Power Achievement from Violence

1717 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: speech sounds by octavia butler analysis

The world is full of violence. No matter how much one tries the world would never be rid of war, abuse, killing and poverty. Mahatma Ghandi simply states “[i]t is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of nonviolence to cover impotence” (brainyquotes). In science fiction, violence is not only associated with the masculine traits that are presented in the genre but it also is one of the only means of asserting dominance over another. In Joe Haldeman’s Forever Peace and short stories such as Ursula Le Guin’s “The New Atlantis” and Octavia Butler’s “Speech Sounds”, these works illustrate that in order to achieve power and progression within this world is to assert it through acts of violence. Haldeman, Le Guin and Butler depict that through the use of violence it exemplifies man’s innate and primal instinct for it. They depict works in which described that through violence the powerful can assert superiority over the oppressed. Is also through violence that also allows humanity to progress, adapt and allows them to rise up against their oppressors as well. It is the power to fully understand and learn from these mistakes. It seems that perhaps humanity is addicted to violence in one way or another to gain something but the most obvious distinction is that primal feeling to act on it, humanity questions the consequences of these actions as well.
It is clear that humanity is drawn to fighting even if it was without a reasonable cause. It seems to define what human nature is. To throw the first punch allows for our primary instinct to defend ourselves. For example, in the beginning of Butler’s short story, “Speech Sounds”, the narrator named Valerie Rye describes the scene that begins the ...

... middle of paper ...

...d yet it proves that mankind still hopes for change. Even if it means through violence, destruction can possibly bring about stability and hope for the future. Perhaps Ghandi is right. Humanity must understand the violence that is in our hearts rather than be ignorant of the truth.

Works Cited

Butler, Octavia. “Speech Sounds.” The Norton Book of Science Fiction. Ed. Ursula Le Guin & Brian Attebery. New York: Norton & Company inc, 1993. 513-524. Print.
Brainy Quotes. 24 Nov, 2013. 2013. Web.
Haldeman, Joe. Forever Peace. New York : Ace book , 1997. Print.
Le Guin, Ursula. “The New Atlantis.” The Norton Book of Science Fiction. Ed. Ursula Le Guin & Brian Attebery. New York: Norton & Company inc, 1993. 317-336. Print.
Suranyi, Clarissa. ENGLISH 2071F: Speculative Fiction: Science Fiction Notes. London, ON: University of Western. Nov. 2013. Lecture Notes.

Show More
Related

  • A Comparison Of Dr. Strangelove And Slaughterhouse-Five

    1055 Words  | 3 Pages

    War is seen as a universal concept that often causes discomfort and conflict in relation to civilians. As they are a worrying universal event that has occurred for many decades now, they posed questions to society about human's nature and civilization. Questions such as is humanity sane or insane? and do humans have an obsession with destruction vs creation. These questions are posed from the two anti-war texts; Dr Strangelove by Stanley Kubrick and Slaughterhouse Five written by Kurt Vonnegut.

    Read More

  • Parable In Praise Of Violence By Tony Barnstone Summary

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    Believers of the Old and New Testaments claim that violence is a sin and can only lead to more brutality and death; poet Tony Barnstone firmly agrees. In his poem “Parable in Praise of Violence” Barnstone lambastes the American obsession with violence-- that it is often triggered by inevitable events which could be handled in different manners. The speaker in “Parable in Praise of Violence” reflects on all parts of his “sinful” culture and comes to the realization that people often use violence as a way to deal with emotions of grief and anger caused by events and concepts they cannot explain.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Is American Nonviolence Possible

    705 Words  | 2 Pages

    ¬¬¬Though most American people claim to seek peace, the United States remains entwined with both love and hate for violence. Regardless of background or personal beliefs, the vast majority of Americans enjoy at least one activity that promotes violence whether it be professional fighting or simply playing gory video games. Everything is all well and good until this obsession with violence causes increased frequency of real world crimes. In the article, “Is American Nonviolence Possible” Todd May proposes a less standard, more ethical, fix to the problem at hand. The majority of the arguments brought up make an appeal to the pathos of the reader with a very philosophical overall tone.

    Read More

  • Behold, The Molly Maguires Mystified

    3079 Words  | 7 Pages

    [1] Since the dawning of the industrial revolution, producing the stratification of socioeconomic status into a competitive class hierarchy never before seen, conflict theorists have appeared to define the unjust. From William Blake’s poetry to Karl Marx’ manifestos, from Bethlehem steel strikes to the current Labor Party, from Fidel Castro to the Mexican Zapatista movement, from Lenin to Mao Tse Tung, from the Molly Maguires to Jimmy Hoffa, the desire to upgrade the conditions of the working class have had a continual role in justifying violence, providing an equilibrium to keep capital interests in check, motivated whole countries to gain newly instituted political leaders and formats of rule, even in offering some form of purpose for, identity with, and release of violent rage inside the tribal nature of humans in a world of disintegrating, or disintegrated, tribes. The question of the new millennium might very well be whether or not humans can live without enemies. In a country, if not a world, with creature comforts easily secured, labor issues becoming obsolete, where will modern man direct his barbaric energy?

    Read More

  • Militant Pacifism In Calkin's The Moral Equivalent Of War

    735 Words  | 2 Pages

    For the great lesson which history imprints on the mind…is the tragic certainty that all wars gain their ultimate ends, whether great or petty, by the violation of personality, by the destruction of homes, by the paralysis of art and industry and letters…even wars entered on from high motives must rouse greed, cupidity, and blind hatred; that even in defensive warfare a people can defend its rights only by inflicting new wrongs; and that chivalrous no less than self-seeking war entails relentless destruction.

    Read More

  • Violence as a Catalyst for Change: A Study on 'The Outsiders'

    815 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton proves the point that violence can be justified if necessary. To inflict change in their lives people often fight with violence instead of peace to evoke change. The world strives for change everyday whether or not you like it. How the people create a change in society whether they use peace or war, it is up to them to decide how to modify our ever changing world. Violence and fight between the Socs and Greasers tells us that both can be justified if it inflicts positive change in society. ‘

    Read More

  • The Sixties, by Terry H. Anderson

    1617 Words  | 4 Pages

    There are several significant, as well as less significant, themes that are put forth by the author. Some themes that are not as meticulously elaborated on, but still contribute to the book, include the idea that war can corrupt the government and it’s actions, police brutality was part of the norm of the 1960s, and the word “power” had more than one meaning during the civil rights era. All these themes are important to take into consideration upon reading this book; however th...

    Read More

  • Respect and Status in Violence

    1313 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kevin Powers and Geoffrey Canada both describe violence and its effects on people in their novels. They assert that violence profoundly changes a person; however, they differ on the merits of these changes. Canada concludes that violence teaches people and helps them grow, while Powers concludes that it dehumanizes and scars them. The two authors also disagree on the necessity of violence. Specifically, Canada argues that violence is necessary and is used to gain distinction and status, while Powers argues that violence is unnecessary and causes people to lose their singularity and identity. Even further, Canada believes violence protects the boys and their lives, while Powers believes violence kills the young soldiers. From their personal experiences, Canada claims boys in the South Bronx need to be violent to gain respect and to survive, while Powers claims the violence of war is a waste of young men’s lives as they lose respect and even their lives.

    Read More

  • A Brief Look at the Thoughts of Frantz Fanon

    1213 Words  | 3 Pages

    The role of violence in the fight against injustice is a tricky one. If an oppressor is willing to use violence to maintain control should not the oppressed use violence to achieve liberation? Franz Fanon would argue that the pent up anger and frustration must be released in violent action to tear down the oppressor’s regime. However, there is a better way and that is through non-violence and understanding that Martin Luther King, Jr. champions. Only through creating tension around injustice via non-violent direct action can the conversation begin around mutual understanding and justice. It is this justice achieved through non-violent means that will last as violent action is ultimately unjust in nature.

    Read More

  • How the 1961 US Freedom Rides Inspired Aboriginal Activism and Protest in Australia

    1214 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...able to showcase the great power that nonviolence could have on the world and how by using methods such as that one would be more successful than if one used violence. As Mahatma Gandhi once said “Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.”

    Read More

  • The Portrayal of the Nazi Party as the Company in The Lottery in Babylon

    1361 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Road to Science Fiction. Clarkston, GA: White Wolf Pub., 1998. 502-07. Print. The.

    Read More

  • Human Objectionality In William Golding's Lord Of The Flies?

    3256 Words  | 7 Pages

    Over the course of history, violence amongst men has shaped the world in which we live through wars, political protests, or social conflicts. Sadly, enough, this is a factor of human nature which resides in all individuals and cannot be controlled or avoided. Not only have these events of man’s inhumanity been documented, but they have also become the underlying theme for many well known works of literature. Both Golding and Wiesel shed light on the immorality of mankind’s actions by putting it under close scrutiny, leaving the reader left to wonder how human beings are capable of so callously hurting and killing one another.

    Read More

  • psychoanalysis of frankenstein

    1073 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Best Science Fiction of the Twentieth Century. Ed. Orson Scott Card. New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 2001. 212-217.

    Read More

  • Violence and Freedom- Exploring the Use of Violence to Liberate the Oppressed

    2156 Words  | 5 Pages

    The role of violence in the liberation of peoples from systems of domination is necessarily entwined to the concept of freedom. Herbert Marcuse and Frantz Fanon argue that violence, in various forms, is the only reasonable rebuttal to the abhorrent system of subjugation, whether it is in shape of something as transparent as apartheid to thinly veiled laws that take away the rights of humans under the capitalist system. To even understand the relationship between freedom and violence it has to be established what it is even meant by the phrase “violence” while simultaneously attempting to understand what means are necessary to achieve this end. Furthermore, what does it mean to be “violent” and is it always acceptable to use violence as a device to achieve a certain objective, even if that goal is something as vital as human emancipation? Conversely, the argument against the use of violence, in all its forms, to achieve freedom needs to be explored. The contrary argument that will be explored is from various texts of Martin Luther King Jr. and while our fundamental argument is opposed to King’s his views must still be taken into account if, for nothing else, to add structure to the argument at hand. It must be remembered that while the role of violence and freedom are necessarily bonded to one another this does not mean that violence is the only means to achieve freedom but that violence is the “best” way to achieve the ultimate goal of freedom.

    Read More

  • The Lost City Atlantis

    1327 Words  | 3 Pages

    In 1882, Ignatius L. Donnelly published a book named “Atlantis: the Antediluvian World”. In this book, Donnelly tried to demonstrate his hypothesis that all known ancient civilizations were descended from a specific civilization, which was Atlantis. He observed that ancie...

    Read More

More about Power Achievement from Violence

Open Document