“I bought a dozen volumes on banking and credit and investment securities and they stood on my shelf in red and gold like new money from the mint, promising to unfold the shining secrets that only Midas and Morgan, and Maecenas knew.”
This is a good example of the encapsulating ability of literature- which transports you to an unimaginable realm. Literature has the ability to do this, to create environs. They lead you to a point and your imagination fills in the gaps altering and deleting as the description becomes more detailed. Here through a few words, we were taken straight to the roaring 20s. Hence, as you read more of the text you become more acquainted with it and you obtain a clearer picture in your mind. This is equally true for literature’s ability to shape our perception of concepts. Concepts such as power. The strange thing about power is that you determine its impact. Who has power over you, whom you have power over, how much power, how this power is exercised, and the impact of this power. Most of you would claim “Oh, I don’t read,” well, you did and your parents did and they raised you and their parents read, who taught them, and so on and so forth. Literature provides us with many meanings and ways of understanding our world. It explores universal themes that help us to formulate our society. Because literature is the essence of our society.
Society operates on a hierarchy, which is produced as a result of power, this hierarchy provides structure, a structure that provides functionality, a functionality that provides civilization. Clearly, power is a fundamental, requirement. It has and will always exist. It provides a means by which knowledge, experience, instruction, care, and respect are provided. A means by which society can operate and literature expresses this to us.
As mentioned in the opening, Literature provides us with many meanings, and power is no exception, hence Google’s definition of power is “the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events,” which has taken the negative viewpoint. Leading to the obvious fact of the matter that power is an overarching problem, an unsolvable concept. Although according to Shakespeare, all people will pass by and by, power is dependently variable on conditions, society’s current values, beliefs, and concepts, “The summer’s flower is to the summer sweet, Though to itself it only lives and dies” it lives and reigns, then dies and disdains. Power is ever-present but comes and goes.
Literature’s most common theme is Power. Power from the Pessimist Viewpoint. See, there are two viewpoints provided to the subjects of power. I have titled them, The Positive Viewpoint and the Pessimist Viewpoint.
The pessimistic view is provided by those who loathe power, who would describe power as dominance, control, and oppression, who fear power and so they envy it. If we translate these terms into a positive view we find the words care, guidance and protection. Literature provides examples of both, however, due to the uncanny ability of humans to always look to the negative side, the pessimistic view has gained prominence.
Tom Robinson does not resent Atticus Finch the same way that does. George Wilson is not attempting to rush up the social ladder like his wife although they are both subject to the power or from a different viewpoint, subjects of power.
The Wood Chopper had power over both the Wolf and Red Riding Hood, but the Wolf envied the Wood Chopper for meddling with his plan, while Red Riding Hood was thankful and grateful.
The response to power exploration is due to human nature which has led us to believe the pithy statement that power is bad. But without power, our society is without structure and hence it is fundamental. After the tiring struggle in The Tempest, power is still present, throughout the whole play, (finally falling back into the hands of Prospero). Power’s ever-present and necessary characteristic has caused its particular prominence in all of our literature as they attempt to explore and discover this universal theme.
Power can be harmful, it can have devastating effects. Kafka’s “monstrous grey buildings” that the mysterious character Joseph K. is engulfed during The Trial allow the exploration of the manipulation of power, and this kind of power is a result of corruption and immorality. The brainwashing effects of the government existing in George Orwell’s 1984 also determine that power can be misused however this only represents a handful of cases. Power can provide individuals with a chance to undermine others, Richard the Third cleverly manipulated all power available to him to gain more power, utilizing his brother’s bad health, a widow’s helplessness, and a child’s innocence. However, this is an exception, a discrepancy that does not account for the majority of power holders. A result of immorality, lust, and jealousy.
Everyone holds power, and all of you have power, Do you exercise this fairly? Do you use this correctly? Are you in the right? The expression “I’m only human” or “Nobody’s perfect” should be taken note of here to demonstrate that the impurities that exist in leadership are not due to power.
All humans have inadequacies and biases, there is yet to be a perfect leader of a Utopian society, and as a result of this flaw in human nature, other individuals begin questioning authority without considering the facts, fearing problems will arise as a result.
The widow decides to marry Richard for no other reason than for the security that his power would provide her, she married him for fear of what would otherwise happen. If fear can motivate individuals to strive for more power, it can definitely motivate individuals to undermine power.
Literature shapes our world, it provides suggestions, sometimes answers for issues we are confronting, it’s words are taken and applied, “A fool learns from his own experiences, but the wise learn from the experience of others” From the recorded literary world we can learn about concepts → power, however, the application or identification of these problems is down to the individual, to us. How you perceive the situation and how you react as a consequence is how an opinion is formed and depending on the opinion, the power play between the two is positively viewed or pessimistically viewed. Hence, the understanding of power portrayal in literature as evil and corrupt does not fit the fact as literature portrays both sides in their attempt to explore the complexities and perplexities of Human Relationships. Therefore power is a requirement of society.
I will leave you to consider a phrase from John Steinbeck ‘Power does not corrupt. Fear corrupts… perhaps the fear of a loss of power.’
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