Elements Of Power And Politics In Norman Mailer’s The Naked And The Dead

Abstract

This paper presents the elements of power and politics through analyzing Norman Mailer’s novel The Naked and the Dead. It is not just a war novel, and it is also a profound political and psychological examination of power, control, and the human condition under extreme pressure. This novel is setting during the World War II on a fictional Pacific Island. It is discussing the physical battles to reveal the complex and often brutal dynamics of military hierarchy and political ideology. At the heart of the novel is the rigid military chain of command, which Mailer uses to explore the ways power is distributed and abused. The American army is depicted as a miniature society where rank determines value, and individual identity is often stripped away. The Naked and the Dead is an attempt to present an element of power and politics from a variety of perspectives.