In chapter 33, Hank mentioned he made a dead set at Dowley but easily had Dowley happy again. Hank is easily manipulating people’s mood and feeling with his economic power. The devil side inside a person will finally appear after he realized he already has strongest power to everyone. In this story, Hank was a normal worker in 19 century. But after he went back to 6 century, he becomes the “God” at that period. He not only can manipulate normal people but also can manipulate the king and the nobility by using his knowledge that he learned from the 19th century. His knowledge helps him become second most powerful people in this country. Hank believes in a country where they have ranks and castes, a man isn’t ever a man, a man is only a part of a man, and he can’t ever get his full growth. When you proved your superiority over him in station, or rank, or fortune, and that’s the end of it--he knuckles down. You can’t insult him after that or you still can, with a lost of useless time on him.
People finally will change after they realized they have so much power than before. The devil side inside of Hank finally appears after he realized his knowledge is so powerful at that period, especially when someone challenged his power or someone tries to show off in front of him. Hank is so enjoying on manipulating people that he completely forgot his original motivation for becoming a normal people. His possession of power affected his apparently democratic ideal. The devil side inside of him forces him become more like a dictator not a democrat. It’s pretty ironic that the equality in Hank’s democratic ideal is not as important as the equality in democracy.
Hank is so easily got provoke by people who challenged his dominant power. Being as a “God” in his country, any sort of challenge thing would never happen to him. After all he experienced in this country, he becomes more like a dictator. Every dictator has a bottom line which is they can’t be challenged. The devil side inside of Hank is becoming like a dictator, a dictator can’t be challenged by anything. After he got challenged, he will seek for a way to revenge. Actually Hank was having a great start on achieving his democratic research by inviting Dowley, mason and wheelwright to his house and eats dinner together. Dowley was trying to show his wealthy life to his friends during the dinnertime. Dowley didn’t do anything wrong, he just trying to share his normal life with his friends. But Hank misconceived his meaning. Hank thinks his dominantly economic power got challenged. Dictator tends to be sensitive. The experience of being as a “God” makes Hank becomes sensitive too. If Hank still is the normal worker in 19th century, he won’t become sensitive if anyone tries to show off in front of him. But as a dictator, this is unacceptable.
Hank clearly enjoys humiliating these normal people with his economical power and political power. He intensively purchased a lot of furniture and food that Dowley can’t afford for a random peasant after Dowley shared his wealthy life with his friends. Hank embarrassed Dowley in front of Dowley’s friends. Hank is not supposed to do this. He supposes use these money to achieve his democratic goal as he mentioned in earlier paragraph: “My idea was to disguise myself as a freeman of peasant degree and wander through the country a week or two on foot. This would give me a chance to eat and lodge with the lowliest and poorest class of free citizens on equal terms.” What he did to these normal people was totally opposite to his initially goal. Hank wants to experience the real live as a normal people with an equal term. We should admire his original motivation. Hank claimed to develop democracy in this country. Equality is one of the key word for democracy. Every one has right to say and every one can do anything that not violates the law. Within Hank’s democratic ideal, the word equality seems not as important as what it should be. Even with these normal peasants, Hank can’t bear any show off in front of him. I more tend to believe equality don’t even exist in Hank’s democratic ideal.
Knowledge doesn’t complete change these normal people but changed Hank’s own mind. He becomes so dictatorial and unchallengeable. Although Hank blames a country of ranks and castes makes become a “half man”, he still was enjoying in what ranks brought to him---the highest power he never had in real life.
He mentioned another interesting sentence “he can’t ever get his full growth”. Hank tries to emphasize what a country with ranks and castes do to their people. The reason why he is so easily manipulated people in this country is all because of ranks and castes. Ranks and castes blinded people’s mind. They won’t get their full growth under this feudal hierarchy. Feudal hierarchy forces people to respect anybody who are superior to him. Hank and Dowley both are guest in Marco’s house, they don’t know each other. After Hank humiliate Dowley with his economical power and political power, Dowley has to respect Hank immediately and unconditionally because Dowley automatically admit Hank is superior to him. Dowley knows that people with higher rank can humiliate lower rank people without any reason. So he obeys on that way without thinking. That’s why Hank can made Dowley happen again so quickly. People obey anything without thinking won’t get full growth. I think this is why Hank said this. If people in this country won’t think but just obey, people in this country will ever not get full growth. Their mind a blind, they won’t grow up without their own judgment.
I think the best sentence in this paragraph is the last one. “You can’s insult him after that. No, I don’t mean quite that; of course you can insult him, I only mean its difficult.” Hank changed his mind after he said you can’t insult him, him here means normal people under feudal hierarchy. Hank tries to emphasize if normal people realized someone is superior to them, they will automatically accept any humiliations from people that superior to them no matter what. So you can’t insult them anymore. If you still want to insult them, you still can, but you have to put more times on it. People at that period are so easily to get manipulated under feudal hierarchy. Hank pretended to be silly and laugh at the foolishness of the feudal religions publicly and well intentionally.
Hank is experiencing a dominant character that he never experiences at real life. These privileges and power made him become unchallengeable. The devil side inside him appears complete when his “God” character got challenge by even a random normal people. So I think the devil side inside a person will finally appear after he realized he already has strongest power to everyone.