It seems that Lucien in Balzac’s Lost Illusions, is a classic authoritarian character. His attitude towards power is abject emotional submission. His is not submission for the sake of appearances, to protect himself like Mme d’Espard, but real emotional submission.<\/p>\n
His character is so plain, as to perfectly illustrate the typical Sadomasochistic character with a vengeance. He submits to those in power, and feels pity, contempt, and a desire to humiliate those who do not have it. In the novel of course, power is represented by money, and social status.<\/p>\n
This is how he gains the power needed to combat his insecurity. By borrowing power either from money, or from society. His friends in the Brotherhood however, seem to draw their power from an internal reserve, which them impervious to the temptations of power outside. It is to be noted, that during his quest and submission to power, he does not produce any great masterpiece of literature. His excess energy will naturally be diverted to the acquisition of borrowed power.<\/p>\n
In fact, his Brotherhood companions had told him to live a life of struggle for ten years completing his masterpiece, not diverting himself into other things. And indeed, how can one do both? Once caught in the circle of quest for power, one’s productivity diminishes more and more. Consequently, a person’s self worth is in need of even more reinforcing, which causes the need for power to be felt even more acutely. This then, is the cycle.<\/p>\n
The only solution, is to recognize that fulfillment can only come from inside by our own productivity. Then that is not borrowed power, but real power. The power to create, which is the greatest power of all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"