Theme Of Power In The Mayor Of Casterbridge

Additionally, Mrs Birling is also unlikeable due to her condescending attitude towards the Inspector. Mrs Birling’s dominant role is shown when she is answering to the inspector: ‘what business is it of yours’. Her plain rude attitude ‘prejudices’ the readers against Mrs Birling. Furthermore, Sybil acknowledges that she is too powerful to answer to a man who is questioning her and threatening her status; she assumes that the Inspector is working class (but he represents no class). Concluding that she sees the lower class as morally inferior. Priestly hated this kind of attitude and believed that people had to change if society was going to work. Consequently, the author’s voice came through this extract as he was trying to make a change to humanity in 1946, when social class was vaguely present. Once again, we are shown of Mrs Birling’s high status compared to the Inspector: ‘You have no power to make me change my mind’. The use of the pronoun ‘you’ displays that Mrs Birling actually informs the Inspector that he has no power over her. Her constant

As Lord Acton, a renowned libertarian of the 19th century, once said ”Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” In this quote, Sir Acton highlights the dangers of complete power. Moreover, he notes that the acquisition of power tends to stain a person’s morality. This observation is true, as power numbs a person’s ability to feel empathy. Therefore, the destructive nature of power is that it represses those without it. This idea is explored thoroughly in the short story, ”The Last of her Sons,” by Alden Nowlan. In the story, Ethel and Judd are a working class couple with five sons, the youngest being Skipper, a creative and imaginative child. Ethel is upset with Judd, her abusive and tyrannical husband, because of his

Most people would believe that we are shaped and defined by our values and moral character. However, Malcolm Gladwell argues, in the chapter “The Power of Context, Bernie Goetz and the Rise and Fall of New York City Crime” In other words, The Power of Context is the social setting and or the environment around you and how it affects your behavior. Anticipating resistance from the reader Gladwell uses rhetorical strategies such as real life examples, controlled experiments and theories to help advance his claim and to help persuade the reader to side with his argument.

The manner in which Poe addresses the topic of class differences and the struggle for power with his fictional characters resounds of his own struggles in his personal life. However, unlike in Hop Frog and the Masque of the Red Death, he was never himself able to emerge wholly victorious over his adversaries, including the publishing industry. In addition, Poe’s characters appear to hint that while wealth may be the source of power for many, the correct use of information itself is the surest path to the acquisition of power.

The influence an autocratic society has on suicide is exposed when Montag’s wife accidentally overdoses on sleeping tablets in her effort to commit suicide. Montag saves his wife by calling the emergency hospital, and some workers come with a machine to pump the poison out. The next morning Mildred doesn’t even remember the previous night’s ordeal and goes about her normal business (Bradbury 10-12). Understandably, Mildred’s effort to kill herself shows the discontentment in her life in this autocratic society. Moreover, Bradbury provides another example when he writes, ‘“There must be something in books, things we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don’t stay for nothing’” (Bradbury 48). In this instance, Montag refers back to the event where the woman who owned all the books committed suicide by remaining in her house, even when the firefighters warned her that they were going to burn her house down. To this end, it becomes discernible that under a controlling government, discontentment and suicidal thoughts

Humanity is a spectrum. There is no one person who is unequivocally bad or good. Every individual is ambiguous, and merely has the strength of their character and the choices they make. In some cases, these choices are influences by external factors that push fundamentally good individuals to commit deplorable acts. One of the most interesting of these factors is the concept of revenge, and the lengths to which humans will go in its pursuit. Throughout A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens is deliberate in his portrayal of the deleterious effect that a desire for revenge can have on even the most unimpeachable of characters, especially in the lives of Dr. Manette, Madam Defarge, and Gaspard.

    "Like all true literary classics, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is still capable of engaging us, both emotionally and intellectually" (Twayne back flap) through its characters and themes. This essay illustrates how Jane Austen uses the characterization of the major characters and irony to portray the theme of societal frailties and vices because of a flawed humanity. Austen writes about the appearance vs. the reality of the characters, the disinclination to believe other characters, the desire to judge others, and the tendency to take people on first impressions.

The novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, written by Ken Kasey, demonstrates how certain societal ills can be magnified in a highly controlled setting where there are vast power imbalances between individuals. The experiences of the characters in the novel reinforce the idea that it is important for a clear balance to exist in society between individual freedoms and institutional authority. Abuses of power exist everywhere in society, but the ward serves as an especially important microcosm because of the exaggerated degree to which abuses exist there. In society at large, individuals have the legal right to question authority and also have legal recourse to challenge abuses of authority.

Power can corrupt and create adverse effects on individual freedoms. However, when power is used for the greater good, everyone benefits. The dictatorship of Nurse Ratched stifles patients and doctors with medication, electroshock therapy, blackmail and lobotomies. The combine oppresses big men which ever way it can; either by driving them to alcoholism, maiming them or ignoring their entire existence. McMurphy helps the patients by demonstrating the weaknesses of the combine and the strength of their inner power. Hence power can be used in many different ways with both positive and negative effects. As demonstrated in the novel, the way in which power is used, can intensely affect individuals’

Abraham Lincoln said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man 's character, give him power.” Power can destroy traces of civilization or bring forth civilization; it can be both a good or bad thing. In William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies, the entire island is power hungry and it is fueled by it. Leaving the boys alone on an island, without any grownups, left all the power and control in the boys’ hands, invading the island with anarchy. The boys are lead from hope to disaster as they attempt to survive in the isolated environment of the island. Golding’s The Lord of the Flies expresses how power influences people’s actions, as a major theme through symbols and events such as: the conch shell, Piggy’s glasses, the signal fire, the separation of the boys, and the sow’s head.

Power is something that every human would like to acquire. The desire to earn power can be so important for some individuals that they use violence to acquire it. Violence can often cause jealousy, greed and hatred for each another. It is the violence of many humans that can lead them into doing such “unforgivable” acts. In both the plays, William Shakespeare and Arthur Miller with their famous novels, The Merchant of Venice and The Crucible, have shown how Grudges and Rivalries can cause such destruction in the lives of the people and the society in this play.

One of the strongest human desires, power, can assist an author in deepening the meaning of their work. One book that showcases this idea is One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, when Mrs. Ratchet and Mr. Mcmurphy fight for authority, allowing the author to create an allusion to a battle between society and peculiar people. While Mrs. Ratchet and Mr. Mcmurphy battle for power may seem unimportant, their individual pursuits to gain dominance allows the author to enhance the meaning of his story.

In the sociopolitical novel, A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens analyzes the events of one of the bloodiest revolutions in history, the French Revolution, characterized by its violence after no less than 40,000 people were sentenced to death. The violence of the revolution put irreversible change into motion, helping to bring greater equality between French citizens as a result of the upheaval, and causing political changes that affected millions. Through his changing tone, Dickens conveys that rebellion is necessary to amend the ever-growing divide between the social classes, but the mindless nature of the violence, as a result of mob mentality, is excessive, and blood is unnecessarily spilled.

“Society made me do it.” This phrase is a reality for many people in the world who live their lives through society’s expectations. Having a perfect reputation and living exactly by society’s rules is not always easy when faced with challenges such as restrictions amidst social classes. In Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, social classes are a common theme throughout the book. This theme is strongly influenced by the culture and desires of people in the Georgian Era, when the author began working on this book, which dictates the major choices in the characters’ lives. For example, something that people value most in this era is reputation. Main characters in Pride and Prejudice like the

Pride and Prejudice is one of the most popular novels written by Jane Austen. This romantic novel, the story of which revolves around relationships and the difficulties of being in love, was not much of a success in Austen's own time. However, it has grown in its importance to literary critics and readerships over the last hundred years. There are many facets to the story that make reading it not only amusing but also highly interesting. The reader can learn much about the upper-class society of this age, and also gets an insight to the author's opinion about this society. Austen presents the high-society of her time from an observational point of view, ironically describing human behavior. She describes what she sees and adds her own