Power relations in “being there” Power is the central element in all social relations. We need and want the power to fulfill ourselves: to be the people we want to be and to influence others and their decisions. Since all sources of power are essentially limited, every single attempt we make to acquire power ends up causing a power struggle. For a moment, the most obvious source of energy, money, is limited. We don't create it – therefore power – out of thin air and we don't compete with others to get more from the shared pool. Kosinski's novel, “Being There,” ultimately addresses the issue of power struggle between people and groups. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Equality is an illusion and can never be achieved. Whenever there are two or more people or groups in a single environment, they begin to compete with each other. Every individual or group, willingly or not, takes part in this struggle and tries to get to the top, to have more power than others. Even in our simplest social relationships, we struggle not only to fulfill ourselves, but also to influence the people around us and impose our personality on them. Many examples of power struggle can be found in “Being There”. Especially in chapter 5 and after, where politics is introduced, we can see various examples of power struggle. After all, politics is the art of the struggle for power. In chapter 5, Chance is invited to the United Nations party, an event attended by powerful men from all over the world. These men have a high opinion of Chance and do not know the empty mirror that it really is. Chance is seen as one of the most successful businessmen in the United States. As soon as he can, Russian ambassador Skrapinov approaches Chance. He wants to have this “prestigious businessman” on his side. He also tries to influence him by imposing himself on Chance. He thinks Chance knows Russian (he obviously doesn't) and is a fan of Krylov's fairy tales. (He can't even read!) This is similar to the power struggle we have in our daily lives, especially when we are among friends. Knowledge is another way to gain power. The more we know, the more powerful we are. If we look at the national context, we can see that governments “learn” with their intelligence agencies. The case is of extreme importance for governments, but nothing is known about him. So, both American and Russian intelligence services compete with each other – the Russians even sacrifice one of their agents – to learn more about Chance. They just can't seem to find anything on him. The Russians even give it the code name “The White Sheet”. (It's rather ironic given that it's actually a blank sheet of paper.) Chance, without even knowing it, actually gains power by being a blank sheet of paper. The fact that he does not have a past that hinders him in politics is seen as a blessing and helps him a lot. Towards the end of the novel, we see the greatest example of a power struggle: the presidential election. The possibility is to be elected president of the United States in the next election and be the winner of this power struggle. Of course, this is not up to the people to decide. The “men behind the scenes” make the decision, men who have acquired power through money. Because Chance is seen as a powerful man with no past (the perfect candidate), these men think he should be elected. The mass media are the greatest tool used by institutions and governments to have power over people. Whether it is TV, newspapers or anything else, it is used as a means to influence people's opinions,.