Power Trippin' Time

[LARSSON at VAX1.Mankato.MSUS.EDU]

Greg wonders:
" can anybody give me an example of a character who ascends to           
power through "revolutionary" means & is or is not corrupted?"


I think the best example is Weed Atman in VINELAND.  He becomes "leader"
of the PR3 more or less by default, but his all-too-human flaws are starting
to undo him even before his assassination.

In GR it's trickier since  it's quite unclear that the Counterforce manages
to do much at all.  But you can certainly find equivocal characters--Von Goll
being the best example, perhaps of a guy who always looks out for Number 1.

Finally, there are the Preterite who long to be part of the Establishment and
can never gain access to the highest inner circles, existing as Their agents
as long as it suits Them--Pointsman and Brock Vond coming to mind here.

Don Larsson, Mankato State U (MN)