Most films about addiction are about people struggling to manage their lives perilously falling into a pit of despair. They replace their sense of responsibility with abhorrent behavior that is regarded as dangerous by loved ones – forcing the character to reflect and choose between their new reckless life or the life they used to know. In Shame, Brandon’s (Michael Fassbender) behavior has never evoked such a confrontation because he’s never led a conventional life, nor has he had intimacy with anyone, so he’s never ha wholesomeness to have threatened, causing him to confront his state. No, instead Steve McQueen’s film is about a man who inherently hates himself – but having lately felt absolutely empty – quietly needing love and desperately seeking reform for his sexual indiscretions. Brandon is a secretive man – bounded as such by the shame that haunts him – feeling volatile for the first time in his life.
The Power of Powerlessness This essay deals with power versus powerlessness in the short story, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is about a submissive man who is constantly dominated by the people around him, especially his wife, Mrs. Mitty. Mitty is a daydreamer and he uses his daydreams as an escape from his reality, creating fantasies where he is the person in power or the one admired. Mitty’s condition may be described as Attention Deficit Disorder, when he begins to daydream; he daydreams about everything he is lacking in real life, bravery, skill, confidence and superiority The word power refers to many different subjects, in this particular essay it will refer to having the ability to influence someone’s actions without resistance or influence the course of events. Powerlessness implies being without the ability to influence, ineffectual or helpless.
He even isolates himself from his wife, when she asks him "what is to be done" (3.1.44), he replies"be innocent of knowledge" and leaves her out of his plans. In both book parallels can be drawn between the plots. Both tyrants follow different paths but have the same basic goal. The tyrants are power hungry and will do anything to secure their power. The tyrants think of themselves as ultimate rulers and do anything they please.
His stare is completely lacking in lust and has the overarching power of observing, processing, and explaining everything around him. In this fictional world, where characters are wrapped up in their own thoughts and communicate very little with each other, Darl’s ability to look inside others’ hearts is perceived as a powerful threat. Each character treasures his or her secrets and hidden desires, and is troubled by, and resentful of this glance that seems to lay them all bare. Tull observes Darl in a very interesting way. Tull makes the remark that Darl has always been considered somewhat strange, and in Tull’s view what Darl says is not as strange as the manner in which Darl looks at a person.
Addiction to Chaos: The Monster that Lay Dormant Inside Chaos is a term used to describes situations that are erratic and lack order. This lack of order is something everyone to a certain degree has in common. All the people in the world have some form of chaos in their lives, but with authors like Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club) and Robert Louis Stevenson (The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde). A common motif that both of these books share is romanticism. By expressing a sense of rebellion against norms in society.
There may seem to be many motivations for villains throughout the times but as we study these scoundrels we find that generally they are motivated by pure jealousy, or a need of superiority. They utilize manipulation, both physically and mentally in order to achieve their goals and show a lack of remorse. Stephan King’s “Misery”, provides us with a very graphical depiction in Annie Wilkes a sadistic, mentally unstable retired nurse, who has a desire for power and control. Annie goes to tortuous extremes on her captive Paul Sheldon to realize this. Iago from Shakespeare’s play Othello is also a power hungry villain who enjoys having people under his control, he is driven by extreme jealousy and the motivation, revenge.
Indeed, Cesare's domination is so total that he is almost never shown moving of his own volition, free of the will of his master Caligari. Through a detailed analysis of Cesare's actions and through a comparison of these actions with those of the other figures in the film, the viewer also becomes aware of certain underlying tensions in the plot, especially those between Francis and Cesare and Jane. Where Francis is shown to be generally hesitant and ineffectual, and Jane to be poised yet emotionally malleable, Cesare presents a strong contrast to both: he is restrained, controlled, and dominated by his master, yet he retains a strong identity and at moments manages even to break through this control. Perhaps the most striking example of Cesare's restraint and eventual release occurs in the sequence showing his abduction of Jane and subsequent fall from the rooftops of Holstenwall. After Jane, her father and Francis are seen coming out of the cemetery after Alan's funeral, the sequence of Jane's abduction begins.
Yet the reality of it is that this man is a king of great power whom they will soon bow down to. Another example of how characters can be perceived throughout the novel is shown throughout the journey of the main protagonist, he was also perceived by his appearance as a small, witless, futile and incapable to carry the great burden before him. Yet as the novel heads towards its crucial climax, he completes the task that many people perceive as impossible for him and rose to be the only one capable of such a task. Another Internal representation of perception is a main character who is perceived as a vile and psycho creature. It is later on shown that the story of this creature is a sad one and he is not at all what he is perceived to be.
This is unusual in Lawrence’s stories. T the beginning of the story Lawrence writes, “And yet she was like a weapon against him, fierce with talons of iron, to push him out of the nest place he had made”. This suggests that Winifred is an aggressive and powerful character in the story. It suggests that she is indeed the dominant person in the relationship rather that Evelyn who at this point in the story looks weak and meagre compared to the influential Winifred. This is a very interesting start to the story for the reader as in the majority of Lawrence’s novels the male is the dominant figure from the outset.
We may go round our history books either lambasting or extolling powerful leaders, but we will always come to the conclusion that power does corrupt a man. The thirst for power is unbounded and the lamentable consequences often quash a man. Getting power is just the onset of melancholy, disaster, lugubriousness and sorrow. All the leaders throughout history were undoubtedly very strong and were feared but we often learn that they were sordid, uncouth, perpetrators, lascivious, perplexed and unscrupulous. They often committed a myriad of staggering sins and believed they were masters of perpetuity.