Comparing Moon Of The Crusted Snow And Bird Box

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Intra-community Fear in Moon of the Crusted Snow and Bird Box: The Breakdown of Community Abraham Lincoln famously declared, “A house divided against itself cannot stand, (Lincoln)” perfectly highlighting the destructive impact that even a slight bit of division has on community unity. Hence, the notion of a community united in perpetuity remains inconceivable, as fear breaks even the tightest bonds. Waubgeshig Rice’s novel, Moon of the Crusted Snow, echoes the same sentiments by portraying the critical role that the fear of starvation plays in the division of the tightly-knit Anishinaabe community. Similarly, Susanne Bier’s dystopian horror film, Bird Box, shows how the fear of the unknown creature leads characters to prioritize themselves …show more content…

Upon analyzing fear’s effect on community structure, it is evident that its influence extends beyond just community division. It can also be used as a tool for opportunistic manipulation. As already established, fear splits once strong bonds of unity, creating distrust between citizens and leaders, thus driving the populace to act on their own agendas. Outsiders capitalize on this discord to exert control on citizens for personal gain, further fostering betrayal and deteriorating a community’s sense of solidarity. In Moon of the Crusted Snow, Justin Scott exemplifies the exploitation of fear by distributing alcohol to those who turn to it to cope with the panic, thus gaining influence over them. Scott’s provision of scarce resources during a time of conflict cements his power in the novel: “Somehow Evan, the cigarettes and free-flowing booze would lead back to Scott. Scott hadn’t been in the community long, but rumors had it that he was the man to go to if you’d run out of smoke or alcohol” (Waubgeshig …show more content…

Fish Finger’s actions illustrate how outsiders exploit the characters’ internal fears to manipulate the group for their own agendas. By capitalizing on Charlie’s fear of isolation and longing for familiarity, Fish Fingers effectively erodes the group’s cohesion by spreading even more fear. Overall, this highlights how fear-driven decisions lead to vulnerability to outsiders’ manipulation, weakening the group from within. By comparing this idea to Justin Scott’s exploitation of fear in Moon of the Crusted Snow, it becomes evident that fear is a powerful tool for manipulation that creates more community division. Justin Scott capitalizes on the community division to strip authority away from the band council. While Fish Fingers’ creates more fear within the group by manipulating the characters’ fear of isolation to kill them. In essence, fear not only fractures the bonds of trust within a community, but it also allows outsiders to take advantage of citizens to achieve their underlying goals, further diminishing community

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