Panopticism in The Demolished Man

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Panopticism in The Demolished Man Foucalt's Penonpticon in "The Demolished Man" By sigriet ferrer February 13, 2007 Contact me Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man deals with persistent themes of surveillance and entrapment. In Foucault's 'Panopticon', a jailer sits in a central tower intently watching the inmates while they are entirely unaware of the fact that they are being watched, and cannot see their jailer. In the novel, the Espers have more control and power than do Non-Espers; they are superior because of their mind-reading ability. Reich is latent Esper, he shows deviant behavior and has criminal tendencies; something that is extremely rare in the Esper world. Similarly to a Panopticon, Reich is an outcast from society; he's the criminal who should be disciplined through punishment. Like a prisoner is castigated in a Panopticon, Reich is put in a metaphorical Panopticon in where he's disciplined through psychological torment and alienation. Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man is similar to Foucault's Panopticon; the idea of imprisonment of the mind through the use of power, is present in the novel. In the novel, the Non-Espers are like the prisoners in the Panopticon; they are trapped in a terrifying world where their innermost thoughts can be read by Espers. Although there are Esper regulations that protect others from being peeped without permission, this criminal activity still occurs. "Entire societies may be imprisoned in what Foucault calls panopticism, regimes where power rests on supervision and examination that entail a knowledge concerning those who are supervised." (Ketelaar, 228). Like in a Panopticon, Powell is the jailer who imprisons Reich, the criminal; his task is to transform him completely into someone new . Both the Espers, and the Non- Espers are entrapped in a Panopticon without realizing it; they are unaware that they are being controlled. Espers and Non- Espers both, depend on the Guild. It's their life, they have been taught to live for it and if they ever betray it, they face a punishment worse than death. This dependence brings fear, and fear is the reason most people don't betray the Guild. When Reich speaks to Ellery about the Guild, and insists that it has little importance, Ellery defends the Guild whole-heartedly. She responds: "You don't understand. We're born in the Guild. We live with the Guild. We live with the Guild. We die in the Guild. The Guild runs our professional lives. It trains us, sets ethical standards, and sees that we stick to them. We have the Esper Pledge. God help any of use if we break it... as I judge your suggesting I should." (Bester, 17). Ellery feels threatened by Reich's conversation and feels that she belongs to the Guild, and will not betray it for any thing in the world; because of fear and dependence to it. She needs the Guild to protect her, make her feel safe, or maybe can't handle the thought of being ostracized from the world. Reich lacks this fear, or at least thinks he does, this is what gives him the courage to commit a crime. In this society, one is conditioned to behave a certain way, since they are being watched, and if they don't behave a certain way they will be caught and punished. That's why it is so difficult and uncommon for crime to occur among the Esper society, the people fear punishment do bad, they are not willing to take this risk. "As a result, the enlightment's rational inmates would have to simply assume they were being watched all the time, and act accordingly, whether or not actual surveillance was taking place. In other words, the panopticon's inmates would discipline themselves, they would reform." (Langlois, 1). Powell is a powerful 1st grade Esper, Police Prefect, he uses surveillance for his own benefit, but inflicts pain on someone else while he does it. Just as a prisoner in a Panopticon, is powerless compared to the jailer who sits in the central tower watching him; he must live with the psychological torment of knowing he's not free, he's constantly being watched, and despite the fact he may not enjoy being watch, he has to live with it, because he cannot defeat his jailer. Powell has control of Barbara and can easily take advantage of her mental condition to peep her. He peeps her without her consent and puts her through torture every time. He does this for his own motive, of trying to figure out who committed the crime, but selfishly he does not take into account the psychological torment she must go through every time. Each time that Powell peeps her, he makes her re-animate her father's death so that he may figure our who murdered her father, she is put through torture every time. Before peeping her, he lets her know that he will peep her and fakes empathy toward her, but even when she begs him not to, he ignores her. Powell says: "I'm sorry dear. I'm really sorry, but we must go through the agony again. There's something I have to see ."Barbara responds: "No. No....please." (Bester, 137). Powell uses his powers to impose psychological torment on Reich to get him to confess that is what he who committed the crime. He uses mind tricks to puzzle him and scare him till he goes nuts and simply can't take things anymore. Powell exhibits the power of the jailer in the Panopticon, the person in control of the prisoner; he can discipline the prisoner and transform him. The purpose of a prison, is to transform the criminal, re-create him. Powell has the ability of the jailer, to play God, to create a brand new person. There are several references in the novel referring to Powell being God, although these comments seem cynical, they are truthful to a certain extent. "God Almighty Prefect Powell" (Bester 197), is of course not a bit saintly, but he does have the powerful ability to create new life, to change people. Powell is able to make Reich delusional and convince him that there are no stars, no moon, no sun, or other planets. "Anyone could learn anything could learn anything; one would follow the geneology of every observable idea." (Foucault, 202). In a Panopticon, anyone can be made to believe anything that they are told to believe, even if untrue, for example the lie that 2+2= 5. Like the Panopticon, Reich is made to believe that everyday things such as the solar system, and the Guild that he worked for are no longer there. Powell is able to transform Reich completely in a dehumanizing way, in the beginning of the transformation process he is changed from a human to almost an animal. "A naked thing appeared on the stone wall, gibbering, screaming, twitching. It toppled over the edge and crashed down through the flower beds until it landed on the lawn, crying and jerking as though a steady stream of voltage was pouring through it's nervous system. It was Ben Reich, almost unrecognizable, halfway through Demolition." (Bester, 241). The process of transformation seems demeaning and hurtful, although the process of rebirth is supposed to change you for the better, it seems it will change Reich for the worse. Powell has turned Reich into a monster, he is worse off now than he was before, as a criminal. When Powell, Tate, and Church are left hanging on for their lives, and hiding from a criminal who's out to kill them, Tate chooses death over demolition. Tate had just finished confessing to Powell that he was involved with Reich in his murder scheme, and suddenly when a criminal is near them, Tate is told by Powell to hold on to him, so that he does not fall off and lose his life. Powell, truly wants to conserve Tate's life and it is because he would rather transform him, and make something useful of him, rather than have him die. Tate decides that since he confessed he is on his way to Demolition, and this punishment is so extreme, that even death doesn't seem so bad, so he lets go of Powell and kills himself. "Destruction loomed up in the little peeper's subconscious and in that instant Powell realized that no Guild conditioning could ever have prevented Tate from destroying himself." (Bester, 146). To Tate, the thought of being re-born and transformed is actually more terrifying than the thought of being dead. "The horror lies in the fact that the consciousness is never lost; that as the psyche is wiped out, the mind is aware of its slow, backward death until at last it too disappears and awaits the rebirth." (Bester, 241). The process takes the victim through persistent psychological torment, until at last they are transformed, and even when they are transformed there is no guarantee that they have been changed for the better. Powell realizes that Reich has a certain power, and this power is both feared and respected by Powell. Powell realizes that Reich is valuable, he thinks its ridiculous that at some point in history people would condemn criminals to death and put them through corporeal pain, it's much better to hurt their minds and not their bodies. By altering the criminal, he is molded into a brand new, better person who is useful in society. The Panopticon seeks to change people, instead of simply getting rid of them through capital punishment. Criminals are placed in a prison, and here they are transformed , their criminal self is corrected. Although Powell despises the fact that Reich is a criminal, he admires the fact that Reich is intelligent, and he realizes that not just anyone can be a criminal, it takes a lot. Powell says: "We need men like Reich. It would have been a shame to lose him. Three of four hundred years ago, cops used to catch people like Reich, just to kill them. Capital Punishment they called it. But it doesn't make sense. If a man's got talent and gets to buck society, he's obviously above average. You want to hold on to him. You straighten him out and turn him into a plus value." ( Bester, 242). Everyone must be the same, this society doesn't permit deviancy, and when deviancy is present it must be altered. They are constantly watched so