American Literature

This paper seeks to find instances of expression of power and authority in the 20th century literature and also interpret the same and adjudicate their true source, that is to say, from where do the power and authority stem from Is the power wielded through amassing of huge wealth or is it as a result of the superior political position one holds over another According to Weber, Power is the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will despite resistance, regardless of the basis on which this probability rests. The paper will examine the power exerted by the protagonists in the books The Great Gatsby and A Passage to India in the light of the above statement.

The Great Gatsby is the story of love and betrayal in which social status and wealth hold a lot of importance and is a source of power for not only the characters in the book, but also majority of the Americans during the period in which the book is set. Since money is not the only source of power, we also examine the book A Passage to India and find how the British Raj and the exploitative colonial regimes were detrimental to the development of India and gave the colonialists colossal amount of power and authority over the colonized.
Wealth and Violence as a source of power

In The Great Gatsby, the protagonist Jay Gatsby goes to inexplicable heights to amass great wealth and fortune so as to be able to win the love and affection of his lady love, Daisy, who had earlier turned him down because of his inferior economic and social status and went on to marry Tom Buchanan, a rich man who lacked every moral value known to the human generation. Gatsby made his dream come true but his means were not ethical, though his motives were. But in the process, he began to see himself as being so powerful so as to being capable of defying time and changing the course of it by winning Daisy back, which was not to happen.  As Nick says it The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of Goda phrase which, if it means anything, means just thatand he must be about His Fathers business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end (Fitzgerald, 105), it is bought out that Gatsby was a man of extraordinary determination, but then at the end of the day, he was still a mortal.

Similarly, in A Passage to India, the different in culture and ethnicity of British and the Indians are at play and undoubtedly, the British had greater power and control over the Indians and thus treated them with sheer contempt because they did not think them to be equal to them or rather they thought themselves to be superior to the Indians. One doesnt have to delve deeper into the text when at the outset itself its declared that English never intend or are not expected to be friends with Indians, because they are a superior lot. They come out intending to be gentlemen, and are told it will not do. And all Englishwomen are haughty and venal. (Forster, 8)

The fact that British were here to exploit India is more than clear when Ronny declares that I am out here to work, mind, to hold this wretched country by force. Im not a missionary or a Labor Member or a vague sentimental sympathetic literary man. Im just a servant of the Government its the profession you wanted me to choose myself, and thats that. Were not pleasant in India, and we dont intend to be pleasant. Weve something more important to do. (Forster, 40).

The ethical side of Power 
What about ethics and morality Can an expression of power be dispensed with ethically or is it justifiable on moral grounds Perhaps yes. Perhaps no.  In the Great Gatsby, Jays sole intention behind earning money and accumulating wealth was to win back his lady love. He intended no harm to anybody but if someone did get hurt in the process, he did not claim any responsibility for that. Ha gave lavish parties but was never indulged himself. Nicks description of his character bears a testimony to his ethical side He had one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced, or seemed to face, the whole external world for an instant and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself (Fitzgerald, 53). He exerted his power to prove himself more powerful than Tom Buchanan because he wanted Daisy back, but he had not counted on the viciousness of Daisy that in the end of it all, she may still, after all refuse to go with him. But then, Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgiastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but thats no mattertomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And then one fine morningso we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past (Fitzgerald, 193). He realizes in a rather tragic way that fate has a bigger hand in deciding the course of human life and his arrogance which he displayed in asserting his power to change the past, is foreshadowed by his own tragic end. Cant repeat the past he cried incredulously.Why of course you can  (Fitzgerald, 118)

But in A Passage to India, the English treatment of Indians was not at all ethical in any way. They misused the power they wielded in the most deleterious way, not to mention that the power they gained over the masses wasnt justified at all. They had come as traders and went on to control the political affairs of the country, giving sparse representation to the real citizens of the country. There is a sense of bigotry in whatever is done by the British in the country or for the country. They used violence and the policy of divide and rule to get the better of the country and when they indeed allowed its citizens some form of representation in the government, it was towards their own selfish interest. English suffered from intolerance towards Indians and the Indians suffered from the hypocrisy of former.

When Ronny figured out that Mahmoud Ali was boasting of his friendly disposition towards him, Ever since then Ive dropped on him in Court as hard as I could. Its taught me a lesson, and I hope him. (Forster, 20).  Mahmoud Ali succumbed to his own selfish interest in his seeking friendship and alliance with the British, but Azizs suspicion of British actions got better of his trust on Fielding and he ended up suspecting him of betrayal and thought that he had prevented Aziz from pressing charges on Adela so that he could marry her himself. Suspicion in the Oriental is a sort of malignant tumor, a mental malady, that makes him self-conscious and unfriendly suddenly he trusts and mistrusts at the same time in a way the Westerner cannot comprehend. It is his demon, as the Westerners is hypocrisy (Forster, 145) and amidst the unequal power relationship between both of them, its the Indians who were destined to lose and be exploited.

The paper examined the expression of power as expressed in literature and studies all the dimensions of it and the multiple ways in which it manifests itself. Though the concept of it today is far more different to what was then, but similarities can still be found in contemporary and the conservative era. The wealthy still exploits the poor and the powerful nations still invade the less powerful ones.