Rise When They Fall: The Strategy of False

LeadershipTitle
By Brittany Woodhall
For Mr. Kemp
ENG 3UI
Due 23rd July 2010
 Many leaders over time were, and continue to be, known for their impact on a

small community, country, or even the world; some of them for good reasons, others for

poor decisions, which saw them gainmake many enemies. Like political heads of

government, leaders of a specific community of people are informally elected by this

community to represent their cause in the best way that is seen fit. In the struggle to get

noticed amongst other people’s concerns, some people resort to rising up by pushing

others down. Buck Calder from the novel The Loop by Nicholas Evans fits this mindset,

and his followers are all ranchers devoted to the extermination of wolves. Since these

people are particularly aggressive, they are harder to control; . Tto ease pressure, leaders

such as Buck blame other groups to cover their own problems, and force other people

with power to assist them. The result is that most of the credit is given to one popular

figure, simply because followers do not have the courage to be the face of the cause; they

do not want to be the one who could suffer for the entire group when they fail. One who

rises from the detriment of others is not a strong, worthy leader.

A common weakness these individuals share, is the use of ‘scape-goats’ –

blaming other causesusing some other cause to blame, to cover up one’s own

weaknesses. With the government protecting the wolves that he wanted to kill in order to

save his calves, Buck was thinking that, “Everything seemed to be going wrong lately…

In fact, now that he came to think of it, everything had been fine and dandy until those

goddamn wolves showed up. Well, it was time to get serious and get rid of them”

(Nicholas Evans, 253-254). Instead of taking charge of his life, Buck uses the

coincidence of the arrival of the wolves as the cause of all his troubles. If he couldan

providegive an answer to another rancher’s problems, and find a solution, he wouldis

gains an even better reputation, according to fellow ranchers. While he gains support

from ranchers regardlessthough,, he looses the support of those who care about wolves

and obeying the laws. One cannot stay securely in power without gaining support, and the

lack of responsibility will eventually become obvious, making supporters think twice

about their leader.

One of the things people may not notice right away is how much the leader is

really doing while in powerthemselves. As Buck Calder glorified to other ranchers about

his solution to kill off all the wolves, it was only because of his father that he could even

hire a hunter so prestigious to do the job. The ‘wolfer’ he hired, Lovelace, “remembered

the man’s father, Henry Calder. His own father used to call him ‘King Henry” and joke

about how high and mighty he was” (Evans, 257). Much of Buck’s ‘high status’ within

the community of ranchers is earned from how highly respected his father was. Inheriting

his father’s skills and good looks, Buck himself has proved very little to anyone. He

could not kill a wolf illegally, because he did not have the knowledge to know how to

hidecover it from the law up.; Tto hire someone who does know, he had to use his

father’s reputation. The power one has is often through other people’s efforts, not , as it is

displayed, by their own efforts.

Many ranchers that are affected by wolves killing their calves want the wolves

gone as much as Buck, but are too afraid to go against the law. Also, some of those who

are supposed to enforce the law do not have the courage to fight back. These people make

a weak set of followers, who will not continue to support the leader when they fail. Dan,

who is wWorking for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the wolves, was called

to Buck’s ranch after his pet dog got attacked by a wolf. After Buck made his policy
against wolves clear, “Dan was still seething from his encounter with Buck Calder. ‘I told

you he was a piece of work,’ Rimmer said… ‘Piece of something, anyway.’ ‘Oh, he’s

okay. Reckon his bark’s bigger than his bite. He’s one of these guys likes to test you, see

how tough you are’” (Evans, 35). After a long war of words with Danwords with Buck,

and simply getting run down by Buck’s persistence, Helen, who works as a biologist to

protect the wolves, says to Luke, her coworker and Buck’s son,who are both working to

protect the wolves,

“‘Dan wants to kill the rest of the wolves… Or are we all supposed to call it, what

was it? Oh yeah, ‘lethal control.’… Dan sighed. ‘They killed one of your father’s

calves.’ ‘So Dan’s going to let himself be bullied into doing exactly what your

father wants: get rid of the wolves. No wolves, no way—all you have to do is

shout loud enough.’ … ‘Sometimes you have to lose a battle to win the war.’

‘That’s bullshit, Dan. You’re just letting Calder push you around… If you don’t

take a stand against people like him, you’ll never win the war’” (Evans, 385-386).

Those who simply try to suppress others do not gain any real supporters. Although Dan

has given in, as soon as he finds a weakness, or a strong point for the protection of

wolves, he could turn many of Buck’s ‘followers’ into his enemies. People who follow

Buck are only looking for a solution fromto having their calves continually hunted down

by wolvestheir calves being killed, and if Dan can offer one that is more appealing to

them, Buck will immediately loose all of his supporters. Appealing at first, Clyde, one of

Buck’s farmhands, “was always so keenly tuned to Buck’s mood, always a little too eager

to please. Whatever Buck’s opinion, it became Clyde’s as well and if Buck changed his

mind, even if he argued that black wasn’t black after all, but white, then Clyde would
soon be laboring through paler and paler shades of grey until he got there too” (Evans,

187). However, Buck later finds people such as Clyde to be nothing but irritating, and of

no real support. Talking about the lack of kills the wolfer has made, Clyde comments,

“‘If you ask me, he’s past it. Way too old.’ ‘I didn’t’ Buck snapped… Clyde held up his

hands. ‘Okay, okay.’ ‘And don’t ‘okay, okay’ me either. Jesus!’ He slammed a fist on the

steering wheel.” (Evans, 342). People who are not fully behind the leader’s cause are not

useful for strength in numbers. It only appears that there is a strong following, when in

fact many are just desperate to find someone who will solve their problems. This is why

it is foolish to be intimidated by a leader who pushes others down – they can not get

support from people who think positively about them; who are willing to defend their

views along with their leaders’ for the better of their own cause. The people they gather

up instead are ones who feel pressured into following, or else they will be shoved down

by the exact same person they are to follow. Even if one agrees with the leader’s opinion,

they are simply not brave enough to speak their mind; afraid of criticism. They rely on

their leaders to do this, for it is the leader who will take most of the blame and criticism,

since they represent the entire shared opinion of the community.

//What some leaders like Buck do not account for are the people who do not

support them. These people may have been pushed down, but if they were strong enough

to resist being intimidated, they can counter-attack with the passion to ruin the person

who tore them down. After Helen refused to get involved with yet another of Buck’s

affairs, his weak attempt to gain her support to kill the wolves, she realized that,

“Suddenly, though her shock and outrage, something he’d once said came back to her.

She braked hard and skidded to a stop, then reversed back so that she was looking right
down on him from the window. ‘Wanting something can be better than getting it,

remember? Think of it as a favor.’” (Evans, 357). The phrase Buck once said to her, to

try to degrade her hope for the survival of the wolves, was used against him, in his fight

to get rid of the wolves. The real threat of their power is in their own actions and words,

whether it comes back in the form of revenge or guilt. Mr. Lovelace, the hunter hired to

kill the wolves illegally, faced his most threatening, yet unexpected, enemy while he tried

to go on with his job. Before his wife died, she asked him,

“‘Do you think, Joseph, their life is the same as ours? I mean, what it’s made of,

that little flicker or spirit or whatever it is, inside them. Do you think it’s the same

as what we have inside us?’ ‘No dear of course not. How could it be?’ Her

puzzling seemed to have drained her, for she closed her eyes and sank back on her

pillow, with a faint, contented smile on her lips. ‘You’re right,’ she sighed. ‘How

silly I am. How could it be?’” (Evans, 296).

At the time, he simply denied her comment, and went along hunting and trapping for

other people. But it was not until he saw a little boy frightened by his father’s inventions

of traps, that he truly thought about what his wife was saying. After all the lives of the

animals he took over many years, he decided that he deserved to die, and was disgusted

with himself: “Before he died, the wolfer wanted to say sorry, but there was no one to say

it to. The only person who’d understand was Winnie and she was dead. He wondered

how long she’d known about ‘that little flicker,’ as she’d called it, and why she hadn’t

told him before, though he knew in his heart he’d never have listened” (Evans, 372). Both

Buck and Mr. Lovelace fell victim to their own cruelty, unknowingly tearing themselves
down. A leader who cannot take even their own brutality is not a strong leader; it is their

job to stand up and take charge, not cower and look to escape from criticism.

People who are deemed leaders of a community of people who push others down

to get attention do not possess real leadership skills. They do not inspire, but instil fear.

These ‘leaders’ cannot even stand up for themselves, and rightfully defend their ideas.

Their idea of convincing people is that their opinion is right because everyone else is

wrong. Their followers are not truly supporting their leader, they only felt they have no

other options. It is guaranteed that if another person is more inspiring to them, they will

quickly betray the one who took them for granted, for a leader who will truly appreciate

support. It is people like Buck Calder that do not solve problems fairly; instead, are only

done to their rapid satisfaction, still never feeling satisfied with themselves.
 Work Cited

Evans, NicholasAuthor's name. The LoopTitle. New YorkPlace of publication [note:

always a city name] : Delacorte PressPublisher, 1998Copyright date. Print.