In societies constructed on principles of force, people are governed by fear. Alliances form based on mutual self-interest. Oaths of allegiance are common. The virtues of cunning, strength, and loyalty are taught, and revenge is the motivating principle. Stories that teach fear as the primary human reality teach people to act out of personal passion, getting what they want because they can get it, without much regard for those they don't need or fear.
Promises characteristically take the form of threats.
The paradigmatic relationship is that between master and slave. Many narratives in both history and literature examine the way fear can lead to a desire for law. The dominant theme of English political history may be that nation's gradual development from a fear-based society into a society ordered according to law, reaching a major transition when the British Parliament executed a king for ignoring the law. Public trust rather than personal force emerged as the dominant power. Much was learned along the way in this, one of the great stories in history, of how hierarchies could be formed that protected the dignity of the individual while establishing enough authority to provide order and stability.