“I could hear the volcanic explosions; I could see the
sordid flood of wrath and hunger pouring through these halls; the cataracts of
misery bursting through every door and window, and sweeping this splendor into
never ending blackness and ruin.” (50)
This passage which comes up in the heart of chapter seven of
Caesar’s Column, describes a prediction of how civilization will soon fall as a
result of the oppression of the lower class. The novel’s protagonist, Gabriel
Weltstein, believes that the people will rise up and destroy the rich men and
civilization along with them, because the people have been victims of
civilization; they have been abused the rich men –the people in power; and they
have been put in a position where they have nothing to lose if they decide to
destroy everything.
This theme of the poor destroying civilization comes up many
times in the novel. A notable passage that captures this theme appears in
chapter eleven, “How the world came to be ruined”. In the passage, Max is tells
Gabriel that “As the domination of the ruling class increased, the capacity of
the ruling class to resist, within the limits of law and constitution
decreased.(76)” He claims that there was nowhere to turn because there was
“corruption in every avenue.” The poor man could do nothing to defend himself
against the rich and powerful, hence the Brotherhood of Destruction was formed.
The lower class no longer cares for justice or restoration
of civilization; they believe it is too late for that; there is no way to fix
the damage that has been done; no way to achieve equality in their world. In
chapter twenty, The Workingmen’s Meeting, Gabriel wishes to appeal to the
working men –trying to make them believe that if they decide to seek justice
rather than destruction, they will be able to create a perfect society –a
society where nobody starves or suffers injustices under the power of rich men.
However, one of the workers replies that the workingmen are not members of
society; they are its “victims”. He adds “[The rich men] depend on repression,
on force alone; on cruelty, on starvation, to hold us down until we work our
lives away. Our lives are all we have; –it may be all we will ever have.(130)” This
passage ties back to what I said earlier. How the workingmen have nothing to
lose, and they are victims of society.
This theme is crucial
to the story because it explains why the workingmen formed a Brotherhood of
Destruction rather than a Brotherhood of Justice. These men don’t seem to
believe that they can do anything to improve their lives; they simply want to
destroy the thing that is oppressing them, regardless of the fact that this
destruction won’t make things better.
Nice blog you have here going on Angel. I really like on how you focus on the theme of the poor being oppress to point where they just erupt to take matter on their own hands.“[The rich men] depend on repression, on force alone; on cruelty, on starvation, to hold us down until we work our lives away. Our lives are all we have; –it may be all we will ever have.(130)” This is a great quote from the book because you can easily connect this novel to the Destruction of Gotham on how no matter how much they work they are still in the slums. Another thing about this blog I enjoy is the use of visual to grab the reader attention and connect to the passage in a way that helps them illustrate what is going on. Could revenge also be another thing that could be discussed between the two books?
ReplyDeleteCLAPS TOO LOUD AND HARD IN YOUR EARDRUM*
ReplyDeleteyour blog is well instructed and detail.you state what you are talking about,compare and contrast your isuses you speak of in your topic with a violanco which does pull in a ideal that something destructive is going to happen,you give an ideal of feeling to the characters or groups you are talking about especially hearing in 4th paragraph how the lower class are victims to the rich and how the rich depend on there suffering for success. you back it up with facts from the book which improves and pushes the topic of what you are speaking on .and also we get pictures to maybe sort of gives us imaginary detail of things may transpire according to your words for the reader who may share the same ideal as you,or someone who didn't picture it that way or may have never read the book.maybe adding your input on how you feel all this connect would be pretty cool,also how great of an effectthe issues has that would actually resemble to the violance (but i assume it wasnt a point you needed to do and the fact that the last sentence kinda details what a volcano would be like in your last paragrpah but you know this is just me hammering on about things that dont really make any sense like unicorns but still :D )but its still great set up which is flawless and beautifully done
The idea that people join the Brotherhood of Destruction because they have nothing to lose really sums up one of the biggest themes in the novel. Relating the Brotherhood of Destruction to the metaphor of volcanoes really sums up the end of the novel in that their rage is indiscriminate. Despite the fact that the Brotherhood of Destruction is made up of educated and logical men, these men are so bitter from oppression that they no longer care about fixing society. Isn't it ironic that after they manage to wipe out their oppressors that they begin to turn on each other? That while they fought because they believed that they had nothing to lose, in the end they all lost their lives due to violence?
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