Chapter II
Analyzing Power Relations in William Golding
Golding’s experimental novels differ from the main stream writings of
the nineteen fifties. His participation in the Normandy invasion and service in
the Royal Navy was an addition to his war experience which completely
changed his attitude to life. This aspect has been reflected in his pessimistic
novels characterized by motifs of darkness. His novels are often set in closed
communities such as islands, villages, monasteries, groups of huntergatherers, ships at sea where power and domination are associated.
Golding’s fictions generally concentrate on human beings’ moral and
philosophical problems and the manifestations of their predicament.
Golding's fiction scrutinizes man's innermost motives and feelings.
A
recurrent theme in William Golding’s fiction is that humans are savage at
heart and all pursuits of human beings nourish their evil and primitive nature.
He exposes through his works that evil and darkness lurk in human nature. To
Golding evil generates from the inside of humans rather than from outside.
Golding’s fiction, unlike most contemporary novels, is preoccupied with what
is inherent in man's nature. His works depict humans not only in relation to a
particular society but at humans in relation to the cosmic situation. The major
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topic of Lord of the Flies is the nature of human beings. All human beings
have a dark side that can cause their breakdown.
An important theme in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies is quest
for power. These power relations are everywhere in the island, and are shown
at different levels throughout the novel. Power relations are illustrated by
symbols. Concentrated on describing the desire for power, the novel reflects
Golding’s own experience during the Second World War.
With an
unsuccessful struggle against barbarism and war, the novel manifests the
ambiguity and fragility of civilization. It has also been said that it is an
allegory of World War II. The Inheritors, is concerned with the theme of
innocence and guilt exemplified in the modern and Neanderthal men. It also
treats the concepts of sin, evil nature, and inhuman behaviour, and it shows
how the wicked tribe of Homo sapiens superseded the gentle tribe of the
Neanderthal men. In order to emphasize the simplicity of their society and
people, Golding introduces the characters by such names as Fa, Lok and Ha.
When the new tribe of more advanced people Homo-sapiens discover the
Neanderthal whom they consider as devils and try to kill them. The
Neanderthals are too innocent to realize the crooked motives of Homosapiens, the new people. Finally, all of the Neanderthals are brutally killed
and the new people
inherit the earth. The irony is that the more advanced
the people are considered to be the most destructive and devilish. The
innocent Neanderthals are peaceful and the new aggressive people survive the
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earth by their violence over the
innocent people. According to Golding in
each cycle of human evolution, the evil nature of man becomes more and
more apparent.
The Spire follows the building of a huge spire onto a medieval
cathedral; the church and the spire itself act as potent symbols both of the
dean's highest spiritual aspirations and of his worldly vanities. Pincher Martin
recalls the last moments of a sailor thrown into the north Atlantic ocean after
his ship is attacked. Pincher Martin focuses on an individual. It describes the
problematic life of a naval officer who is a castaway on an island and struggles
for survival, again the symbolical motif of island appears. In Pincher Martin,
Martin, refuses to die and chooses hell. In Free Fall, Sammy chooses evil
instead of good. His novels echo the complicated evil nature of human beings.
Golding highlights the flawed nature of mankind. Golding tries to fictionalize
darkness in his works which leads to human pain and guilt. Free Fall is selfexamination by an English painter, Samuel Mountjoy, from a German camp
during World War Second. The novel is an investigation by Samuel Mountjoy,
an English painter to find out how he lost his innocence and freedom and had
to live a tormented life. In order to inflict torture Dr Halde locked him in a
small store-room. Under the pressure of darkness, and isolation he recollects
his past life and his loss of freedom. He was very happy in his childhood but
when he was adopted by the local priest his life becomes tormented one. There
he attends his day school, where he was taught two opposing topics; science
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by Nick Shales and religion by Rowena Pringle. In the meantime he falls in
love with girl named Beatrice who is his classmate. Unfortunately she was not
able to satisfy his wild passion and Samuel Mountjoy marries another woman.
Some years later he comes to know that Beatrice has gone insane. Fall is the
recurrent theme in Golding, Martin in Pincher Martin, Sammy in Free Fall
and Jocelin in The Spire are different instances of the fallen man.
The Pyramid comprises of three separate stories linked by a common
setting and narrator. The Scorpion God is a volume of three novellas set in a
prehistoric African hunter-gatherer band , an ancient Egyptian court and the
court of a Roman emperor. Golding's later novels include Darkness Visible
(1979), The Paper Men (1984), and the comic-historical sea trilogy, Rites of
Passage (1980), Close Quarters (1987), Fire Down Below (1989) and Double
Tongue (1995).
In contrast with Golding's other novels, The Paper Men represents a
radical shift.
In this novel the characters, situations and events are not
mythical or allegorical. It is a sharp and direct attack on critics and criticism.
The novel is based on his experiences after the award of the Nobel Prize. The
novel focuses mainly on the academic world and its problems, issues and
interests.
The Spire depicts Man’s irresistible impulse for the will to power. The
Spire begins with the Dean, Joceline, the protagonist who is obsessed with the
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idea of constructing an immense spire on top of his cathedral which is a
symbol of his quest for power. The Scorpion God, set in ancient Egypt in
Pre-Pharaonic times, explores the quest for royal power.
The Inheritors
delineates how the Homo-sapiens outlast the Neanderthals through their
superior knowledge of violence.
As far as Golding’s novels are concerned, the main theme deals with the
problem of good and evil in human beings and with their sinful nature. The
moral perspective is perfectly constructed in his novels so that the reader
might find them original. The pessimism and disillusionment are symbolically
expressed by the motifs of evil and darkness are discernible the majority of
his novels. Many times, Golding uses symbols, presumably in order to make
his novels more attractive. His work, on the whole, is based on the symbolical
and allegorical meanings. He also discusses human existence, problems of the
civilization, and one’s own identity. His concept of evil is always projected
into human beings, but the humans usually consider it an external factor until
they comprehend the truth.
In the present, the study of power relations becomes very relevant and
challenging where people are governed by the quest for domination and
power. The frequent disputes among nations and encroachment upon other
nations’ territory are nothing but the quest to dominate others. Everywhere
the powerful use different strategies to dominate the powerless. There is no
power relation that is devoid of counter power or resistance.
William
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Goldings’ novels explore the subtle elements of power immanent in every
human being. He makes use of symbols to convey that the quest for power
and domination are innate in every human being whether he or she is in an
island, monastery or in a town.
The objective of the study is to explore the power relations that are
perceptible in William Golding. This is an attempt to examine primarily the
Foucauldean concept of power and how it is related in the fields of
knowledge, violence, war and religion.
The study is relevant in the
contemporary situation where many divisions and conflicts exist on the
basis of class, race, gender and economy.
His novels depict the innate
quest of human beings for power and domination.
Through his novels, William Golding deconstructs the opposition
between history and fiction.
It justifies that history is not a logical
representation of the past. There is no connection between the events. In
his novels, the distinction between history and fiction merge. There is no
perfect history, every historical fact is filtered thrice. Golding’s novels
justify that history is a construct where power plays a vital role. His works
present the subtle elements of power in all human relationships irrespective
of place, child or adult and priest or king. Majority of his characters are
restless due to the quest for power to dominate others. His novels namely
Lord of the Flies, The Spire and The Pyramid are symbols that represent
how power and domination exist in the various realms of society. Golding
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in his novels especially, Lord of the Flies and Inheritors, stresses the
relation between power and knowledge and how knowledge reproduces
power similar to the power’s reproduction of knowledge. Power is based on
knowledge and utilizes knowledge thereby reproducing knowledge by
shaping it in accordance with its anonymous intentions.
Resistance co-exists with power. Wherever power is exercised, there
has to be someone who resists. Foucault goes as far as to argue that where
there is no resistance it is not, in effect, a power relation. Resistance is the
hallmark of Golding’s novels. His novels prove that the urge for resistance is
endowed with all human beings. Lord of the Flies reveals that the quest for
resistance is innate, even the children are not exempted from resisting the
powerful. Throughout the novel, the major characters Ralph and Jack desire
to over power each other and other boys too. In the beginning of the novel,
when Ralph is elected as the leader of the group, Jack resists Ralph through
different ways.
Jack resists Ralph by questioning his commands and
disobeying him. When Ralph orders Jack to keep the fire lit so that they can
be rescued Jack does the opposite as he goes out hunting to Ralph’s
displeasure. Throughout the novel, Jack resists Ralph doing the opposite of
Ralph’s will. Ralph provides the boys fruits and vegetables but Jack gives
pork to his friends.
Ralph’s rules demand civilization and discipline among the boys but
Jack and his group indulge in savagery such as hunting, painting the faces
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and wild dancing. Jack’s ventures in the novel are aimed at resisting Ralph’s
domination. He is even ready to kill the boys, he kills Simon and Piggy only
to resist Ralph’s power and end his domination among the group. Even Piggy
resists Ralph’s domination in him by forcing his intellectual views on Ralph
and carrying it out. Consciously or unconsciously, Piggy feels that he is not
under the domination of Ralph but that Ralph is controlled by him. Thus,
throughout the novel, power and its resistance can be perceptible in myriad
forms which make the novel lively and vibrant.
The Spire portrays the resistance of the laity over the clergy. Jocelin,
the dean of Salisbury Cathedral forces Roger Mason to construct a spire in
order to glorify his name. As a lay man and a mason, Roger is subordinated
by the dean Jocelin who is the authority of the Cathedral. The Dean always
believes
that he is perfect and no one is able to challenge against his will,
such a predicament paves the way for resistance from the laity. Through
different strategies, Roger Mason resists Jocelin’s power. Though Jocelin
forces Roger to complete the construction of the spire, he disobeys Jocelin by
arguing that the foundations are not strong enough to support the spire.
Disobedience is an effective strategy by which Roger resists Jocelin’s power
and it is an effective tool to challenge the dominance of the other. He has
sound arguments to disobey the demand of the dean and asserts:
You’ll see how I shall thrust you upward by my will. It’s
God’s will in this business. The master builder had stopped
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smiling. He spoke angrily. If they had intended a spire they’d
have laid the foundations for it!. (1965:19)
Resistance takes place through different self destructive methods such as
suicide and alcoholism. Roger Mason’s suicide attempt is equal to the
destruction of his professional life. Jocelin needs him because he is a mason
and can construct the spire. His suicide attempt is a warning to Jocelin that he
cannot complete the construction of the spire. At the end of the novel, Roger
becomes a drunkard and that distorts his harmonious life.
It is either
knowingly or unknowingly that Roger resists Jocelin by drinking alcohol
which gives him a feeling of challenging the power of the dean. It releases
him from the clutches of Jocelin and provides a feeling of freedom. Thus,
suicide and alcoholism becomes an effective strategy of resistance in the
novel.
In The Pyramid, Evie Babbacombe, the Town crier's daughter, who is
ranked low in the social hierarchy, is very often sexually misused by higher
class men. They treat her as an object for their sexual gratification and in
such a predicament, she produces counter power to resist the domination of
higher class men. The novel states:
The misunderstood revelation occurs shortly after Evie has
told Oliver that she is not pregnant, "mimicked . . .
savagely" his "Thank God," and declared, "That's all you
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want, just my damned body, not me," to all of which Oliver
responds in a kind of parody of mutual involvement,
"wanting her to share" his delicious sense of "joy and
freedom". (1969:70)
Evie Babbacombe resists by exploring the hypocrisy of the higher class men.
When she says that she is pregnant, nobody is actually interested in her, later
she reveals to Oliver that her pregnancy was a lie, to measure the sincerity
and explore the hypocrisy of the men.
Power and religion are related to each other. The history of religion is
as old as human civilization existed in different forms. The main idea that led
to the formation of religion is human beings’ adherence to the powerful. The
primitive man started to worship and adores the phenomenon mightier than
him. Thus, power is the source of all types of religious formation and rituals
performed in order to appease the most powerful. Religion and rituals play a
major role in Golding’s novels. In Lord of the Flies rituals have a significant
meaning; Jack thinks that evil and destruction are live forces and attributes
them to the Beast, Devil, or God who are more powerful than man and can be
won over only by ritual, ceremony, and sacrifice. In Inheritors, the religion
of the New People is different and their rituals are cruel and violent as
illustrated in their sacrifice of the finger. The rituals and murders connected
with religious sacrifice are more intentional that please the terrible forces of
which they are afraid of.
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Foucault intends to show that the self is a construct and produced by
those techniques that shape it. Foucault's point is that the subject is a product
of discourse rather than being prior to discourse. The subject’s conscience or
self-knowledge is an imposed one, but the individual experiences it as what
he or she is. Adoption of the imposed construal is redefinition of one's
subjectivity. Discipline produces subjected and practiced bodies, Foucault
labels such bodies as docile bodies which can be very easily controlled.
The subject’s conscience or self-knowledge is an imposed one, but the
individual experiences it as what he or she is. Adoption of the imposed
construal is redefinition of one's subjectivity. Golding’s novel, Darkness
Visible underlines this notion of subject:
We’re wrapped in illusions, delusions, confusions about the
penetrability of partitions, we’re all mad and in solitary
confinement. We think we know. Know? That’s worse than
an atom bomb, and always was. (1980: 261)
Golding tries to show that the self is a construct and produced by those
techniques that shape it. He justifies the Foucauldean notion of subject that
is the subject is a product of discourse rather than being prior to discourse.
Discourse generates the subject rather than it manifests thinking, knowing and
speaking subject. In Darkness Visible the protagonist Matty has a split and
divided personality:
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Matty is split or divided. The doubleness and even greater
division and fragmentation that he experiences in front of
mirrors in Hanrahan’s house resembles a similar double or
mirror motif in The Four-Gated City when Martha and the
schizophrenic Lynda discuss difficulties of self-recognition in
mirror images. Matty has a “bicoloured” face, “split
personality,” and a “bicameral or double brain” and is caught
between madness and rationality, the material and the
spiritual. (1980: 49)
Through Matty’s split personality, Golding depicts the de-stabilizing social
developments in postmodern England and how it affects the individual. The
cultural pluralism has imposed several opposing cultural construct on Matty.
In such a predicament Matty gets confused and is mentally tortured. His self
is split because he is not able to fix his personality.
The protagonist in Free Fall Sammy Mounjoy, is captured by the
Germans during the World War Second. In his prison camp, he recalls his
past freedom and his failures in life. Sammy describes his life by exploring
his memories and tries to find his loss of innocence and freedom. He asks
“When did I lose my freedom?" (1961:5). He knows that somewhere,
sometime, he made a choice of freedom and lost his freedom. Afterwards he
defines this freedom. He tries to trace his personality through his
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surroundings and his society. Sammy presents his state of being in the very
first paragraph of the novel:
I have walked by stalks in the market- place where books,
dog-eared and faded from their purple, have burst with a
white hosanna. I have seen people crowned with a double
crown, holding in either hand the crook and flail, the power
and the glory- I have understood how the scar becomes a star,
I have felt the flake of fire fall, miraculous and Pentecostal.
My yesterdays walk with me. They keep step, they are grey
faces that peer over my shoulder. I live on paradise Hill, ten
minutes from the station, thirty seconds from the shops and
the local. Yet I am a burning amateur torn by the irrational
and incoherent, violently searching and self-condemned.
(1961:5)
This opening paragraph is a remarkable prelude to Sammy’s life. It depicts
the crucial problem of Sammy's condition. He has lived a peaceful childhood
in Rotten Row. He remembers his feckless mother, absence of father, his
adoption at the rectory and his two teachers. Sammy's Mounjoy wants to
seduce Beatrice and imagines he can convince her of his love. "Help me" he
cries. "I have gone mad. I want to be you" (1961:105). Beatrice is reluctant to
his demands. Exasperated by the girl's quiet indifference, Sammy seduces her
but he losses his freedom. Sammy has internalized the sexual guilt, there is no
80
judge other than himself. He faints at this discovery and admits later: "Yes it
is my entire fault" (1961: 246). In the course of the novel, the hero of Free
Fall arrives at an answer to the question of his loss of freedom. Having
gained insight into his earlier sins and their consequences, Sammy Mounjoy
turns his back on the past and looks forward to the future.
The protagonist Sammy Mounjoy’s guilt consciousness is formed out
of his Christian Religious backgrounds. The Christian theology negates the
basic needs of human beings and labels it as a mortal sin. It encourages
suppression of human basic drives and proclaims chastity as the greatest
virtue. The guilt consciousness torments Sammy’s personality. He loses his
mental equilibrium and peace of mind. He admits that he has lost his freedom
and later realizes that he lost his freedom when he had sex with Beatrice who
was his girl friend and classmate. The mere sexual act has induced guilt in
Sammy, this is due to the Christian moral background in which he was
brought up. Here, Sammy’s guilt consciousness is a construct due to the
strong clutches of his religious morality. His own identity has been
amalgamated with the imposed religious construct. In such a predicament,
Sammy cannot even discern which is imposed or constructed and his genuine
identity. When the imposed identity destroyed his genuine identity that then it
is moment that he loses his freedom. Sammy’s loss of identity paved the way
for the loss of his freedom but his metamorphosed mind cannot recognize the
fact due to his agony.
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The culture is even a construct and imposed one. Golding depicts the
situation in Darkness Visible. To him
the media has a vital role in the
production and distribution of culture. Paul Crawford states In Politics and
History in William Golding: The World Turned Upside Down:
Yet perhaps the most “destabilizing” postwar development
represented in Darkness Visible is the intense consumerism
and mass communications of television, radio, magazines,
and newspapers that, Robert Hewison maintains, “contributed
to the notion that Britain was undergoing perpetual and
perilous change, where former conceptions of authority and
social
value
were
being
challenged.”
Such
cultural
destabilization was influenced by U.S. mass media. (2002:
166)
Darkness Visible represents the cultural destabilization due to the intervention
of mass media. Traditional concepts and the authority has been challenged,
replaced and reproduced by mass media. Even culture of a nation can be seen
as a construct, alien and imposed one. In Darkness Visible Edwin insists on
writing a book and the act of writing a book is equal to producing or
constructing a truth:
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When Edwin insists on writing a book that gets to the
“‘truth’” about events surrounding Matty and the kidnap
attempt, while Sim scoffs at the possibility of achieving
“‘History’”: No one will ever know what happened. There’s
too much of it, too many people, a sprawling series of events
that break apart under their own weight. (1980: 258)
The duty of a historiographer or writer is to link the fragmented events as
inter connected events and stories. It is explicitly stated in the novel nobody
knows what actually happened but everything should be written from a
witnessed point of view. In fact “No one, not the headmaster nor the solicitor,
nor the judge ever knew the real story” (1980: 18). Historiographer interweaves fact and fiction so that no one can discern what fact is and what
fiction is.
In Lord of the Flies, Ralph’s deployment of rules and regulations
among the boys is to gain control over them, so as to make his administration
easier. Often he reminds the boys about the importance of being civilized and
disciplined. The main aim is to convert the boys as mechanical or practiced
docile bodies. In order to perpetuate his power over the boys, there is no
other method than transforming them as docile bodies. Docility avoids the
possibility for revolution and it can cultivate obedience without questioning
the authority. Howard S. Babb in The Novels of William Golding states:
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Stilbourne itself is the central power in The Pyramid,
influencing all its inhabitants after some fashion and often
shaping Oliver more thoroughly than he realizes. One
indication of its dominance over him is that Oliver frequently
returns to the town imagining himself somehow changed, yet
rapidly sinking back into the ways of Stilbourne again.
(1970:191)
Golding’s The Pyramid portrays how social hierarchy places individuals in a
particular position and transforms them as docile bodies. The typical English
town Stilbourne is divided on the basis of class and everything is predetermined here according to the class division.
Individuals cannot go
beyond the social status. In the novel, the protagonist Oliver’s life is confined
only to the expectation of his class for fun, friends and sex. His desires are
constantly determined by his social milieu. Even his thinking process is
conditioned by his class conscience.
As the norm of his society, he is
compelled to fulfill his sexual urge clandestinely with a woman from a lower
class.
The strong clutches of social hierarchy convert the individual’s
uniqueness to uniformity and mechanization. In the novel, Evie the lower
class woman works among higher class men and her position is fixed in the
society as a secret sexual object for higher class men.
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Foucault challenges the progressive view of history that interprets
history as a linear, uniform process that operates according to universal laws.
He criticizes the concept of truth that transcends history and argues that truth
is conditioned by human history.
He rejects the central ideas of the
Enlightenment, such as the concept of universal rationality, and belief in the
progress of human history. The ideas of the Enlightenment are built upon the
presuppositions that there is only one kind of rationality applicable to all
people and cultures and that human history is a linear process of progress
whose pattern of development was the same for all.
Golding proves through his novels that history does not operate in a
linear process and he rejects the belief in the progress of human history. The
Inheritors explores the notion of discontinuity in history and question the
modern assumption that humans are progressing, in a linear fashion, away
from primitive forms of violence. The novel delineates the survival of Homosapiens who are labeled as the new people by outlasting the peaceful
Neanderthals by violence and terror. To Golding, the notion of the progress
of human beings from savagery to civilization is a deceptive concept and
discontinuity or break is the hallmark of human historical processes. He
proves that the evolution of human history can be traced from civilization to
savagery. The extinction of Neanderthals symbolizes the destruction of
civilization and innocence. In Rites of Passage, history is not presented as
objective reality, but as a human construct. His works problamatize the
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historical knowledge and its authenticity. In his construction, the powerful
are placed in a dominant position and the powerless are ignored and re-writes
the past in the light of the present.
Space is fundamental in any exercise of power. The success of
disciplinary power derives from the hierarchical observation, normalizing
judgment and the examination. The superimposition of the power relations
assumes in the examination of all its visible brilliance. Examination is a
mechanism of objectification. In the novel The Spire the tower can be seen as
a panoptic structure from where the visibility becomes easier.
In the
administration of power, visibility is crucial and the spire is an architectural
space for observing the people without their consent. In this respect, William
Golding’s novels namely The Spire and The Pyramid are suggestive of the
power relations. Both of them are symbols of authority and domination.
While the Spire is the symbol of domination and panopticon, the Pyramid
symbolizes the hierarchical structure of power by which the society is divided
into the lower and the higher classes.
Golding’s novels depict the tension between the world of darkness and
the world of light. Golding's, Lord of the Flies presents a central theme of
conflict between the forces of light and darkness within the human soul.
These are the two realms where
people exist and behave differently. The
world of light consists of surveillance; everything is observed and evaluated
by the public. Due to the presence of surveillance people behave artificially
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and very often a person is labelled before the public according to his or her
performance in the world of light. The world of darkness lacks surveillance
hence the person is entirely free to behave genuinely. A person’s public
opinion is not formed out of his or her performance in the world of darkness.
The influence of these two worlds constructs two different identities in the
same person. Instances can be drawn from Goldings works viz., in Lord of the
Flies, sophisticated and civilized English children behave in a devilish
manner when they reach the world of darkness. Similarly, Dean Jocelin in
The Spire has two identities, in the presence of surveillance he stands for the
glorification of the Almighty but in darkness he strives for his own
glorification. The interaction of the two worlds torments the identity of the
protagonist, Sammy Mounjoy in the Free Fall.
Through the short story Miss Pulkinhorn, Golding depicts the
panoptic surveillance. Sir Edward the narrator (knight) observes Miss
Pulkinhorn mysteriously who works for the cathedral and a tramp who comes
regularly to the chapel of the sacrament. The tramp comes punctually at half
past six in the evening, and worships the sacrament with the gesture of
Abraham depicted in the painted glass.
His very action is observed by
Edward through a mirror. Sir Edward supervises the tramp from the place
without being seen. Through the same mirror, he observes Miss Pulkinhorn’s
conduct too.
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The major effect of the panopticon is to induce in the inmate a state of
conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of
power. The surveillance is permanent in its effects even if it is discontinuous
in its actions. “Visibility is a trap” (1977: 200). In the contemporary times
public or institutional space is arranged in the principle of visibility. The
Foucauldean concept of visibility can be seen in Golding’s works. The novel
Darkness Visible is suggestive from its title which underlines the notion of
visibility. The novel suggests everything is visible, even darkness:
The figure was a child, drawing nearer. As they picked their
way past the new crater they saw him plain. He was naked
and the miles of light lit him variously…The brightness on
his left side was not an effect of light. The burn was even
more visible on the left side of his head. All his hair was gone
on that side, and on the other, shrive’led to peppercorn dots.
His face was so swollen he could only glimpse where he was
going through the merest of slits. (1980:4)
The protagonist Matty is observed through a panoptic surveillance. Every
part of his body is visible. He has been transformed into a mere object of
investigation and experimentation. Every movement of his body is
interpreted and analysed. The light as a surveillance is capable of
illuminating the minute fractions of his face and mind. The surveillance
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could disrupt his privacy and projects his naked body to the public. Visibility
is the soul of panoptic surveillance. Matty has nothing to hide from the
surveillance. He is never a subject but an object of knowledge and
investigation. There is no need for weapons, physical violence or material
constraints, a gaze is enough to regulate an individual. Each person exercises
this surveillance over and against himself.
The panoptic structure is one on which the modern society operates
such as in schools, hospitals, prisons, shopping malls and airports.
In
contemporary times buildings are constructed to promote maximum visibility.
It is about preventing people from doing wrong and indeed taking away their
very will to do wrong. There is no room for privacy in such a type of
architectural space and every space is entangled by surveillance. This type of
architectural space can be perceived in William Golding’s novels. In
Darkness Visible Mr Pedigree’s room is a typical panoptic tower which
enables him to observe others without their awareness:
Mr Pedigree could see the wall and the spikes from his top
room and it brought back memories from which he flinched.
The boys could see it too. From the landing and the great
window three storeys up outside Mr Pedigree’s room you
could look over the wall and see the blue dresses and white,
summery socks of the girls.(1980:9)
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Mr Pedigree is able to observe the wall and the spikes from his room which
functions as the panoptic tower. Even the boys could see the blue dresses and
white summery socks of the girls. Mr Pedigree’s room has a vital role in his
life, so that he can have power over others very easily and diplomatically. His
power is primarily based on his observation of others.
The power of the gaze can be seen in ancient folklore and mythology.
There are hints in classical mythology about the eye's mysterious and fatal
powers. In biblical mythology, the story of Lot's wife is a typical example for
the power of the gaze, the book of Genesis depicts the story:
It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said,
“Escape for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay
anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be
consumed!”…Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on
Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky. He
overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the
cities, and that which grew on the ground. But his wife looked
back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
( 19:17-26)
The biblical passage highlights the power behind the gaze. The power of the
gaze metamorphosed Lot's wife into a pillar of salt because she looks back at
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the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah against God's command. The power of the
gaze is perceptible in the observation of public manners which is underlined
by the injunction of not to stare at others. Staring at a woman by a man is
considered as an offence against her and it is a punishable crime. In the book
of the Numbers depicts the story of the serpent of brass. Many people of
Israel died due to fiery serpents’ bite and the people came to Moses and
begged him to rescue them from the serpents. As a result of his prayer, God
commanded to Moses “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard: and it
shall happen, that everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live”
(Numbers 21:8). Moses obeyed God’s command, he made a serpent of brass,
and it happened, “if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked to the
serpent of brass, he lived” (Numbers 21:9). Thus, the Bible justifies the
notion that gaze is not passive; it causes transformations in the observer
(subject) and object (observed). The operations of power are inseparable
from the dynamics of the gaze.
In Golding light or fire can be seen as the surveillance converting
something hidden as public and visible. In Darkness Visible the light is
presented as something illuminating the reality or obscure:
A little while later the reason for this flight in one direction
was evident. A light, and then two lights, were moving
steadily behind the nearer forest. It showed tree trunks,
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hanging leaves, moss, broken branches in silhouette, lighting
them and bringing them into a brief local visibility so that
sometimes they seemed like coals or wood in a fire, black at
first, then burning, then consumed as the twin sidelights
wound onward through the forest to the marsh, each light
bringing with it a dancing cloud of flying things, papery and
whitish. (1980:39)
Light is associated with visibility. Anything that is hidden or obscure is made
clear by the presence of light. In the novel light moves into the forest and
illuminates the minute objects such as tree trunks, hanging leaves, moss,
broken branches. The light brings everything into visibility. Golding
highlights through the novels that invisibility is nothing but the absence of
light.
In Golding even the inanimate objects become the vehicles of power.
In his poem The Sea the protagonist is influenced by the ferocious power of
the sea:
Out of the looming sea with dusk,
And the waves would let me sleep.
The sea is roaring in my blood,
Crooning a wild tune.
I can no more say “nay” to her
Than the tide to the master-moon.(1934:24)
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The power that the sea holds over the speaker is very suggestive. The sea is
not a passive intruder but it possesses its own power. The sea is able to draw
the speaker’s heart to it. It has become part of the speaker. He says: ‘The sea
is roaring in my blood’; the sea is ‘crooning a wild tune’. The power of the
sea is very deep and even the speaker is pulled towards the water.
The pastor is not a magistrate, nor prophet, nor educationalist, nor
sovereign, nor benefactor, even though the influence he holds over the
followers contains elements of all of these leadership roles. This is because
the pastor’s role is that of a guardian, a spiritual overseer. The shepherd
needs to watch over his/her flock with scrupulous attention, to ensure their
protection. Pastorship is hence, a salvation-based form of power; more than
this, it is a kind of power, one predicated on the provision of love. The
shepherd is an intermediary of a greater power or knowledge – typically that
of God – a kind of unquestionable authority comes to characterize his
leadership.
Through the character Jocelin Golding portrays the traits of
pastorate power. In spite of Jocelin’s irrationality, his irresistible impulse for
the construction of the spire is justified only because he is a pastor. He is well
aware about the pastor’s power that is unquestionable.
One of the most important devices in the deployment of power is
institutionalized confession. In confession, individuals objectify their desires,
pleasures, and fears. Confession establishes specific subject-defining power
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relations. Confession unfolds within a power relationship, for one does not
confess without a partner who is not simply the interlocutor but the authority
that insists on the confession.
Like the Panopticon, the confession has
become an essential technique in the functioning of bio-power. In the Lord of
the Flies, the confession model is presented in the beginning. Piggy, who is
physically of a frail character, confesses to Ralph who is physically sound and
handsome. He confesses about his family, origin of his name and all other
secrets but Ralph never confesses before Piggy. Piggy’s confession gives
Ralph a privilege and control over Piggy. The Spire is a typical example for
confession where Jocelin the dean of the cathedral very often compels his
flock for confession. Thus, the novel states:
Confess, my son. I told you the building was a miracle and you
would not believe me. Now
your eyes have seen.
Seen what?
A miracle. You’ve seen the foundations; or, rather, the lack of
them.
There was contempt and amusement in the master builder’s laugh.
The foundations are there. They are just about enough for a building of
this weight. (1965:18)
Joceline thinks confession to be an effective strategy to dominate an
individual. Throughout the novel, the importance of confession is suggested.
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Even Jocelin warns Roger Mason by stating that “I am your….confessor”
(1965: 17)
In Rites of Passage, Edmund Talbot narrates his experience on the way
to Australia to his godfather by writing a series of letters. Talbot’s letters to
his godfather is equal to his confession to his godfather who is about to offer
him a job.
Through a series of letters, Talbot expresses not only his
observation of the outside world but also his inner self before his godfather.
Without any concealment, Talbot unravels his private affairs such as his
sexual encounters with women and his innermost secrets to his godfather.
Confession is always before a superior. In this respect, Rites of Passage is a
typical instance of confession before an authority.
Foucault criticizes traditional models, power is not about simply
negating and oppressing individuals, social classes or natural instincts, instead
power is productive. His main aim was to turn a negative conception upside
down and attribute the production of concepts, ideas, and the structures of
institutions to the circulation and exercise of power in its modern forms.
Foucault sees the effects of power as a producer of reality. It produces
domains of truth. In his novels, Golding appreciates the creative part of power
and justifies the Foucauldean concept that power is creative and productive.
Lord of the Files is a typical example; the deserted children in the island
become very creative and energetic because of their quest for power.
Otherwise they would have become indifferent and passive. The quest for
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power makes Ralph the leader of the group and further he establishes the rules
and regulations for the boys. Even an uninhabited island is vibrant with
discipline and discourse. Even the useless conch is affirmed meaning and
value due to the creative nature of power. The boys in Jack’s group are busy
with making weapons and they go about their usual adventurous activities
such as hunting and tribal dance. In an uninhabited island, the boys become
courageous and creative because of the quest for power.
In The Spire, Jocelin dean of the cathedral begins the construction of a
huge spire against the advice of his colleagues because of his irresistible
impulse for power. Even though he is physically weak and suffering from
diseases, his quest for power makes him active and energetic and the spire is
nothing but his intense desire for power. Through major characters, Golding
proves the connection between sex and power. Since power is creative and
active, the powerful find act of sex as an effective means of its expression. In
The Spire Jocelin finds sexual gratification in Goody, in The Pyramid Oliver
seduces Evie and Bounce with Henry. Thus, the powerful often administer
their power through act of sex.
Foucault stresses the circulatory nature of power. Power should be
analysed as something which circulates, or rather as something which only
functions in the form of a chain. It is never localized here or there, never in
anybody’s hands, never appropriated as a commodity or piece of wealth.
Power is employed and exercised through a net-like organization. Individuals
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not only circulate between its threads but they are always in the position of
undergoing and exercising this power. In other words, individuals are the
vehicles of power, not its points of application.
Golding explores through his novels that power is not static but it is
circulatory. In his novels power is not attributed to a particular group or
person forever. Moreover, power is temporary and no one is a final word
when it is concerned with power.
Lord of the Flies makes this point
transparent. There is no center point where power is situated but it circulates
from person to person. Ralph is elected as the formal leader of the group and
in order to keep his power stable, he always holds the conch but nothing can
challenge the innate nature of power.
In a particular circumstance the
powerless Jack becomes powerful. On certain occasions, physically disabled
Piggy becomes more powerful than Ralph. At the end of the novel, the navy
officer’s presence neutralizes all of the children’s power. Ralph admits this
point clearly: “This is our island. It’s a good island. Until the grownups come
to fetch us we’ll have fun” (1958:27).
In The Spire, power is not associated with a single person or group, it
circulates from person to person. In the beginning of the novel, the power is
associated with the central character Jocelin. When he realizes that his aunt
Lady Alison is the person behind his present position as Dean of Cathedral, he
loses his power and glory. This realization explores the fact of Lady Alison’s
power over Dean Jocelin and the power shifts from Jocelin to Lady Alison.
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Similarly, Jocelin forces Roger Mason to continue the construction of the
spire by ignoring his advice that its foundations are weak and not able to
support the spire. Throughout the novel, Jocelin imposes his will on Roger
Mason but at the end, Jocelin is rejected because of his illusion and he loses
his clutche over Roger. Thus, power shifts from Dean Jocelin to Roger Mason
who is appreciated for his rationality. At the end of the novel, the powerful
character Dean Jocelin becomes degraded to the rest of the other characters in
the novel and becomes the least powerful.
All the human sciences (psychology, sociology, economics, linguistics,
even medicine) define human beings and work together with such institutions
as mental hospitals, prisons, factories, schools, and law courts to have specific
and serious effect on people. The first half of the twentieth century was the
time of psychiatry, which divided human beings as normal and abnormal
based on their emotional disturbances. Golding refers to this psychological
advancement in Lord of the Flies through Piggy, who justifies the fears and
tensions from the psychological background.
Piggy’s glasses are another important vehicle of power and he is the
only one with glasses in the group. Ralph comes up with the idea that Piggy’s
specs can be used as a lens to make fire. Without Piggy’s specs, it is
impossible to make fire. Therefore, Piggy is considered the lord of the fire in
the island. “The fire is the most important thing on the island” (1958: 69). In
the beginning of the novel Ralph is powerful due to Piggy’s presence in his
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group. Thereafter, Ralph becomes powerless and Jack becomes powerful.
Acquiring Piggy’s specs, Jack has been endowed with the power to create
fire, which situates him in a dominant position among the boys. He
establishes fire as the group’s first priority so as to enable a passing ship to
see the smoke signal and rescue them. In Darkness Visible, the main character
Matty is born from the fire and he regards it as the spiritual and creative light.
Thus, throughout Golding’s novels fire stands for power, knowledge and
superiority.
Power is not an institution, a structure, or a certain force with which
certain people are endowed; it is the name given to a complex strategic
relation in a given society. The powerful administer the power not directly
but through effective strategies that can prevent revolutions. An important
theme in William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies is power relations among
the boys. The quest for power is perceptible in all the boys in the group but
what makes the difference is the strategy by which they subordinate the other.
The two main strategies are the democratic method used by Ralph and the
dictatorial one employed by Jack. A major challenge to Ralph’s leadership is
Jack, who also intends to be the leader. To achieve power, Jack uses different
strategies. In order to persuade other boys away from Ralph’s influence, Jack
appreciates their natural inclination towards the adventurous hunting
activities. The boys who join his group immerse themselves in savagery such
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as putting on camouflaging faces painting, hunting, and performing ritualistic
tribal dances.
Most of Golding’s works explore that fear persists in human beings.
In Lord of the Flies, the boys on the island first encounter fear due to the
absence of the adults and their counsel. Golding believes that fear is
instinctive and active in humans from the very beginnings of their lives. Due
to this fear, man is pathetic and savage in his very core of existence.
Throughout the novel, there is a struggle for power between two groups. This
struggle explores humans’ fear of losing their control.
In The Inheritors Golding discusses the fear of monsters or aliens. The
Homo-sapiens consider the Neanderthals as devils and kill them. Golding
conveys that fear very often leads human beings to hasty and often illogical
decisions. In Pincher Martin the protagonist Christopher Martin is afraid of
the supreme power. The lieutenant in the Navy does not fear any monsters
and not afraid of losing his power. However he is unable to admit that a
controlling power greater than himself exists. In Golding’s works, islands
symbolize human beings isolation in a frightening and mysterious world.
Man becomes more savage because of his cowardice and his craze for power.
In Lord of the Flies, fear is used as an effective strategy to administer
power. All the boys were frightened due to the presence of the beast in the
island. They are scared of something that does not even exist. Jack converts
this fright into a creature which the boys call it the beast. The boys are afraid,
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and Jack uses this fear to grip on to the dictatorial power system and make it
stronger. Fear is the source of Jack’s power and his strategy bears fruit. Sam
and Eric decide to join Jack’s tribe. Jack exploits the fear of the boys and
forms a group. In such a panic situation, Jack forms his group and the boys
who join his group are promised protection. Thus, Jack tries to establish the
presence of the beast in the island:
“I’ve called an assembly,” said Jack, “because of a lot of things.
First, you know now, we’ve seen the beast. We crawled up. We
were only a few feet away. The beast sat up and looked at us. I
don’t know what it does. We don’t even know what it is—”
“The beast comes out of the sea—”
“Out of the dark—”
“Trees—”
“Quiet!” shouted Jack. “You, listen. The beast is sitting up
there,
whatever it is—”.(1958:111-112)
Thus, fear is another factor which helps jack to administrate his power over
other boys. Because of fear the boys mistake the dead body of an airman for
the beast they fear. Jack establishes the presence of the mysterious animal in
the island in order to perpetuate fear and tension among the boys. Darkness
Visible depicts: “The fear is everywhere and mixed in with it is being sorry,
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grieving, but not me only being sorry but everything. This feeling is there
even when they are hidden from me.”(1980:49). Thus, fear is innate in human
beings.
The fire is the most important thing in the island. The fire has got very
important role in the novel. The signal of fire has to be lit at all times, so that
passing ships can pick up the boys from the island, thus it acts as a symbol of
freedom and hope. For Jack, fire is an effective strategy to subordinate other
boys. He makes use of fire to prepare food and for the war dance. When fire
is lit, the boys are safe from the attack of the wild animals and other
malevolent creatures. With the aid of fire, Jack provides other boys a place of
safety and a sense of being at home. Further, he uses the fire as a weapon too
and at the end of the novel the fire finally summons a ship to the island.
Very often God is associated with light and Satan with darkness. Good
and evil are represented by light and darkness respectively. Invisibility
represents darkness and is symbolised by Satan. God is omnipresent who sees
everything. Everything reveals before God. Thus, visibility or surveillance
equates with God. In this regard, surveillance situates God as the most
powerful. Darkness Visible underlines: “Satan may appear as an angel of
light so much more easily as a red or blue spirit with hats. They did come that
night, the fourth time it was in a row” (1980:50). God comes in the light and
Satan comes in the night. If obscurity is the sign of Satan clarity is God’s
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nature.
Eating is another strategy that Jack makes use of very effectively to
subordinate the boys. In the beginning, they eat only fruits because Ralph
cannot hunt. Jack’s tribe hunts and therefore they get meat, which can be
considered the island’s currency. The boys in Ralph’s group eat fruits and
other vegetables.
But Jack provides them pork instead of fruits and
vegetables; so the boys are persuaded to join his group. Lord of the Flies
depicts the situation:
“Who’s going to join my tribe?”
Ralph made a sudden movement that became a stumble. Some
of the boys turned toward him.
“I gave you food,” said Jack, “and my hunters will protect you
from the beast. Who will join my tribe?”
“I’m chief,” said Ralph, “because you chose me. And we were
going to keep the fire going. Now you run after food—”
“You ran yourself!” shouted Jack. “Look at that bone in your
hands!”.(1958: 134)
When Jack and his group meet to feast at the fire, they eat pork, which they
get as a result of the hunt. This is also why more and more boys join Jack’s
group to get meat, since the boys are bored with eating fruits and vegetables.
Here the pork not only functions as a food item but also it becomes the
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island’s currency, because it is hard to obtain and which demands hard work
and skill.
In The Spire, Dean Jocelin subordinates people through the effective
strategy of religion. His physical weakness does not allow him to depend on
physical force. For him, religious activities are apt for dominating the people.
The spire stands for Jocelin’s quest for domination but he always presents this
as God’s will. Thus he states: “My son. The building is a diagram of prayer;
and our spire will be a diagram of the highest prayer of all. God revealed it to
me in a vision, his unprofitable servant” (1965:61). He knows the fact that if
he constructs the spire in the name of God, nobody will challenge him. So he
makes use God’s will as an effective strategy for ascribing power. Thus he
believes: “You’ll see how I shall trust you upward by my will. It’s God’s will
in this business” (1965:40). Jocelin believes that he was “chosen” (1965:153)
by God to realize the vision and he considers his will to be God’s will.
The Spire can be seen as a phallic symbol which symbolizes authority
and power. His illicit affair with Goody Pangall justifies the correlation with
the phallus and power. In the beginning of the novel Jocelin states:
The model was like a man lying on his back. The nave was
his legs placed together, the transepts on either side were his
arms outspread. The choir was his body; and the Lady
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Chapel, where now the services would be held, was his head.
(1965:2)
The spire is nothing but the external expression of Jocelin’s repressed quest
for power and domination. The phallus is associated with creativity and
authenticity; in Jocelin’s predicament, he constructs a spire in order to
achieve power and fame.
The concepts of power and knowledge are related. Knowledge is
something fabricated by our will to get power.
The will to knowledge is
equal to will to power, the quest for knowledge is quest for power. In essence,
Foucault agrees with the adage that knowledge is power. Lord of the Flies
opens with Ralph meeting Piggy. Ralph realizes that in order to continue his
power, he needs Piggy’s support who stands for knowledge and discourse.
With the help of Piggy, Ralph tries to give a scientific answer to all the
problems they face in the island. He justifies the fear as psychological
phenomena. Jack doesn’t consider himself a chief until he steals Piggy’s
glasses which are the source of knowledge and intellectual reasoning. He
understands that mere physical force does not guarantee the power; it needs
the support of intellectual reasoning. It was Piggy’s decision to use the conch
to summon the others. Piggy is valued ultimately for his intelligence, despite
his lack of physical ability or social skills.
Piggy’s glasses serve two
purposes; one to make fire and the other to see. Sight is associated with
knowledge and discourse which is indispensable for the administration of
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power. By stealing the glasses, Jack has destroyed the knowledge system
which was the backbone of Ralph’s power. Thus, the loss of Piggy’s glasses
neutralizes Ralph’s power.
The Inheritors justifies the same point that Homo sapiens outlast
Neanderthals through superior knowledge of violence and terror. Even
though, Neanderthals are more civilized and peaceful than the Homo sapiens,
the latter has the knowledge to attack the former. They know how to make
fire and to make weapons to attack the other. They could survive only
through their knowledge for violence not due to their civilization or cultural
superiority.
Neanderthal men lack advanced verbal communication; they
have only pictures or images and simple dialogues and sounds. These pictures
do not represent thoughts; they are able to report their past and future events
and they are mere visualizations and not conceptualizations. The pictures are
never connected to each other and they stand as individual events.
Among the Neanderthals, the old woman Ma’s superiority is
designated by the fact that she carries the coals from which the fire is made.
Here too knowledge attributes superiority even to an old woman.
Fire
symbolizes knowledge and it suggests those who have the fire have the
knowledge too that generates power. In fact, the novel together with its title
negates the statement from the Bible: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall
inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). In this case, the opposite is true.
In
Golding’s world the meek cannot inherit the earth only the killers of the meek
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can inherit the earth. This is the reason for the overthrow of the primitive
Neanderthal and gentle people by the advanced and wicked Homo-sapiens.
Intelligence is considered the ability to deceive the other. Here, the
main idea behind the concept of intelligence depends on how far one is able to
conquer or destroy the other person. Intelligence is nothing but the capacity to
defeat or conquer the other. Thus, power becomes the core element in
intelligence. In Golding’s The Inheritors Neanderthalers are morally
developed than the Homo sapiens but the latter eventually destroy the former.
The Neanderthals are extremely simple and pious; they do not even kill
animals for food. But the new men are capable of conceptualizing and
deceiving the other people
they are endowed with possession and malice.
Homo sapiens are equipped with reason and art. They are selfish and
malicious; crime and superstition are common among them. Golding depicts
the Neanderthal age as the epoch of simplicity, love and communion with the
nature. The Neanderthals are incapable of understanding the crookedness of
the Homo sapiens. The new people inherited the earth due to the knowledge
of violence which is labelled as intelligence and reason; Neanderthals are
destroyed because they lack this knowledge of violence.
In the contemporary scenario too, the notion of intelligence is associated
with power or the capacity of one person or group to deceive the other
without their awareness.
The contemporary man uses a number of strategic
devices or methods to deceive and exploit his fellow beings. The basic
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principle behind this intelligence is the survival of oneself and destruction of
the other.
Foucault’s analysis of truth, discourse and the human subject is
focused on institutional settings such as the hospital, the asylum and the
prison.
His theories apply equally to other institutional and discursive
contexts, such as the media organization and the news room. Like the human
sciences and their practitioners, journalists profess to impart social truths,
which value the public interest. In the novel, Ralph finds a conch which
Piggy identifies as a valuable shell that can be blown as a trumpet. Piggy
urges Ralph to blow into the shell, using it to summon other survivors to the
beach. “We can use this to call the others. Have a meeting. They’ll come
when they hear us”(1958:10). The conch acts as a communication device and
it has a vital role in the selection of Ralph as a leader of the group. The
administration of power becomes more advanced through communication
devices. The conch fulfills the role of the media in the novel. Only the boy
holding the conch can speak at a time in the assembly. Thus, the conch stands
for order and civil discourse which makes the administration of power easier.
Piggy relies on the power of the conch. It represents a systematic order and
social convention that everyone should obey.
Jocelin in The Spire is
dedicated to complete the tower because he knows that it will act as a means
of communication and will proclaim the glory of Jocelin who is the Dean of
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the Cathedral. He is well aware about the spire and its relevance to spread
and maintain his domination.
The boys gain power through the hold of the conch. This rule is made
by Ralph, through Piggy and proves that the conch stands for law and order.
Everyone listens to the holder of the conch. But when the power shifts over
to Jack, the conch loses its influence and relevance. By shattering the conch,
Jack challenges the strategic power administered by Ralph. Jack asserts that
the conch has no power and here the circulatory nature of power thus,
becomes clear.
Ralph believes in self-discipline, the rules and regulations can convert
the boys into docile bodies. So that he can administer them easily. Ralph’s
authority lacks the threat possessed by the politicians, parents and school
teachers to enforce the rules and regulations.
Jack’s authority has a threat
that the boys are compelled to join and obey him. In order to subordinate
Ralph, Jack kills Piggy. With this, he destroys intellect and reason associated
with Ralph. By shattering the conch, he challenges the authority and tradition
that guarantee Ralph’s power.
Piggy represents the rational world. Piggy’s intellect benefits the
group only through Ralph; he acts as Ralph’s advisor. He cannot be the
leader himself because he lacks strategic qualities and has no rapport with the
other boys. Piggy also relies too heavily on the power of social convention.
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In Inheritors, too the circulatory nature of power is perceptible; in the
beginning of the novel, Neanderthal people were powerful but afterwards the
power is transformed to Homo-sapiens and they defeat the former.
In the beginning, when the boys reach an uninhabited island, Ralph is
very much delighted because there are no grown ups to control them. It
reveals Ralph’s quest for power and domination. Thus, Ralph states: “Aren’t
there any grownups at all? I don’t think so. The fair boy said this solemnly;
but then the delight of a realized ambition overcame him” (1958:1). The
novel concentrates on describing the desire for power. The power relations in
the novel reflect Golding’s own experience of the war. The quest for power is
not confined with Ralph and Jack but even the little boys feel elated when
they are powerful. Lord of the Flies depicts the situation:
He poked about with a bit of stick, that itself was wave-worn
and whitened and a vagrant, and tried to control the motions
of the scavengers. He made little runnels that the tide filled
and tried to crowd them with creatures. He became absorbed
beyond mere happiness as he felt himself exercising control
over living things. He talked to them, urging them, ordering
them. Driven back by the tide, his footprints became bays in
which they were trapped and gave him the illusion of
mastery. (1958: 51)
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When Henry walks along the beach, he discovers tiny creatures; he poked
them with a bit of stick and tried to control the motions of the scavengers. He
felt happiness when he exercised control over living things. He ordered them
and it gave him the illusion that he is powerful. It clearly shows that on
certain occasion everyone desires to be a leader.
Golding gives a more subtle treatment to the theme concerning
speech’s role in civilization. He repeatedly represents verbal communication
as the sole property of civilization while savagery is non-verbal or silent. The
conch plays a key role because it symbolizes not only the power to speak
during the assembly but also the power of speech, an ability that separates
humans from animals. Verbal communication is crucial to the development of
abstract thought. Civilization provides institutions where the individuals can
devote themselves to mental activities. With the loss of regulated discourse
Ralph’s humane influence on the boys comes to an end.
William Golding’s novels Lord of the Flies, The Spire and
Inheritors have been explored and reread in the light of Foucauldean
theoretical framework of power. The novels of Golding portray the subtle
elements of power that exist in human beings. He proves that the quest for
power is innate in all human beings whether he or she is in an island or
town. Golding argues that Power and religion are related to each other.
Fear is the main source which paved the way for the origin of religion. The
rituals and murders connected with religious sacrifice are more intentional,
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i.e. to please the terrible forces of which human beings are afraid of.
Through The Spire, Golding makes use of the strategic effect of religion to
dominate and subordinate the people with their consent.
The formation of docile bodies is very often stressed in Golding’s
novels. The observance of rules and regulations is not to civilize the people
but to convert them into bodies which can be managed and controlled easily.
In Lord of the Flies, Ralph, the leader of the boys stresses the importance of
discipline among the boys. This is to transform them into mechanical bodies
which aid his administration very effective over them. Social hierarchy also
plays a vital role in forming and perpetuating docile bodies. His works prove
that history is a construct. To Golding, the notion of the progress of human
beings from savagery to civilization is a deceptive concept. Discontinuity or
break is the hallmark of human historical processes. He proves that the
evolution of human history can be unfolded from civilization to savagery.
The panoptic surveillance is perceptible throughout his novels. His
works such as The Spire and Miss Pulkinhorn are appreciated for its panoptic
observation. Golding portrays the traits of pastorate power in The Spire
through the character dean Joceline substituting the pastor in the role of God.
Confession is also a method of subordination. To Golding, confession is
possible if there are inferior and superior beings. In his novels, Golding
appreciates the creative nature of power. Through his novels, Lord of the
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Files, The Spire and Inheritors, Golding states that power produces truth,
history, identity and even reality is not independent of power.
Golding explores that power is not static but it is circulatory. For him,
power is not attributed to a particular group or person, more over power is
temporary and no one is a final word when it is concerned with power. Lord
of the Flies, The Spire and Inheritors make this point transparent. One cannot
find a centre point where power is situated but it circulates from person to
person. Golding’s works justify the Foucauldean dictum that where there is
power there is resistance. Resistance is the hallmark of Golding’s novels.
His novels prove that the urge for resistance is inborn in all human beings.
Lord of the Flies reveals that the quest for resistance is innate, even the
children are not exempted from resisting the powerful. The emergence of
human sciences especially psychology has divided people into as normal and
abnormal.
The powerful administer the power not directly but through effective
strategies, Golding’s works justify this Foucauldean position. In Golding, the
strategies of power are numerous such as religion, fear, fire, democracy, etc.
Through these strategies, power can be administered very effectively with the
consent of the people. Golding also asserts the interdependence of power and
knowledge. Power produces knowledge and simultaneously knowledge is
perpetuated and supported by power. There is no knowledge that is devoid of
power. Golding’s focus is on this point through the character of Piggy in Lord
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of the Flies. Inheritors reassure the same idea through the survival of HomoSapiens by defeating Neanderthals only through the superior knowledge of
violence. Throughout his novels, Golding depicts the interdependence of
power and knowledge through the symbol of fire. Thus, in his novels fire
represent power, knowledge and superiority.
In order to perpetuate power and domination, a means of
communication is very necessary. In the formation of truth and knowledge,
the means of communication plays a vital role. With its aid the powerful
distribute their views as universal and accurate. Therefore, the constructions
of truth and knowledge, normal and abnormal, right and wrong are plotted
and distributed by the powerful who own the means of communication. The
all-pervasive nature of power is assured throughout Golding’s novels. Very
often his novels are set in islands, cathedrals, courts, forests, towns, etc. In
such different spaces, power relations are present and it is the motivating
force in all types of existence. The quest for domination exists irrespective of
time such as the pre-historic period or the twentieth century and space such as
the island or the cathedral. Priests or monks are not free from the quest to
dominate the other. In the same way, child or adult is equally fantasized to
administer power over others. Power and the quest for domination are the
basic factors immanent in William Golding’s world and by which the society
becomes vibrant and lively. Power is never a passive oppression but it always
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produces its own counter power. His works justify the Foucauldean positions
on power and domination.
The third chapter entitled “Critiquing Power Relations in Aravind
Adiga,” explores the Foucaldean concept of power in his works.
Post-
independent Indian scenario is the main concern in the writings of Aravind
Adiga. The economical inequality paved the way for the various prevalent
class systems. One of the recurrent themes in his writings is servitude an
attitude innate in every Indian citizen due to the colonial rule. The evils of
contemporary Indian society such as corruption, assassination, poverty,
corrupt media, and emergence of real estate mafia and deterioration of
human values are highlighted in his works.