Leaders are usually chosen because of qualities such as confidence, determination, and integrity, but sometimes these may only be a facade that hides less favorable aspects of their character. Alive, by Scott Sigler, begins when Em wakes up with very few memories in a mysterious room and discovers a few other newly awoken teenagers as clueless as she. After everyone agrees that Em should be in charge, she leads them through corridors outside of their room, searching for food, other people, and answers. They soon meet up with another group that is similar to them, but larger in number. They agree to unite and the majority again votes for Em to be in charge. They then continue slowly learning more about who and where they are through the rest…show more content… When she has to get back into a “coffin” like the one she first woke up in, Em panics, fights back, and begins to yell about being trapped or attacked by fictitious creatures (Sigler 341). This is a lot like a child’s fear of the darkness, and of imaginative ideas of what could be hiding there. This fear uncovers Em’s immaturity and could impair her ability to make the right decisions for the group. She tries to be a suitable role model for them, but still has moments of weakness. At another point, Em reflects on what “monster” means after a discussion within the group about the topic: “A word made of shapeless forms, woven from fear. Monster is all of the things we don't understand” (Sigler 82). Whenever the teenagers are unable to comprehend something, they immediately fear it and their imaginations begin making it much worse than it is. This again undermines Em’s pretense of qualification by exposing a lack of knowledge and the capacity to make sound judgements, and proves her possible incompetence as leader. Despite her best efforts, Em is not the powerful, fearless leader she seems to be, and is instead deeply naive and
