A Purpose to Inspire

          Could it be that there are prophets living among us, sharing our every day world with us?  I don’t know if I can truly agree with that or not yet, but I do believe that there are people out there more ordinary spiritual, and possibly they may be able to foresee (or have some sort of feeling about) some parts of the future.  "The real battlefront was living people, their personalities, their treatment of each other.  A real, living battle of jealousy, hate and greed was more easily understood and resolved under pressure than soaring, mystical flights of the soul" (Head 66).  In the novel A Question of Power, by Bessie Head, the main character Elizabeth is faced with thinking/feeling she is a type of prophet.    

          I think that a lot of the reason Elizabeth may be feeling like this is due to her childhood.  Like Bessie Head, Elizabeth wasn’t always exactly accepted by everyone, and her battle with mental illness does not help too much with her life situation.  I think that her thinking she is a prophet is more of one of her sides to her personality and her illness coming out.  Elizabeth may be more than an ordinary spiritual person, and this is why she does have a battle with believe she is a prophet. 

          I don’t know how much I can compare Elizabeth’s belief that she is a prophet to some more famous prophets like; Jacob, Jesus, Mohammed, and Buddha.  But, I do think that in some sort of way she may feel as they did.  Elizabeth believing she is a prophet is more of her wanting to belong in a place in this world, to actually have a will and a purpose.  The more famous prophets had found there purpose on this earth, a way to help and inspire the people around them. 

          Elizabeth being this far into believing she is a prophet can possibly causes more danger to her mental state than it can reward.  Yes, I do understand that it may give her more of a sense of hope, thinking that she has some sort of purpose and hoping to inspire more people around her.  She has gone through and been faced with more evil than some have, so she wants to be able to really bring out the true goodness in herself through the world.

          I think at times the fact that prophets are living among us is a little far fetch.  I know that there are definitely people out there with more insight and they may have stronger vision, or more lucent dreams.  I don’t know how much I truly agree with Elizabeth being an actual prophet.  Like I said before, I think it is more of her feeling that she needs a place to belong in this world and she needs an actual purpose.  Her vivid dreams and the battle of her demons are what have brought her to this place.  “no one had come to terms with their own powers…None of mankind’s God-like figureheads recorded seeing what she saw on this nightmare soul-journey” (Head 35).