Spiritual Sanity

"If the things of the soul are really a question of power, then anyone in possession of power of the spirit could be Lucifer." (Bessie Head, 199)

"Power corrupts.  Absolute power corrupts absolutely." (Machiavelli, The Prince)

The book, A Question of Power by Bessie Head, is an interesting one in which the main character Elizabeth dwells in a disjunct floating world where she makes jarring transitions between sanity and insanity.  Upon first glance, one may deem her views upon life to be irrelevant.  However, as her bouts of insanity continue to manifest themselves, it can be seen that her psychological struggle is a metaphor for the struggle of humanity in their questions as regards to the soul.

"People made unlikely friendships on the Motabeng projects." (Bessie Head, 121)  Why not?  When people are slammed together in their circumstances, they can choose to find good in it or to find evil in it.  This situation where the people of Botswana are helping the local-industries is an example of people choosing the good in it.

What of those people, however, that live in a state of moral ambiguity?  People in today's society seem to hold a certain level of cynicism for those that claim not to understand the difference between right and wrong, good and evil.  "That's the sum total of them, (Sello) and Dan.  They're operating only from the bottom.  Why must they choke the life out of me?  So few shreds of my sanity remain." (Bessie Head, 175)

This struggle that Sello and Dan have with one another is exhausting to Elizabeth.  It is one she does not fully understand, since nei ther Sello nor Dan seem to exist in the physical realm.  "Sello and Dan lived at the extreme end of Motabeng village, twenty miles away," making them seem as though the truth of their existence is just out of reach. (Bessie Head, 173)

From a psychological view, that is why humanity developed religion.  There are things in this world that seem to surpass our intellectual understanding, and in trying to understand them, we could venture out into a Bridge of Hesitation that leads to a world of insanity.  "What's wrong with you, Sello?  Why must you alternate lives of sainthood with spells of debauchery?" (Bessie Head, 175)  "A face flared up briefly in the billowing darkness.  (Dan's) face was flung back like Christ crucified." (Bessie Head, 177)

These two statements are where Elizabeth begins to determine the roles of her two antagonists.  She is still somewhat confused, attributing Satan to Sello and God to Dan.  However, that is the journey which leads her to cross the Bridge of Hesitation back into the world that everyone else around her subconsciously inhabits.

"I could not grasp the darkness because at the same time I saw the light.  That captured and riveted my attention.  It was Sello." (Bessie Head, 190)  We as individuals in this world have the capacity for good and for evil.  Each day we make several individual decisions as to which to give power.  "If the things of the soul are really a question of power, then anyone in possession of power of the spirit could be Lucifer." (Bessie Head, 199)  The reason this statement is true is because anyone with the possession of power has the ability to manipulate that power.