The Abuse of Power

A rush of power, the thrill of being unstoppable, of feeling like your on top of the world, and there is no one who can stop you.  Power comes in different forms to different people; some use it for good while others abuse it.  In East, West, short stories by Salman Rushdie, the story of “the Prophets Hair” Introduces the reader to Hashim, a money lender, who finds his form of power in the sacred Vial containing a hair of the prophet Muhammad.

“Hashim was fond of pointing out that while he was not a godly man, he set great store by, ‘living honorably in the world’ ” (41). Of course by this, Hashim is referring to the comfortable state of his finances.  Hashim, I would say is an obsessive compulsive collector, and upon discovering the vial floating in the river, rather then returning to its shrine “to restore peace and equanimity” as he should have done since he had found the vial by “a stroke of good fortune” (43), his overwhelming greed pushed him to return home with the new relic.  Hashim became obsessed with his new discovery and began to abuse the power that he felt he had because of this possession.   He inflicted strict rules on his family, and punished them when the rules weren’t abided by.  Much like the ring in the Lord of the Rings, the vial commands this presence of power to all those who know of it, and each person who it is bestowed upon, is changed into a different person.  They become consumed with greed and thirsty for power.

This Story is a great example of the importance of distribution of power.  While in its proper place, the vial has an equal distribution of power, but if it is in the hands of one individual the power that comes with it is uncontrollable.  A taste of the power that the vial has is expressed when Hashim “seemed to be on the point of bursting! As Though, under the influence of the misappropriated relic”.  Moments later he does indeed burst and “spumes long streams of awful truths” (45).  As with the ring, the vial is not meant for one particular person.  With both of these objects bad things happen to the individuals who bare them.  Atta, Hashim's son, is beaten to near death by his father, when it was discovered he tried to take it.  Hashim’s family is torn apart and killed over the vial.  Once stealing the vial from Hashim’s house, the great Sheikh is ultimately killed and his children’s income is reduced by 75% because they were under the same roof as the vial, even for just a moment.

The morale of the story is with great power comes great responsibility, and unless you are ready to handle that responsibility, you best not be taking the power.  Hashim’s greed prohibited him from doing the right thing of returning the vial which proved to be a horrible decision for him and his family.  While in the hands of one, the vial represented a dictatorship and showed the merciless presence that great sums of power can have.  As is the case with all acts of power, the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people should be attempted and as it was not the intention of Hashim so it is not his power to have.