ipl-logo

Abuse Of Power In Midnight's Children

1209 Words5 Pages

The Hour of Power “What I fear most is power with impunity. I fear abuse of power, and the power of abuse”- Isabel Allende. In the book Midnight’s Children, written by Salman Rushdie, the misuse of power is abundantly visible as in India, where the story originates from, is a patriarchal country that remains governed by male dominance. Examining the story through the theoretical psychoanalytic lens, which is the why and how people act the way they do, it is evident that characters in the story behave a certain due to the amount of power they behold. The author utilizes the term “psychobiography”, which is used to analyze his/her life, and the use of text, which is used in order to analyze narrative elements such as symbolism and the role …show more content…

Ahmed and Amina, husband and wife, are inflicted with power dynamics in a relationship as Ahmed’s misuse of his authority in his family results in his relationship with his family to be destroyed. To explain, the mother of Amina gives suggestions to her as she says, “Go from him; go today, and take your children, whatsitsname, away from these oaths which he spews from his lips like an animal, whatsitsname, of the gutter” (Rushdie 324). Ahmed’s reluctant behaviour towards his wife is being caused by the misuse of power he has over Amina. This misuse of power abiliterates Ahmed and Amina’s relationship as his words result in wrongful events and displays how relationships can be broken by misuse of power as Amina leaves her husband due to his abuse. Furthermore, the relationship between Saleem and Shiva, two children that have opposite mindsets and views, has been negatively impacted by power as Saleem uses his power and banishes Shiva from the conference. To explain, while Saleem is dismissing Shiva from the conference he says, “I resolved that my destructive, violent alter ego should never again enger the increasingly fractious councils of the Midnight’s Children Conference” (Rushdie 323). Saleem misuses his power over the Midnight’s Children Conference and without the knowledge of anyone else in the council he banishes Shiva from future meetings. Thus, this eventually results in the destruction of the conference, but also the relationship between Shiva and Saleem is drastically affected. Power does not only affect important aspects of characters lives, power can directly impact an individual’s social

Show More
Related

  • Who Is Elie Wiesel's Faith In Night

    538 Words  | 3 Pages

    Night is about Elie wiesel’s struggle through the holocaust from camp to camp. In Night Elie questions god’s ability and, at Elie’s lowest points, his existence. Elie goes through a journey no teenager should endure. He is faced with unbelievable cruelty at every turn, being beaten physically and mentally. Elie’s purpose for writing this book about his experience in the holocaust is to show how his faith was tested throughout the book and as a result it caused him to see god in a different light.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Power In Night By Elie Wiesel

    368 Words  | 2 Pages

    Power is addictive to humankind, people can not help but crave more than their share. Night by Elie Wiesel is a memoir that bears witness to the abusiveness of control. The book follows the author, Elie Wiesel, in his horrific experiences of the Holocaust and how he survived. In many situations people with higher status took advantage of people subordinate to them. Although many believe that fear is a person’s main downfall, power is an extremely manipulative source that causes the decline of people who have it and who do not.

    Read More

  • Inhumane Themes In Night By Elie Wiesel

    498 Words  | 2 Pages

    The novel Night was written by Elie Wiesel; he gave details of his childhood and life before, throughout, and after he and his family were sent into the German Death Camps. His novel is based off of his experiences as a child in the multiple camps he went through and endured, his purpose for writing is not to gain sympathy, but to create awareness and inform further generations of the horrific cruelties that happened on the European Continent. He does not want the events of the continents past to be forgotten, but in saying this he also does not want anything similar to ever happen. Within the novel multiple themes, symbols, and motifs will be repeated: but within all three of those inhumane cruelty can be found. Cruelty is the key part to this novel, without the

    Read More

  • Night Dehumanization Essay

    604 Words  | 3 Pages

    AJ The book Night by Elie Wiesel is a monumental novel that impacts the lives and minds of all those that read it, but there is more to Wiesel’s story than is on the pages that he wrote, which the readers will have to look deeper into the words to truly find the emotion behind them. This book recounts factual events that occurred during the horrific time of the Holocaust. Wiesel tells his readers about the tragic events of the Holocaust from his life as a fifteen-year-old. The Holocaust was filled with dehumanization that is revealed through this book which quite literally reaches into your soul and makes you feel the anger, fear, sadness, and defeat that Wiesel and all the other victims of the Holocaust felt.

    Read More

  • Elie Wiesel's The Night

    775 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Night is a story about war. A war that is way too different from the war that happened in different countries around the world. The challenge to the warrior and the sufferings of the noncombat. A terse, merciless testimonial, the book serves as a harsh reflection on war. The work serves as an example of a devastating effect of evil on innocence.

    Read More

  • Evil In Night By Elie Wiesel

    1170 Words  | 5 Pages

    Night is a beautiful blunt, raw memoir written by Elie Wiesel, covering his experience in the Holocaust. Night is an influential and emotionally striking story about power being used for evil, resulting in the death of tens of millions people. When discussing the holocaust, it is generally about the horrendous crimes committed, but not so much the fact the Nazi's saw what they were doing as perfectly acceptable; it is evident that because of the Nazi regime was (and their beliefs), they believed murder and torture was not to be looked down upon. This is a prime example that personal beliefs and values dictate what defines evil to each individual.

    Read More

  • Abuse Of Power In Priscilla And The Wimps

    222 Words  | 1 Pages

    Abuse of power goes all the way back 100 years ago or even more. Richard Peck depicts the conflict, abuse of power, in his short story “Priscilla and the wimps”. Monk , a gang leader, is running his school like it’s his garden of eden, but e picks on the wrong kid. Then he dies. Peck tells monk’s journey to show that abuse of power has consequences.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Power In Night By Elie Wiesel

    380 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout history, many people have abused and misused the power they have been trusted to have. The book Night is written by a survivor of the Holocaust, named Elie Wiesel, who is writing to encourage people not to make the same mistakes that happened during the Holocaust. Unfortunately, people haven’t learned the lesson of letting people with power control things. This is seen in the past during the holocaust through Ellie's point of view and in modern-day civilization. Just like in Night where Idek used his power to abuse Elie and remove all the Jews so he could have fun, Hitler putting Jews in concentration camps, the Ukrainrusso war, and the US government wiretapping, the world has still not learned the lesson of not letting people with

    Read More

  • Examples Of Corruption In Night By Elie Wiesel

    281 Words  | 2 Pages

    From the small town of Sighet in Transylvania to the huge concentration camps of Auschwitz. Elie Wiesel, the author and victim of the book Night, the horrifying experience of the Holocaust. Wiesel is a 15 year old Jewish boy who was captured by the Germans or “Nazis” during WWII. He went through an overwhelming amount of trauma, like when he got separated from his mother and sisters and watching his father suffer an unbearable amount of pain that eventually killed him. The fact is, power is a tool that can corrupt itself and others, it can ruin people’s lives and it can do that without people even realizing it.

    Read More

  • Father And Son In Elie Wiesel's Night

    1225 Words  | 5 Pages

    Nightmares were turned into reality, and the hardest part was that they had to be faced. In the heart wrenching novel Night, by Elie Wiesel, the relationship of father and son is changed when love and dismay are displayed with small, but impactful

    Read More

  • Power In Ernest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

    513 Words  | 3 Pages

    Power is a fragile thing. It can be something physical and tangible or it can be something discarnate, something of the mind. Power can be fleeting; just because one side holds more power, doesn’t mean the other side is powerless, an idea exemplified in Hills Like White Elephants. Although the man hold more power within his relationship to the girl, she holds power in the fact that she understands their relationship is doomed. While he will be unable to comprehend the downward trajectory of their affair until it is too late, she knows that going through with it - whatever it is - will not save their relationship.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Perils Of Indifference

    1742 Words  | 7 Pages

    Once liberated from these concentration camps, Elie has done much to make people around the world more aware of the indescribable events that occurred during his time in these camps, and make sure that people will speak out against these events instead of staying silent, so that these events may be prevented in the future. He wrote many pieces and delivered many speeches in attempt to lift the world out of indifference. I believe that Elie’s novel Night communicates his message more effectively than his speech, Perils of Indifference. Not only does it convey his message of that we all must speak out against

    Read More

  • Examples Of Conflicts In The Kite Runner

    1128 Words  | 5 Pages

    The main character had to manage his father’s neglect while growing up. All Amir really wants is to be “looked at, not seen, listened to, not heard” (Hosseini 65), and while this conflict shapes the way that Amir grew up, readers are exposed to the

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of The Myth Of The Latin Woman

    965 Words  | 4 Pages

    The author mentioned popular media people (like Rita Moreno) and literary characters (“Mammy” from Gone with the Wind) to show the source and the deepness of stereotypes. She includes dialogues and description of own ruefulness during the current event to create more emotion-oriented essay. Several main issues and single words are highlighted with the aid of italics, like the word ripen (Cofer 4) that showed boy’s expectances to Cofer’s sexual behavior. Was it author’s choice or not, the decision helps readers to see an important topic.

    Read More

  • Class Differences In The Kite Runner

    685 Words  | 3 Pages

    Their contrasting social conditions shape the way they treat each other and influence their own beliefs and values, making it extremely difficult to maintain a normal relationship. The huge role of Marxism in class conflict greatly affects the decisions and choices that Amir and Hassan make ending in a truly painful estrangement. These boys should be the best of friends; deep down they love each other so very much, but their preexisting economic situations make this love impossible to put on display. Amir manages to repair this broken friendship twenty years later; Hassan may have gone, but Amir can finally forgive himself for the decisions he made as a

    Read More

More about Abuse Of Power In Midnight's Children

Open Document