Essay/Term paper: Analyzing the struggle for power in four novels: fahrenheit 451, invisible man lord of the flies and julius caesar

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Lord of the Flies

Analyzing The Struggle For Power In Four Novels: Fahrenheit 451, Invisible Man
Lord of the Flies and Julius Caesar


If you delve into the content of almost any novel, there is almost
always some kind of struggle for power. It could be for rightful integration
into society; power over an island; power over a country; or in some cases, even
power over the minds of others. These not at all uncommon struggles for power
are what keep us interested in the plot of a book. The ongoing battle between a
character and his cause makes it impossible to put down a good book. For
instance, the novel 1984 by George Orwell is about the struggle of a man and a
woman to somehow find a way to get out of the constant barrage of cameras and
mind control conducted by their government. Although the two of them eventually
lost the battle, there was still a victor in the struggle for power: their
government.

In the novel Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the main struggle for
power deals with the government. This overly oppressive, almost Orwellian style
bureaucracy, tries to make sure there is no interaction with books at all. They
believe that books permeate their society and corrupt the minds of the people.
Unannounced searches of property by "firemen" are not at all uncommon. At the
slightest inkling of this futuristic contraband, these firemen will rummage
through all of one's property, at times, destroying everything in their path.
On the opposite side of that spectrum, there is a struggle for power by the
people as well. There is the woman who hid several thousand volumes of books in
her house. She loves these books so much that when the firemen ransacked her
house, she went down with the books without hesitation. In another example of
this ongoing struggle for power, some people's lives were actually transformed
into books. Their names changed to the title of the book, and they had to
memorize every single written line of text. These people were so determined to
fight for what they believed, that it would be impossible to say that some kind
of struggle for power did not exist. They were struggling for the power of
freedom. There is not only one kind of freedom you can have. Some peoples
struggle for the power of freedom might be just to be allowed to exist at all.
When you read the Invisible Man, a novel by Ralph Ellison, in lies one
of the most incredible and wonderful struggles for power that very possibly this
world has ever seen. It involves the struggle of a black man trying to find a
point of equilibrium for himself in a white man's world. Invisible Man was
filled with a virtual plethora of differing and multi-cultural characters. For
example, Mr. Norton, Brother Jack, Ringo from the paint factory, the
Superintendent; all of these characters presented in the novel provide a more
realistic sense of how the protagonist dealt with society in very different ways.
Some of the different characters mentioned above had to be handled in
different ways. Mr. Norton and the superintendent had to be treated always with
respect. The protagonist's ability to recognize these different forms of
society and how to deal with each one of them eventually helped him adapt in a
more appropriate way to different places in society. The protagonist, however,
was not the only person whose demeanor changed when confronted by someone else.
Most all of the people of higher stature, like Mr. Norton, the dean of
administrations at Tuskeegee, always seemed to walk around on egg shells when
dealing with the protagonist. I believe that the protagonist sensed this. It
was because of the struggles for power made by people like the protagonist that
eventually turned the tide for black Americans in the 19th and 20th century.
However, these struggles had been going on for several centuries before his own.

William Shakespeare is known as one of the greatest playwrights to have
ever existed. In his recreation of the Roman reign of Julius Caesar, he
portrayed one of the greatest struggles for power and self-fulfillment in the
history of man. From the dramatic fall of the great Roman emperor Caesar to the
fight for remaining control over Rome by Marc Antony vs. Brutus and Cassius,
Julius Caesar depicts one of the largest struggles for power ever seen in
literature.
The first major struggle for power in Julius Caesar comes from the
conspirators. This group of "rebels" has the intention to free Rome and its
people from the shackles of Julius Caesar. The only feasible way they can see
to do this is to eliminate Caesar altogether. Their doing this demonstrates a
need for a new kind power, one that suits their needs more accurately. Once the
conspirators have finished their job and killed Caesar, they then have to deal
with Caesar's "right hand man" if you will, Marc Antony. The battle with Antony
brings about the next major struggle for power in the play: winning the war that
Antony will put up against Brutus and his followers.
In the novel Lord Of The Flies by William Golding, there is a struggle
for power that is more common today than any of the aforementioned conflicts.
Like most power struggles of today, it deals with two individuals trying to gain
control over land through two different personalities. Both of these
personalities are children, so that factor makes the conflict all the more
interesting.
On one side of the battlefield there is Ralph, and on the other side is
Jack. Of the two, Ralph is the logical thinker. He wants to do tasks the
convenient way for not only himself, but also for everyone else. Just opposite
of him is Jack who has an almost totalitarian kind of outlook on how to get
tasks done. Of the two of them, Jack is the one who seems most likely to abuse
the power that he is given. Ralph simply wants to have fun, while at the same
time maintaining order on the island. This back and forth battle between the
two of them continues all the way through the book until all of the boys who are
still alive are rescued.
Struggles like the ones I have mentioned are extremely common in almost
all forms of literature. However, as I have pointed out, these kinds of
struggles have been going on since the beginning of man. Today, the most common
struggle for power seems to be deception and trickery, who can trick the most
people and make the most money doing it. As I have demonstrated above, writers
have portrayed various struggles for power over and over again in novels and
stories for centuries. I suppose this is because the struggle for power, in
whatever form, is a common dilemma to which everyone can relate.