Power in relation to There Will Be Blood

Burke believes that power is often exemplified through terror and it is the fact that the terrifying are uncontrollable that makes them sublime. Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood is a man of considerable power, perhaps due to the terror he imposes. He is tall, strong man with a fixed gaze and a booming, persuasive voice. Not only that, but he possesses many things that one might equate with power in 1912- alot of money, a motor car, a large house. The character is perhaps most terrifying simply due to his lack of discernible emotions, apart from greed. He abandons his deaf son, shoots a man, beats another to death and shows no care or concern when his employees are killed in accidents. It is this display of physical and mental strength that makes him terrifying and appear powerful to us. Through our fear of how he may react or how he may treat other characters, Plainview exerts power over the audience by having them in submission of his will, shaping the narrative seemingly as he sees fit. He even over powers audience expectations by escaping from the justice that viewers expect him to recieve by the end of the film. For all his coercion, violence and temper, Plainview escapes with his life. Yes, he has committed murder at the end of the film but oddly you cannot help but feel that due to his power and overwhelming skills of exerting himself, he will escape any persecution.