Hannah Arendt - Reflection on Violence - Book Report/Review Example

Violence has been taken for granted and not given any consideration. Modern revolutions in technology and the military were expected to eliminate the situation in the society but instead enhanced it to disastrous. That is why the author states that the word “violence” is paradoxical.

Violence is also a manifestation of power.   The author states, “The essence of power is the effectiveness of command.”  People fight in form of politics and word of mouth to gain power. This contradicts Marx’s idea that the state is a suppression instrument of violence. This concludes the fact that violence can destroy power (Arendt, p. 11-12).

In experimenting with the causes of violence, Arendt asserts that it is easier to experiment with animal behaviors than man since men can cheat. The difference between man and animal is that man can reason and has emotions. Such emotions are building inward and maybe the ones stimulating a man to fight.

In conclusion, the main argument is that violence is the opposite of power and when power decreases violence comes in. Therefore, the cause of violence in every country is because a certain group of people is beginning to lose power. This is ironic because the powerful should also possess the power to stop the rest from fighting, but they are driven by their greed for material things and can stand and see others perish in violence.