Martin Bretzin #8

Power is an interesting construct. Power has been seen as the consequence of someone or thing's actions. It has been seen as the recognition of a relatively profound effect. It has been seen as an evil and danger to its victims. In this class, we discussed power mostly as an identifiable effect. After watching the Icelandic film, we discussed the "power" that the figure in the film possessed. It's effect was so great on the people of the film, that the possessor of the power was considered to be a threat so great, that the utterance of its name was capable of bringing the misuse of the power, resulting in very undesirable circumstances. The possessor of the power ended up being a bear, who the people successfully hunted. After the bear was slain, the man who inflicted the killing blow was temporarily exiled from the people with the belief that he had acquired the power of the bear in the process of ending the bear's life. This power was thought to be too dangerous to have among the people and needed to exit the man in some way. These beliefs may sound silly, but were most likely reinforced by past events where the power became a problem. In class, we also talked about how words can and still do have some sort of power. We also discussed that Oral words tend to have a more immediate and often larger effect on the audience than literary words do. This was shown through the use of the word "BANG" first yelled, then written largely.