I am soooooooooo scared of spiders, any size any kind. One time I saw a spider (A HUGE one. Im talkin' two inches in diameter. No exaggeration.) in my garage. We only have a one car garage and I get in and out on the side by the wall where the spider was. This was about a year and half ago, after we killed the spider, and I still have to climb through the driver's seat over the console to get in the car. Try to imagine this realy early in the morning (I'm talking early. Most of y'all still in bed...about quarter til' 6)bookbag, basketball bag, "mother-grandma's" work bag, and anything else we might need. And me climbing over the console because I'm scared silly of spiders. Again I am "CONTROLLED" by my fear of the stupid spiders!! So obviously "FEAR" can "CONTROLL" how a person acts.
Okay so, sense I have to do three comments and I was slacking this whole week, (Sorry Mrs. Striby) i'll just let you guys know more about my scaredy cat life. When I was little and still sucked my thumb all the time, my Grandpa Tom would always tell me everytime he saw me sucking my thumb that he was going to cut it off. He even went as far one time to take a pair of scissors to it.(Keep in mind I was only like 3 or 4)When you tell a little kid that you are going to cut their thumb off and take scissors to it they start to listen and do what you say. My thumb and I totally agree that this was effective but probably not the best way to get me to listen. I mean some kids get bribery candy for not sucking their thumb, but me, I get threats to get my thumb cut off! And yes this method, this evil, damaging, dimented, messed up, disturbing, method (jk gpa. I love you)worked! So because I was so scared of getting my thumb cut off I quit sucking it. And yes I still have my thumb if you were wondering. If you dont believe my I will show you. :) Sorry my comments are all together i will try to better next time. :/
I agree with cody and fear can control people. It is an effective way because by making them fear you are forcing them to think twice about what they are about to do which will put an end to most of the things you are trying to avoid. A negative thing about using fear though, that can also cause people to live more of a shallow life and depend on more things from the people forcing the fear. An example of this would be in any sport for younger kids, i guess. The kids will depend on coaches to tell them what to do next in practices and continue with questions so that they don't get yelled at and have to run....at least that's how I was.
I also agree with becca and using fear can be both a good thing and also be bad. It can be effective but must be enforced continuously or else tables could turn and the fear can backfire. By this I mean, if they believe the threat is weak or realize there is nothing to be scared of those people could come after you. An example of this would be the movie The Longest Yard. (Haha) In the movie, when they start the football team the inmates are scared of the guards and are afraid they will get beat on. But, half way through the game they realize they are weak and there is nothing to be afraid of. So, second half they come out and none of they players care or are scared any longer.....What a great movie.
wow colin, what a post. I just love that you talk about the longest yard. But on another note. Cody i dont agree with you comment. We talked about this at school and i believe that fear can onlky streghthen someone physologically not physically. Except for the fight or flight theorem. Fear for Equality made him stand up to the Council, and fear made the main character (dont remember name) him go the the place of the gods.
i agree with jamie, and disagree with caitlin. Someone cannot make another person stronger by inflicting fear in them. This only gives them emotional issues, which generally makes one weaker. Emotional issues usually stick with people for the rest of their lives, and i dont believe living in fear for all your life is healthy. For example, in Anthem, the entire society does not speak or know who they truly are do to the emotional dammage living in fear causes.
although fear is the morally wrong way to control people, it is the most effective. The most controlled societies we know of today were caused by fear mainly, in both real life and in books. For example, Hitler controlled the germans, and the jews by threatening those who disobey him. Also, in both Anthem and 1984 fear is what makes them abide by the rules. Therefore, i agree with riley.
(sorry for doing two in a row Mrs. Striby, i kinda forgot!)
I agree with Andrea and Tori fear can be effective to a certain point. When the person whos being put in the situation might just get sick of being pushed around and they will stick up for themselves and find a way out of it. Just like in Anthem when Equality got tired of being pushed around so he found his own way to break the rules.
I agree with Becca. It is a good way to control someone but I do not think that anyone should use it. It can be effective because they will be so afraid of the consequences that they’ll do whatever you want. Some negative consequences are that you won’t have any friends if you try to scare them. They’ll act fake to you. They’ll pretend to be your friend to make you happy. This is exactly what they do in Anthem and 1984. The people have to act happy but their really very frightened.
I agree, fear is most of the times a great intimidator by most people. If you intimidate someone than when you want them to do something fear would be a great intimidator and key aspect of making other people do what you want them to do for you. Then you can control them and it mamkes your life alot easier.
I agree fear can make you stronger in the sense of you feel better and more powerful than them and not in the sense of being physically stronger so i agree and disagree but fear is a good way but not a nice and kind way of controlling people.
Some negative effects on controlling people can be lowering their self-esteem and that often leads to depression issues for most people so it can be good and be bad for most people.
I disagree the fear can make you stronger because, the people that need fear to make them stronger are acually afraid them selves and make people fear them, so they can get the strenght. Once the people overcome that fear and they won't get feared anymore then that person that loses the strenght and has no other power he can rely on.
I agree with alex and fear can make you stronger. If it is used to control people the fear could give an extra adreneline and make you do things out of the usual to fight for whatever you are being forced to fear. An example of this would be if you were a freshman playing at a varisty level in a sport and all you heard was negative comments toward you about how you arent good enough and shouldnt be playing at that level can make you fear those older kids but can also give you an extra insentive to give all you got and preform at a much higher level than thought capable.
I think fear is a very effective way to control a person. For example, in Anthem, they limit everything a person can do and tell them that if they don’t do it they could be severely punished or even get the death penalty. Knowing this, the people in the society do everything they are told. It can be very effective because when a person is in fear they will do what ever you say to get out of it. A negative of controlling someone by fear is that when a person is in fear they can be very defensive. This can be threatening to the person trying to control them.
I agree with what Alex and Collin are saying. Fear can make you stronger. As I said earlier, when a person is in fear they can be very defensive. Like Collins example, if someone was telling you that you can’t do something or you’re not good enough to do it, it can intimidate or fear you. But it will make you stronger because it will make you try that much harder. But after they accomplish that goal they will not be in fear of that person anymore.
I also agree with Tori. Fear can be very affective when controlling someone but it is morally wrong. When making someone fear something it is like threatening them to do something. If a person is threatened enough they can be really messed up. They might be afraid of doing what you threatened for the rest of their life. Or they might think they won’t be able to trust anyone anymore. This can result in them being very lonely and thinking about committing suicide. Although fear is very effective, it should not be used.
I agree with Dominic I think fear doesnt make you stronger. It makes you weaker. When you are afraid, you are volnrable and anything people say to you could cause you to explode if it keeps building up inside you.
I agree with Seth. I am affraid of clowns and if a clown came up to me and wanted something then I would give them it. If i don't give it to them they will probably kill me.
I agree with Alex R. If someone said I couldn't accomplish a goal then I would not let the conseqences fear me. I would work that much harder to prove them wrong and to show that I'm not affraid to succseed.
You can use fear to control people but the strong ones overcome it. Like in the movie 300, The Persian king threatend to kill all of the Spartans but the Spartans stayed strong and fought for there country. If the Spartans wouldn't have overcame the fear of dying then the rest of the Greek army wouldn't have had time to prepare for battle.
I agree with Andrea and Tori when they say that fear is not a very good way to control someone. But it is the most effective way, to a certain point. Like in Anthem, people are so scared that they run away into the Uncharted Forest. And like to go back to my point earlier, fear is somewhat a motivation. Some people really want to overcome their fears and so they have to have a motivation to do so. So fear is a very way to control someone, yet it is not the best choice.
Seeing someone punshed for doing something wrong will make people not want to do that. You are learning from their mistakes. Just like when the Bible said when Jesus died they put a sign above Him saying, "King of the Jews". It warns others and scares them.
The thought of fear and control of a person normally don't go hand and hand. It occurs mostly in strange and unrealistic stories such as 1984 and Anthem. I can't underline those titles but I would if possible. So anyways, these ideas of society controlled by a group of people is absolutely rediculous. The natural response would be to rebel against the group in charge and never give in to their will. How could anybody really be afraid of being killed if you know you died for freedom? As Patrick Henry once said, "Give me liberty, or give me death!"
First of all Mrs. Striby i completely forgot everything about this that is why there are two cheek's. Well i agree with Cody, that fear can not make you stronger. I think that fear can only weaken a person, i don't see how they take any positives from being in fear their entire life.
I agree with Katie in saying that making an example of some one is a good way to keep people from doing what it is you don't want. Such as in a bank robbery. The robber hits a person who defied him to show the others that they should listen to him.
I under stood Tylers joke finally.
I disagree with Jamie, Andrea, and Tori when they say fear is not a good way to control someone. Because if a Bank Robber walked up to any of them they would most likely do whatever he wanted.
I finally finished Mrs. Striby Sorry about almost all of my posts being within twenty minutes of each other.
I agree with Katie and Dominic that fear does not make you stronger. When you are scared you have no intention to do anything for yourself or to stand up for what you believe in. Like in 1984, Winston knows that the chocolate ration was decreased to twenty grams, but then the telescreen said that it was raised to twenty grams. He knows what is right because of what he remembers, but he has no way in proving it. He also knows that he tried that he would get punished trying to someone that something is this certain way even though it is the other way around. This is known as doublespeak in Oceania.
Fear is both an effective and ineffective way of controlling people. It all depends how people react to fear. People will resist or submit, because of their fear of what would happen. Like in Anthem Equality was not afraid of death, he was that his discoveries and inventions, like the light bulb, would be destroyed and forgotten. He was willing to die if they accepted the light bulb, but when he found out that they would destroy it he decided to leave the town to protect it.
The original fear emotion comes from your life being threatened. This can makes the life threatening fear very effective. However, the fear can compel a person to do what ever is necessary to survive. Whether that is to do as person says or to fight back against what is threatening them. Like in the bank robbing scenario, if you think your best way of surviving is to cooperate with the bank robber than you will do it. If you think that the bank robber will most definitely kill you then you become the predator. You will begin to look for an opportunity to stop the robber. What it comes down to is will power. Like Cody said fear can give you an adrenaline boost, but it is the individual that has to decide to use the boost. If the individual wants to fight instead of submit they have to have the will to control their fear and use it. So, is fear effective or ineffective at controlling people? It again comes down to will power.
I disagree with Cody. Fear can make you stronger. He said that he fears losing power and being class suck-up, and that he fights off those that oppose him. Assuming that he doesn’t mean physically fight off, Cody must strengthen his ability to be class suck-up and defeat his rivals. He strengthens his ability because he is afraid.
Submitting to someone’s will if they threaten you doesn’t mean you are weak. Fear is an emotion created by the brain to help you think on how to protect your well being. If you are afraid of a dictator threatening you, and you think the best for your well being is to submit and follow orders, is that considered weak. If you said that submitting was weak think about this. Again, if you are afraid of a dictator threatening you, and you think the best for your well being is to rebel and fight, would that not be considered weak also, if the first scenario was considered weak. Your reaction to fear can not be considered weak, because your reaction is instinct, what you believe to be best for yourself. The instinct to survive is by no means weak.
I think Rstevanson has some good points and some not so good points. The fact of the matter is, everyone is different. In some cases, fear will cause a person to become stronger, like rstevanson said. However, depending on someone's personality, that fear can make someone weak and vulnerable. It's all dependant on personality. Some people see the fear and think "I can beat this. I can conquer this!" Like Peter does in A Backwoods Story. Other people see that same fear and run! They submit to others. So it all depends on each person.
Post a Comment