Power and authority is the theme that I have chosen for my making connections essay. My four chosen texts are the book series “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins, the film series “Harry Potter” based on the books by J.K Rowling, the film “The Last of the Mohicans” by Michael Mann and the book “Private Peaceful” by Michael Morpurgo.
Authority is the right to give orders, make decisions and enforce obedience. Whereas power is the possession of authority, control or an influence by which a person manipulates the actions of others. An example of a person with such power is President Snow. President Coriolanus Snow possesses total power over the Capitol and Panem. He’s manipulative, merciless and brutal. Poisoning political rivals; making countless
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Magua is an Indian of the Huron tribe who lost his wife and children to the British and wants revenge. He tries to gain authority by showing that he is a capable fighter and leader to the Hurons but his need for vengeance is what lets him down. Although he has good reason to be vengeful, Magua becomes too obsessed with having the British at his total mercy and his plan for revenge doesn’t quite go his way. At the Huron village, Hawkeye points out that Magua is just acting for himself and not the tribe and I agree. The British surrendered and were on their way back home when a group of Hurons led by Magua ambushed them. The war was over, the French had won. So why did the Hurons attack? Was it because Magua persuaded them? Magua wanted revenge and that’s what he got. Colonel Munro is dead, along with the numerous British citizens killed. His obsession with revenge prevented him from gaining respect and authority from the Huron …show more content…
Hanley has hated Charlie ever since he stuck up for Tommo. He saw it as an act of defiance and it didn’t settle well with him. As a sergeant; Hanley does have authority over the soldiers and he makes sure that they know this. He continuously torments them and threatens them into obeying his every order. So when Charlie disobeys a particularly ridiculous order, he is immediately charged with cowardice and is sentenced to death.
While Magua did not achieve his goal of gaining authority, but instead got the revenge he needed, Hanley had authority and used it as an advantage to get what he desired. Both Magua and Hanley are determined in order to obtain what they want, no matter what it took them. Even if that meant taking the lives of the innocent.
I have come to the conclusion that authority and power are two separate ideas but both relate together as one concept. Power can reinforce authority and authority is one of the primary sources of power. Bearing this in mind, I feel that these four texts use a wide range of different examples to portray this theme of power and authority, which I believe was shown as a clear message to the readers or viewers of any of these four texts. “Every man who has power is impelled to abuse it.” - CHARLES DE MONTESQUIEU. “Just because people are in authority, if it doesn't seem right, don't do it. If it violates your own principles, don't do it.” - STEVE
• Shakespeare’s idea of the tenuous and transitory nature of power is shaped by a context where the nation was anxious due to the unexpected death of Elizabeth.
The two texts consists of characters who have used their power for the wrong purposes. Power is apparent in every society all over the world. Whether it is your teacher in the classroom or guards protecting the vulnerable. Power itself is not necessarily a bad resource with many cases of power producing positive results It is when the power is abused it harms the vulnerable within society. The film Shawshank redemption connects with the short story Dear mr Cairney as they both demonstrate the brutal actions of abusing power. Certain individuals in the position of authority abuse their power with manipulative strategies for instance warden Norton in the shawshank redemption. Such behavior can have negative, inaccurate, unfair or even bias outcomes.
All humans crave one thing: Power. Power is directly defined as “the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.” This theme is shown throughout the novel Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. However, there are different forms of power. Different forms of power can be seen throughout the book, and even in many short stories and poems. These different forms of power can be either good or bad, depending on how the power is used. Power can come from fear, wealth, or leadership and trust.
In a life where one must rebel to stand up for what is right. In a world where there is only one government. In a game to kill or be killed. Who truly has the power? In the novel The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, power is shown in many parts of the book. Although the government is initially successful at controlling everyone’s lives in the Districts, as Katniss’ journey of survival progresses in the Hunger Games, her rebellious actions damage the Capitol’s power. This causes her to prove the Capitol that they do not own her, and she has self-power. Throughout the book, Suzanne Collins portrays that everyone has certain control. Collins uses the Districts, the rebellions, and the Capitol to get this message across to the readers.
Power is having the capability or qualification to do something or control something. The idea of power is often analyzed in the Truman Show and Animal farm. In the Truman Show, Peter Weir suggests that power can be bad and that people shouldn’t have power
Corruption is a fraudulent behaviour that occurs excessively in the world of Suzanne Colin's novel, "The Hunger Games". Furthermore, this form of activity takes place most often in the Capitol. It's difficult to say if the capitol is corrupted or not, however many believe that the capital is doing what they must to survive. Citizens of the capitol do radiate a form of corruption over power. The capitol is undeniably corrupt and advantageous. Three meaningful reasons that corroborate to the contention are: The totalitarian government of Panem is noticeably corrupted because of the drastic differences in the treatment of its citizens. Secondly, the capitol forces voyeurism to symbolise authority and power, to grasp obedience from the districts. Thirdly, the future of the districts will be non-existent if the Capitol continues to make them pay sacrificial benefits with their respective citizens. These reasons noticeably state one of Suzanne Collins most prioritised morals. Too much power leads to corruption.
The works I have studied and will be exploring in this essay are Mary Shelly’s ‘Frankenstein’ and Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’. In ‘Frankenstein’ the abuse of power is most clearly exhibited by the protagonist of the story Frankenstein himself, his abuse of power results in his isolation and could serve as a warning to people, telling them not to play with forces that they can not control. In ‘Heart of Darkness’, Conrad abuses his power as the author to distance himself from the novella and in a sense absolve himself from any racist criticism the book may induce. The abuse of power is also a key theme in the novella itself. Firstly there is a sense of hypocrisy in
Society as a whole is drawn to dystopian media primarily because of the evident similarities between the government being portrayed in the media, and the government that society has to live under. A film that is constantly spoken about for its almost satirical comparison between America’s own government and the government presented in the film itself is The Hunger Games. The comparisons made show similarities between the civil unrest within communities under the oppressive government, and the acts of defiance that follow. In the film, by keeping disturbance prevalent within the separate districts, the leaders keep themselves safe from unrest being directed towards them. The government - in the film, the totalitarian government - is well aware of their actions, and justifies them by giving the districts the belief that “It was the price [they] had to pay” (Ross). In addition, districts are shown to have a deep-rooted hatred for each other as a result of the competitive nature of the Games; this enmity keeps them from fully seeing the tyranny of their leaders. This can be related to real life: in America, there is a consistent tension between several different racial groups or religious societies because of circumstances that the government or significant leaders, such as Donald Trump or Roy Moore, create for society. However, the film implies that members of the community are not completely blind to the government’s tactics, and because of this, small acts
Often time power can be understood as control of material resources and wealth, control of politics and the institutions that make up society (Hutchison,2015). It is important to recognize and identify the core concepts of power or lack of power with individuals in society. The conflict theory allows examination within the text of those who hold power and lack power. The end result of power to hold dominance over another person, group, or society. As a result of the control and power is causes those who lack power to be devalued or alienated from a setting or even society (Hutchinson, 2015).
Ideas of sociology play a big role in people’s everyday lives. Many Books and movies consists of the basic ideas of sociology. The film series, The Hunger Games is an example of such a representative movies. The base story of the series include a society, where people are given little to no rights. This story highly relates to the ideas of sociology since it is about a society, its culture and norms. Katniss Everdeen, is the female lead of the movie who rebels for her rights.
The Hunger Game film is an emotional series that resemble a severe caste system setting. The plot showcases a transformation of an unfortunate girl becoming a beacon of hope for the rebellion. By doing this, the movie revolves around three themes which are backed by theories and models in sociology which include opportunity, explained by the Status Theory, conflict, explained by Karl Max and Max Weber, and interaction, represented by the Dramaturgical Model.
Henry changes more throughout the book unlike Charlie. Henry tries to desert from the war, and Charlie stays and fights with everyone else in his regiment. It was hard for either of the men to take a soldiers life. Henry was a leader by the
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins illustrates a dystopian society where the government tries to apply a perfect society to maintain the power in all of Panem. The author shows an elaborate and horrifying description of a society not so unlike our own and provides a clear warning about the danger of governmental control. The government of Panem has a government which controls everything. The government shows totalitarianism, a post-apocalyptic setting, and the world ranks. These three main points are what shows how the The Hunger Games is a great example of a dystopian literature.
For thousands of years, governments have been oppressing their people. Although their reasons for doing so may have been different, the outcomes were all the same: a revolt of the people. There are many examples of this throughout history, such as in the French Revolution and the American Revolution. The Hunger Games, a tale of a dystopian society filled with maltreatment by “The Capitol,” displays the path to insurrection triggered by the mounting cases of misery brought on by their government, that was attacking lower classes of people. By using common themes of oppression and rebellion found throughout history, The Hunger Games is a striking example of how repression by government will eventually lead to a revolt of the people.
In our world today, the entitlement to power and rights are being abused and taken for granted. A recent example is the shooting in Las Vegas the shooter abused his power and rights of being able to carry a gun for mass destruction. He was just thinking of himself and not how it would affect others around him. In both of the books Les Misérables and The Kite Runner there is great emphasis on how some people feel they are entitled to more power and try to enforce and abuse it with no thought.