Friday, February 4, 2011

Lord of the Flies

In the Lord of the Flies Ralph and Jack rule in very different ways....One rules with fear the other with love. As a leader is it better to be loved then feared.

Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher who discussed whether it was more important to be feared or loved as a leader. He wrote The Prince where the leader discusses if it is more important for the subjects to fear him or love him in order to respect and follow his orders.

Read the quote http://www.skymind.com/~ocrow/quotes/prince.html">

Read the Summary: http://www.articlemyriad.com/197.htm">

Make a comment to the question: Is it better to be loved or feared? Please make sure you place you name at the end of your comment to get credit.

41 comments:

  1. I agree with "The Prince's" quote that it is better to be loved and feared, but being loved over being feared could have better outcomes because if yo are loved, you don't have as many enemies, and have more people on your side 100%. If your feared, your only looked at greatly because they fear you. Example: Hitler.
    Jessica Maginnis, block 2.

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  2. I believe that it is better to be loved, than feared. I believe that if you are feared, that may come with feelings of hatred, and rebellion. Though, if you are loved, people will be more likely to agree with and show respect for your ideas.

    Mattie Merlino

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  3. I believe that fear is more powerful than love. Leaders need to establish some sense of authority between the group they govern and themselves. If someone is greatly loved, it means that they are most likely very forgiving; people take advantage of those type of people. I think Machiavelli thought fear was the best way to lead and agree that it is better to be feared than loved.

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  4. In my opinion, it is better to be feared than loved, especially if you want to be in a position of power. If you are loved, either people respect you, or they don't. However, if you are feared, then even if someone doesn't respect you, they are forced to because they are afraid of you. Also, when you are feared you are more likely to receive what you want; people fear you, thus they are more liable to do as you say. Yeah, when you are loved you may have more friends, but those friends are more likely to bail on you than the fake friends you would have if you are feared. And it's an added bonus to watch people get nervous around you and to be able to scare them.
    ~Jesi Nicholas

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  6. I think its better to be loved. I wouldn't want people to fear me. I would want people to love me. You don;t want people to remember you as some big, bad tough guy, you want them to remember you as someone who cares and helps everyone out. In Lord of the Flies Ralph was loved and Jack was feared. They both had many different rules. Jack made all the boys turn against Ralph because they were feared of him. In the Niccolo Machiavelli, where he wrote The Prince, where it explains that being a Prince and a leader you have control and need to maintain the control of the Country you are powering. Some of the people may love you because they dont want to face consquences for not listening to there ruler. Also some people may fear him because they may be scared of what he could do to them.

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  7. i think i agree with Machiavelli somewhat. in our nation we dont really have to worry about that because we do not allow our leaders to have too much power, and we have to take a vote so we chose who we like more. and if we start hating the president they will be out of office in a few years, and if they are that bad they will be kicked out of office.
    but in other places around the world where a leader can control its people, i could see that installing fear in them would be very good in their case. but we also have fear installed in us, we know we will be shot on the spot if we tried to harm our leader or sent to jail for the rest of our lives.
    they need protection from the raticals of the area, and everyone has different opinions so i bet alot of people would still 'love' a ruler who knows how to control his people.
    i think Machiavelli just thinks when a ruler begins leading people they have to have some level of fear in areas so that the people do not try to take over and mass chaos happens.
    but i also do think it is a good thing to be loved, because then you wouldnt have to deal with most of those problems.
    i do not agree that you cant have love and hate, because everyone is different and some people will hate and some people will love.

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  9. It is better to be both but both is hard to come by. Therefore it is better to be loved i believe. If you are feared you have no friends and you can not trust anyone. It will be to hard to live if you can not trust anyone. But in some ways i do believe it is better to be feared. People will be less likely to try and overrule you and will do anything for you. If people love you than they may not think you are as powerful as a feared leader and find it easier to overrule you.
    -chris hochstuhl

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  10. I think it is better to be loved than feared because people are more likely to help you when you are in need if you are respectful and caring to them

    Kevin Ward

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  11. Is it better to be loved or feared?
    There does not seem to be a right answer to this question. If you were to lead through being loved then you have to keep doing things to make the people sustain that feeling. However, if you were to lead through instilling fear that won't always work either. We have seen in history that leading through fear will not always work (ie. Hitler), more often then not people who lead through fear eventually became tyrannical or corrupt and because of this were often overthrown or killed. Both methods of leadership have their down and upsides so ultimately the best thing to do would be to try and mix the two together. That is almost impossible though because of the way that people thing and how opinions vary so much. I would most likely try to rule though fear because there seems to be less issues and difficulties.
    -Chris Colahan

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  13. I agree with Machiavelli for the reason that you can love someone but you wont respect them and you may fear someone but you wont be there for them when they need you. And the only way you can get the love and respect is by making them love you however also instilling fear into them without seeming cruel. But i dont agree with him in the fact that if you cannot be both you should make people fear you. i feel that making people fear you might turn them against you.
    Craig Bremner Jr.

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  14. In my opinion, I agree with Machiavelli that it is most likely better to be a ruler that is feared. I feel this way because people are less likely to listen as much to someone who is nice and who they like. If they fear that person they are more likely to listen because they fear bad consequences. One usually feels that he has more leverage with someone they like, but with someone you fear you know that you do not have leverage and can not hesitate when listening to the ruler. Also, a ruler who is feared is more likely going to be respected and is less likely to lose control. Like in Lord of Flies, the feared ruler wound up with a lot more respect.

    Jenny Leach

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  15. I think that in order to be a successful leader it is better to be feared than loved. If people fear you they will respect you and do as you tell them. However, there is a difference between being feared and being hated. If a leader displays constant acts of cruelty and unfairness for no logical reason then his people will despise him. This could cause riots, outrages, or possibly an attempt to be overthrown by the people. Instilling fear in the people you govern is crucial to being a respected leader.
    -Kean

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  16. i agree that it is best to be both loved and feared. however if you are more loved than feared it could become a problem because people will walk all over you. To be a leader you have to be in control, and if everyone loves you things can sometimes get out of control because they expect things from you, that they wouldn't expect if they were afraid of you. It also gives you less control over everything you do because you will always have to consider how somebody else feels about what you do cause you don't want anyone to hate you.

    Meg Martin Block 2

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  17. I believe that it is better to be feared than loved. It's great if people love you, but they could turn on you at the first opportunity of personal gain. People naturally look out for themselves, though if you are in dire need of anything, they will usually help. But if no personal gain is brought before them for this act of "generosity", they tend to shy away from it. On the other hand, if one is feared then others will be less likely to shy away from requests made by the leader, for they fear the consequences of their refusal. There are also bad qualities to being feared as well. It will be hard for anyone to trust you, and there is always the possibility of a revolt, in which the government can be overthrown. There are aspects of both being loved and feared that can be beneficiary to a leader or ruler, it's just the actions that you make that will determine which one you become.

    Derrick Laird

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  18. In terms of power, if a balance of love and fear is at all possible, it is best to be both. I believe in today's world, more specifically Democratic nations, the government should rule with love. A government should fear it's people, not the other way around. Sometimes fear is just necessary to achieve certain goals. In certain situations, fear can be an advantage used to keep peace. but fear generally is not good.

    For everyday people, I believe it is love that is the most important. I don't think it's necessarily possible for everyone to love each other and for everyone to get along, but it's better to be loved and to love. In my opinion, love is above all other virtues and values in the world. Not everyone will love everyone they meet, or even like everyone. I don't even like everyone that I've met. But when love is given, it should be accepted and reciprocated. If you cannot love the person they way they love you, offer another form of love in return. There are different forms of love, and they should be felt and given accordingly.

    -Andrew Melinchuk

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  19. I think it is better to be feared then loved. If a ruler is feared most people are scared and wouldn't try to overthrow them. Being loved would cause people to take advantage of you. Fear is more powerful then love. Fear can take control of someone and basically take over there lives. Being loved also has its advantages. More people will like you and follow the rules in the beginning. As times goes on people will take advantage of you and stop following the rules.For example, in Lord of the files, Jack made everyone fear him so they would follow him. No one tried to take control over him. If they did, he would kill them. When Piggy tried to speak out everyone in Jake's tribe got fed up and killed him.

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  20. I think that it is better to be loved than feared. the simple fact is that when people show love and even respect, then in return, you will get that same love and respect back. Don't make people fear you because in the end, you won't have anyone who trusts you honorably, they will only respect you out of fear. Be true to your people. Honor and respect them. Show them love!

    Natalie Giallombardo

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  21. i think that as a leader you should be loved because you want people to be on your side. if your loved you will have more people with you the against you. but its hard to over come being loved and feared at once. when you are loved you should add some fear to get people to honor you. if you should show no fear you will get over ruled by someone else

    Dylan Sloan

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  22. I personally feel that it is better to be feared then loved because if you are loved and everything is going good then that is fine but if you are loved and something goes wrong then your people would not think twice to over throw you. Also, i feel that it is better to be feared because if you tell someone to do it and they do not then they will fear their consequences and in return will never disobey you again.

    David Jankauskas

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  23. It is better to be loved because of the relationships that can be formed. Hate is something that comes from fear.
    Daniel N-W

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  24. I agree with Machiavelli that one who is well-loved is not always well-respected and is at risk of losing control.In order to be successful i believe it is better to instill a little fear while at the same time avoid cruelty, a ruler is able to maintain power and still have the respect of others. It is easy to understand that one who is feared is likely to keep control of situations, but one who is loved and not feared will be more or less taken advantage of...

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  25. Personally, i would rather be loved than feared. I think that when you are feared, the people that say that they are on your side, are really not. When you are feared, you have to worry about people who will suddenly turn their back on you. Fear can easily turn into hate, and people will betray you in a heart beat. Where as, when you are loved, you will always have someone on your side. And when it comes down to it, people will always choose love over fear.

    Britt Cappella

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  26. I don't agree with Machiavelli because if you are not loved, than nobody will care about you. When you are loved, you have people behind you because they want to be. They should not be forced to back you up because they are scared of you.

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  27. I think it is better to be feared rather than loved. If people love you and you do something wrong then they will no hestitate to hate you and try to get you out of your power. But on the other hand, if the people fear you then they will do not anything because they are scared of you. I feel like you will have a lot more success and power if people are scared of you. They will give you more respect because they will always listen to you no matter what you say.

    TJ Monaghan

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  28. i rather be loved at first so everything is going good and people care about me and i have a good relationship with people, but than i would want to be feared so i would not lose respect of people who love me and have an equal balance of the two love and fear.

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  29. I believe that it is better to be feared, I think that people who are loved get less respect from their followers. But if you're feared you get more respect from your followers. The only downfall to someone who is feared is after they are dead people really don't care about their death. But when you're loved people will care, and remember you later on in their lives. But I would still rather be feared.

    Matt Hoesch

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  30. If you are feared, many will never cross you, but neither will they adore you. If you are loved, they may like you, but in their eyes you may also be seen as weak. Respect works both ways, but you must be careful ow you wield it.
    Dylan H.

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  31. i would rather be feared, because if you are in charge you want people to listen and if they fear you then they will listen but if you strive to be loved then thee will be the people who are your die hard lovers and the ones who do not care about you, and those are the people that will end you, but if fear is established then all will fear you, not just the complete right side of the group. Plus, if you were on a one way road to fight, would you rather have someone who asks the people if they want to fight, or makes them do it, you'll surely have more people and ultimately probably win if you have fear to motivate people
    -Ben Baldino

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  32. I think it is better to be feared then loved because more people will listen to what you say and they will respect you. You are in total control when you are feared but when you are loved people just care for you. If you are feared and someone does something wrong you have the power to control what will happen to this person. If you are a ruler being feared is a good thing to have because everyone will listen to you and do what ever you say. No one will try to overthrow you because everyone will be afraid of the consequences but if you are loved someone may not like you and overthrow your power.

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  33. I believe that it is better to be feared than loved because being loved people make mistakes but won't show any emotion or anything towards the mistake and might overlook the situation whereas those who are feared, they stop the situation right then and there and make sure it is fixed and it never happens again or else they may pay the consequences.

    Michael Dolan

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  34. Its better to be feared than loved because if you are loved, people will try to take advantage of you and will see you as weak. They will also make empty promises to you because they don't fear what would happen if they betrayed you. If you are feared, people will respect you because they know you're a strong leader.

    Matt Pangborn

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  35. It is better to be feared by most and loved by few because people who fear you but don't love you will abandon you as soon as the fear runs out but those people who love you will be there for you until the end. Fear is the best way to keep situations controlled and keep people in line and it works out best for leaders because there is less of a chance of people disobeying you.
    Christian Friess

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  36. Like many things in life, choosing the middle ground over the left or the right leads to greater benefits. In the case of being feared or loved, this is especially true: if a leader can take the advantages of being feared and the advantages of being loved and apply them successfully, he or she can rule with ultimate power. As a leader, instilling love in the hearts of your people will grant you the respect you want from them, while instilling fear will grant you the respect you need from them. So, instill a bit of both.
    TJ Henry

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  37. I think that it would be best to be feared as a ruler. i think this because of the machiavelli quote if you are feared people will respect you just out of the fear of the punishment that would come if you disobey. if you show too much love for your people they will learn that disobeying your rule would be nothing and it would all become chaos. the only problem is you have to use your actions smartly and only use force as a punishment for crimes when you cant punish any other way not just whenever because if you kill or do too much oppression the people will just revolt against your rule.
    Kyle O.

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  38. In my opinion, it is better to be feared in certain circumstances such as running a business or being the dean of a high school. Your employees will listen to to your commands and take you seriously, and most students will respect you. However, in some cases such as running a country, you should be loved by your people. I would like to be feared because more work gets accomplished.
    Taylor

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  39. i believe that it is better to be feared but only because people are corrupt. if people would truly love a leader then he would not need to use fear to get what he wanted he would just ask and because the people loved him they would gladly assist the leader in any way that they could. but alas people are corrupt, greedy bastards who only care for their own welfare. so normal good, kind, loving leaders get kicked to the back while evil dictators, ruling with an iron fist, take the lead. by only caring about themselves they realize that when they do something wrong under a feared leader there will be harsh consequences and people would rather suffer silently than be broken by those consequences. My point being, if the world was perfect and people were not greedy then fear would not be necessary and love would rule all, to bad we are.

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  40. It is much better to be feared. When people fear you they will make no attempt to retaliate or to question your authority. Yet if you are loved, you may be loved but it can backfire. If you're loved people will call you out on your faults, mistakes and your flaws. They won't think twice to overthrow you if they don't like the way your doing things, because they don't have the same respect for you that they would have if they feared you.

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  41. It is better to be loved than feared for if you are feared it comes along with hatred. However, if you are loved the person is more likely to be behind you 100% no matter what you do. Also, when you are feared, people won't tell you their needs and you won't be able to keep your power if you can not give the people what they need. When you are loved, people will almost always confront you and be honest.

    -Rosie Gallagher

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