POWER

Theme of Power in Three Novels: A Question of Power, the Catastrophist and Heart of Darkness

Theme of Power in Three Novels: A Question of Power, the Catastrophist and Heart of Darkness

Introduction

It is the ability to act effectively in an environment. Power can be defined as the measurement of skill of anything or any person to control atmosphere of other entities efficiently. The power comes under several different perspectives. Mostly the term authority used regularly to perceive the concept of power in the world of politics (Nel Jordaan 2000,p. 65). According to Conrad's, power is money, if the person valued in the society is just because of the money that he had. Insatiable greed for wealth and power defines their characters. Greed demolishes the sense of morality, which holds the Marlow's persuasive graces. In the viewpoint of Bessie Head, power is the symbol of the mirror which allows envisaging ghostly power and sovereignty as aspects of the real integral to a world of life and terror rather than tied to a world of appearances. Finally, Ronan Bennett discusses in his novel the Catastrophist, power is in politics.

Explanation

Critics of the Three Novels

A Question of Power is the most difficult novel of it's time. The main theme of this novel is on the concept of psychosis. Another perspective of the novel is on the social and political perspective of the South African society. The main character of the novel is Elizabeth, a lady who lived in south Africa and facing several problems and her political position denied after time to time. Just because of this reason she lost her identity and trying to reconstruct her position in society. This novel is based on the feminist ideology. The novel is totally based on the political and ethical themes of the society. A feminist reading of a text is typically one that examines the representation of women in order to expose the under lying power relations to which they subject, and to challenge the strategies used to define women as other, or a lack or part of nature. Feminist critics have also exploited the close connection between feminism and post-colonialism in their readings: in post-colonial theory, the colonized subject rather than woman is characterized as 'other', but the strategies of subjugation are comparable (Lentner 2004,p. 126). Hence, patriarchy, colonialism, racism, and sexism may be conflated, and colonialism comes to be conflated, and colonialism comes to be seen as a hyper-masculine construct that subordinates not just persons of colour but also women.

Three novels in particular in the canon have lent themselves to feminist rereading: 'Heart of Darkness', Under Western Eyes, and Chance. Of these, the first has received the most careful attention. In her essay Heart of Darkness, he argues that when Marlow describes Kurtz's African mistress as an embodiment of the jungle, he fuses patriarchal and imperialist ideology. The patriarchal ideology intends with its power of image-making to distance. It conquers the woman's body so the imperialist ideology intends with its power for good to distance ...