Charles Jeffrey Simons

2/10/15

Being a Brief Study upon the Fundamentals of the Gaining of Power, and Escape from Under the
Power of Others
The desire to gain power- or escape from under it- is fundamental to human society, part
of our neural coding. Those under anothers power will always harbor some hope of escape,
even if they themselves do not realize it. For example, I ask my esteemed reader to think of the
United States, a century and a half ago. The slaves had hopes of freedom, no matter whether
they recognized their hopes as such. Any society that has practiced slavery has shown the same
tendencies- whether slave or slave-owner, both want power in one way or another.
A good literary example of this quality can be found in book one (and, to a lesser extent,
in book two) of the Stormlight Archive, by Brandon Sanderson. In the book, one of the main
characters is Kaladin, a young commoner who joins the army to protect his brother. He wins an
important battle, even gaining a powerful weapon in the defeat of an enemy commander.
However, his own commander betrays him, takes the weapon, and gives Kaladin into slavery as
a Bridgeman. The Bridgemen are a group of slaves and other unwanted people who carry
bridges to allow the countrys armies to cross the gaps between plateaus that form an important
battleground. However, few people care about the Bridgemen, a fact which Kaladin does not
like at all.
Kaladin, rather than giving up hope, decides to begin training his bridge crew in the use
of armor and spears, as he had learned in the army. He even obtains armor from bodies in the
chasms, to give his bridge crew so that they will not be such easy targets for the enemy. He also
intends them to fight for their freedom, once they are fully ready. However, this winds up not

being the case, as the crew is taken on a mission in which the leader of their section of the army
plans to betray the commander of another part, and take control of the kingdom.
Kaladin and his crew could have cut and run when the order came to fall back, but
instead they ran forward, to provide a bridge for the commander that had been left behind.
Kaladin and his crew entered the battle, to show their prowess and fight for their freedom. Their
army won the day, and the betrayed commander thanked them, asking if he could grant them
anything. Kaladin pled for the freedom of his crew and himself, and was granted it. This might
seem to be the end of his struggle to escape from others power, but it is not.
In fact, Kaladin is still a commoner, and thus has little say in how even matters that
would affect him are dealt with. He must still fight for his voice to be heard, though in a less
violent manner than before. But this does not dissuade him from his goal. Indeed, he does fight
on, eventually winning another victory. But I have already said rather too much, for my
esteemed reader may wish to read this series themselves, and I feel it is not my duty to spoil the
surprises that await them.
Still, I will note once more that the desire to gain or escape power is fundamental to the
human psyche. This is evidenced by the struggles of history, and by the masterful work of Mr.
Sanderson in his- as yet, far from finished- Stormlight Archive. Any person who makes a study
of sociology will note that power is a great motivator in human society, and perhaps in any
society- though I will let the fantasists and the xenoculturalists determine that for certain.