power and Water for Elephants

In Water for Elephants, power is survival. In the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, the ranking order of the circuis society -- performers or working men -- determines whether an individual will get paid or even if an individual will survive the night on the train. With the ranking order of the circuis society comes the power of each position. The ringmaster Uncle Al holds the most power with the Benzini Brothers and he exercises that power throughout the novel. He makes decisions that cost lives, for example by determining that the animals that compose the circuis itself are more important than the workers that make the machine function. He also makes decisions that determine the work, the actions that fill up the lives of the working men and the performers, ultimately controling the lives of everyone working on the circuis through his position of power. Uncle Al's suicide in the end of the novel when the Benzini Brothers collapses serves to give the sense of justice because he murdered countless men working on the circuis for the profit of the circuis because the animals took top priority. His death in the end of the novel sends the message that power leads to the death of humanity specifically because in the novel humanity is no better than a pack of beasts.

power and Killer Angels

In Killer Angels, power is portrayed as a burden because it forces the indivdual in power to make decisions that may cost lives. This situation is best demonstrated through Robert E. Lee's position as a general in the confederate's cause in the Civil War. Although this power is considered a burden by Lee, he is venerated for his efforts in the confederate's "Lost Cause" even though he may well have lost the war at the battle of Gettesyburg. His efforts in the war most noteably displayed a Southern honor that embodied the confederate livelihood. The book primarily focuses on the honor that power brings to an individual.

big question and East of Eden

East of Eden portrays power mainly through the character Cathy. She seeks and attains power by manipulating the mind, body, and soul of her victims. Through her domination of others Cathy is empowered and becomes successful despite her negatively connotated profession as a harlet. Her manipulation of others allows her to rise to the top of the economic spectrum, and ultimately to the powerful position she holds over others. Although Cathy attains everything she wants -- proof of the ills of society and of humanity, in the end she commits suicide. Through Cathy's suicide Steinbeck is commenting that although power may be attractive because it allows the individual freedom from others and their socially imposed comments, power ultimately results in the death of an individual's humanity and all that composes it -- compassion and genuine goodness.

big question and crime and punishment

The novel demonstrates, through the character Raskolnikov, that power is the capacity or capability to commit murder by surmounting human boundaries of emotion, mainly guilt and remorse. By extending past the boundaries of humanity and normaility you can truly be great and powerful. In other words power is attractive because it allows the individual to do or commit whatever they want without consequences -- whether they be personal or societal.