“Life only has meaning if we live for meaning”. This literary work by Piers Anthony, "On A Pale Horse", focuses on the main character, Zane, and how he becomes the embodiment of Death. The story is set in a world where religion, science and magic coexist in harmony, with Heaven and Hell playing an important role throughout the story. It begins with Zane, who, due to unfortunate circumstances, attempts to take his own life with a firearm. As he does so, Death appears before him, who out of fear points his gun at Death and kills him. Because of this, Zane becomes the new Death: a successor. This begins his story of how he adapted to his office and how he exceeded the expectations of that office and implemented new policies through his courageous course of action. Death's role is to gather the souls of those who are in perfect balance - unable to go to Hell or Heaven. So it is up to Death's discretion to order these souls to go to Heaven or Hell as they wish. Souls who are inherently good or evil will make their way to their respective domains. There are important themes throughout the narrative of this book, including: compassion, the consequences of actions, and the way misogyny is portrayed. These themes will be compared with Margaret Thatcher: The Iron Lady and how the writing was influenced by her years of service to the UK. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The first theme to discuss is compassion throughout the book, as this is an important and defining trait of the main character, Zane, that shapes the story. Zane, in the Office of Death, wants people not to suffer in Death, but to see it as a release from suffering and terror. In one section of the book, this is seen when Death has to collect the soul of a woman in a hospital. Due to magic and technology, this woman is kept alive against her will, leaving Death unable to take her soul. After some discussion with the patient, he learned that the people inside the hospital were all being kept alive against their will. After many other patients witness this, he takes it upon himself to shut down the power to these devices, killing the patients inside to free them from suffering. These actions lead to the second theme, the consequences of his office, being in a position to make a change. While carrying out his duties as Death, he also allows people condemned to die to live. In one scene, Zane must take the soul of a woman who has poisoned herself. Instead of taking her soul, he tells her to find an antidote, so that he can alter the balance of her soul. Thus, Death had saved her life. As a result, his peers in immortality thought poorly of him, causing distrust in his ability to carry out his assignment. Towards the end of the book, Zane goes against Satan to save the woman he loves, Luna Kaftan. Luna had sworn to die within a month of her meeting due to a plot by Satan, as Luna would fill a role that would challenge Satan in the future. Zane has suspended his end, as well as that of the rest of the world. He does this both for selfish reasons and to display his power in the office of Death, this is shown in a sentence where Zane speaks to Satan: "Death is inviolate, as it must be, not to be tampered with by the likes of you. " . Where Death has dominion, the Lord of the Flies has none.” Because of his transgressions, he had altered the course of the future,challenging fate. The third theme focuses on misogyny in the author's writings. This is seen in the conversation between Zane and the woman who had consumed poison to commit suicide: “'I'm a woman,' she said with a wry smile. 'I owe more to emotion than logic.'” This is a recurring theme throughout much of the story, showing that women are emotional and nonsensical, while men are the ones who have to make the decisions. However, this is not an unexpected trait in science fiction and fantasy writing: “Early male writers objectified and sexualized female characters, with portrayals ranging from complete exclusion to misogynistic exploitation.” This could also be explained by the audience Anthony writes for. “Back then not only were the majority of writers assumed to be male, but so were the readers.” Although the narrative is skewed against women in the case of Anthony's work, it portrays Luna Kaftan as a powerful character due to her future in politics. One potential inspiration could be the political climate of the United Kingdom at the time: the election of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister. Margaret Thatcher began her leadership career in politics in 1975, where she ran against Edward Heath to become leader of the Conservative Party, whom she defeated. As a result of this election, "Thatcher became the first woman to serve as leader of the opposition in the House of Commons". Due to instability due to unhappy unions, rising unemployment rates, and the rapid depletion of government funds, Thatcher helped the Conservative Party return to its previous state of power in 1979. That same year, Thatcher was appointed the first female Prime Minister of Great Britain. Thus began a new wave of management. In Thatcher's first term as prime minister, she raised interest rates to control inflation in the economy. This was a controversial course of action to combat the recession in the UK at the time. Another courageous decision was his choice of allies, being Ronald Reagan, President of the United States at the time, with whom they shared similar views and philosophies in politics. Because of her controversial economic and political choices, support for Thatcher was starting to fade. In 1982 the British territory of the Falkland Islands was invaded by Argentina, thus starting the Falklands War. Thatcher sent British troops to retake the islands, which Argentina surrendered two months into the war. This greatly increased Thatcher's approval ratings due to her quick actions involving the war, allowing her to be re-elected. In Thatcher's second term, she targeted "trade unions such as the miners' union and the massive privatization of social housing". and public transport". He reduced council house prices during the 'Right to Buy' programme, increasing the amount of sales from 200,000 to over a million. He privatized many different industries, including gas, water, coal, and electricity to promote the country's individualism. As a result, the state of British politics began to divide: although these actions were successful, critics saw it as a short-term solution. While these policies were being put into effect, the Irish Republican Army made an assassination attempt on Thatcher through a Brighton Hotel bombing in 1984. The bombing killed and injured many people, but Thatcher was unharmed. Without phase, he continued his third term, once again winning the popular vote. Thatcher appeared to have reached her peak power at the start of her third term in 1987. However, the country's polarization was beginning totake hold. “The gap between rich and poor continued to widen, homelessness and unemployment increased as part of a further deep recession.” The education system was underfunded due to neglect, as were other parts of the UK. From 1986 to 1990, average income increased for all but those in poverty, widening the economic gap. Thatcher attempted to implement a standard curriculum for the education system across the United Kingdom, as well as modifying the system of socialized medicine that the country had put in place. Due to polarization, her accumulated support had all but disappeared, leaving her in an almost powerless state within her party. The final policy that consolidated public opinion was a poll tax that caused public outcry. As a result, Thatcher was forced by members of her party to resign from her position as prime minister. In November 1990 he announced his intention to resign. A week later, “Thatcher departed for the last time from 10 Downing Street, the prime minister's official residence.” On 8 April 2013, Margaret Thatcher died. “On A Pale Horse” and the story of Margaret Thatcher were chosen because of the book's publication date, as it coincides with Thatcher's years in office. Recurring themes can be seen from Thatcher in Anthony's writings. The main character of “On A Pale Horse”, Zane, is similar to Thatcher – through the themes provided earlier, such as compassion, misogyny and the consequences of actions. Misogyny is singled out in this scenario because of the controversial position that Thatcher held. “She was the 'Iron Lady' who 'didn't turn around'.” The first theme to compare is compassion. In Anthony's writings, Zane can be modeled on Thatcher's policies in her first term. In the book, Zane strives to help others in a time of turmoil through his empathy for the individual. He does this by saving those who are not ready to die or by helping to put those who are doomed at ease. For Thatcher, she sought to help both the people and industries of the United Kingdom. He initially helped fight the recession and retake the Falkland Islands. These actions of both Zane and Thatcher make them personable, opening up an attachment to them. In another sense, this increased the approval rating for Thatcher and gave Zane leeway over secondary characters throughout the book. A quote from Thatcher sums it up well: “Disciplining yourself to do what you know is right and important, even if difficult, is the royal road to pride, self-esteem and personal satisfaction.” However, this moves on to the next topic: the consequences of actions. High risk and high reward are the two characteristics that define courageous action. Zane, with his actions aimed at keeping those who should have died alive, was seen as incompetent by many other characters throughout the book. Because of this, in fact, Purgatory, Death's domain, had dissipated the magic that Death could use, leaving it vulnerable: "You have been declared in violation of your office, and your magic has been deactivated." This had put Zane in danger, almost costing him his life. In Thatcher's third term, this is the turning point for her approval in the eyes of the public. His short-term actions had consequences, such as the poll tax and actions against workers' unions. Because of this, Thatcher was forced to resign as prime minister. With these comparisons I am reminded of the recurring theme of much of Thatcher's political history: controversy. Although readers could identify with the.