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 hunter-

gatherers, 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

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how the wicked tribe of Homo sapiens superseded the gentle tribe of the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 Homo-

sapiens, 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 self-

examination 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

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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 inter-

weaves 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 pre-

determined 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 Homo-

sapiens 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 Homo-

Sapiens 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.

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