“In religion, a prophet (or prophetess) is a person who has directly encountered the numinous or the divine and serves as an intermediary with humanity. Prophets existed in many ancient cultures, including each Abrahamic religion, the Sybilline and Delphic Oracles in Ancient Greece, the Völuspá in Old Norse, Zoroaster in Persia, and many others.” (Wikipredia “Prophet”) There are many different meanings among the Bibles. I’m not really a religious person, so I cannot exactly tell what the meaning of prophet is. What I’ve heard about prophet is that a person who is described as the spokesman or the representative of the God. Therefore, I believe every religion should have its own “prophet”, such as Mohammed from Islam and Buddha. Each prophet has received a great message from a God in order to help the people of the world.
In the novel A Question of Power, the main character, Elizabeth is thought to be a prophet, but she is different to other prophets. In the novel, Elizabeth believes that “no one was the be-all and end-all of creation, that no one had the power of assertion and dominance to the exclusion of other life” (Head P. 35). She did not believe in God. She believed that people had their own power to drive themselves insane. “…in the heat of living, no one had come to terms with their own powers and at the same time made allowance for the powers of others” (Head P. 35).In other words, a person should be able to control his/her own life, such as making a choice for themselves. Elizabeth believed that she was different from other prophets because “none of mankind’s God-like figureheads recorded seeing what she saw on this nightmare soul-journey” (Head P. 35). Elizabeth realizes that her visions are that of the battle between good and evil, but she has to see the evil visions first before she can see the good visions. For example, when she faces to the poor of Africa, she knows that what they want is the help from her. The suffering they endure is the vision that given by the God-like figure Sello, which is also the figure that makes her feel pain. Therefore, she realizes that Gd doesn’t make goodness or evilness. Every individual is their own God. “God is the totality of all great souls and their achievements; the achievements are not that of one single, individual soul, but of many souls who all worked to make up the soul of God” (Head P.54).
In my opinion, I think Elizabeth is insane. I agree that good and evil exist and it is usually that we have to experience the evil before we reach the goodness. However, I believe that there should be a fine line between good and evil. Elizabeth’s life is messed up. However, I believe that when she finds a good person in this world, it will be the time that she stops battling with her inner demon. I don’t know if Elizabeth is trying to bring out some message from Sello like a prophet, but I still think she is insane because I still cannot understand her world.
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I know you are discussing a novel and a character but I fail to see why the definition of a prophet is so difficult.
Being a prophet has nothing to do with religion.
A prophet is simply one who can see the consequences of a certain behaviour, be it social or financial or whatever, and the eventual results.
A parent is a prophet to its child, an economist to the financial community etc.
Prophets are scorned because they bring a message no one wants to hear. It is not that their message is God given but that the truth they speak is obvious but contrary to the dreams and aspirations of those who wish that the staus quo can remain in place a little longer.
Simply a case of killing the message giver might delay the inevitable.
Any semi intelligent person realises that religion was and is a means of striking the balance between what is best for social structure and the needs of the individual.
We don't need to invent any gods for that purpose any longer.