"His usual conversation with any of his subordinates was saturated with strictness and consisted almost entirely of three phrases: 'How dare you sir? Do you know who you're talking to sir? Do you realise who is standing before you sir?' Still, he was really a good fellow at heart, was particularly pleasant with his colleagues and quite obliging too; but his new position went to his head. Having received the rank of general he got all confused and was completely nonplussed and did not know what to do. In the presence of a man equal to him in rank, he was just an ordinary fellow, and in many ways even a far from stupid fellow; but whenever he happened to be in company with men even one rank lower than he, he seemed to be lost..."
What could make a man turn into a monster? If you have ever heard about the Stanford Prison Experiment then you know it is power. If you haven't taken psychology or don't know about the Stanford Prison Experiment let me give you a little background information. Dr. Phillip Zimbardo wanted to look at human nature, specifically how people react to being prisoners and prison guards. The experiment was scheduled to last two weeks but was prematurely ended (they stopped they experiment on the sixth day) because the experiment got out of control fast. The psychology researchers who were conducting the study fell into their roles so completely that they began acting like the prison regulators they were portraying. The prison guards and prisoners who were all male, middle-class, healthy college students had become their roles-their personal identities, the people who they were before the experiment seemed to vanish. The prisoners were suffering extreme emotional stress and depression as the end of the first week approached. The prison guards had become so cruel and invented ways to humiliate and torture their prisoners. They were given power and ran with it.
In Gogol's "The Overcoat" the Very Important Person is given power when he is promoted and his whole personality shifts. The passage on page 261 immediately reminded me of the effect being put into a role of power can do to a person. If you listen to the interviews conducted after the experiment the prison guards were horrified. They had not known they were capable of such cruelty. It took only a few days for their power to go to their heads entirely and the experiment became reality. It was no longer examining role playing and recording data it was as if they were living in an alternate universe. In this passage you can see the power went to VIP's head, the way Dr Zimbardo showed is human nature. The VIP who as the author says "was really a good man at heart" became so wrapped up in being the rank of general that he felt it was his job to always exert his authority over his "subordinates." He could not go a "little too far" and risk those below him seeing him as a friend by conversing with them. No, it was much safer in his mind to separate himself- change who he once was- and maintain his position. "His new position went to his head" as he alienated himself from those around him.
This passage speaks powerfully of human nature using diction and long, involved syntax. The sentences are long with many commas and semicolons. The effect is largely to mirror the confusion that the new position brings to the VIP. All his life prior he had not felt a need to act this way-to place himself above others and keep his conversations "saturated with strictness."
Human nature at its worst cant be observecd clearly in this passage within a story that largely speaks on human nature as a whole. The story itself speaks on anonymity, materialism, and the effect of power-or the lack of it. Akaky could be compared to the prisoners, who lose a part of themselves as they are subjected to the control of the prison guards. VIP lets power go to his head while Akaky allows a lack of power and control his whole life go to his head. Maybe the reason Akaky broke down when he was asked to copy a document where he made some changes was that he was so used to being given only the simplest of tasks to complete that he lost complete confidence in himself. The effect is a seriously depressed, confused, and misunderstood character. In class we talked of how content he was with his life- but maybe Akaky just didn't know anything more, anything better. Maybe it was simply an acceptance of what he must do rather than an enjoyment of his simple lifestyle.
If you want to read more about the Stanford Prison Experiment this link is really good. www.prisonexp.org
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