Theme of Materialism in An Enemy of the People
Materialism is well depicted in an enemy of the people as an excessive interest in or desire for money and possessions. It is an intensive if not exaggerated belief on the importance or possessions. Embodied in the society and most specifically the members of the party in Peter Stockmann’s municipality is a materialistic culture. The whole town is rallied against Dr. Stockmann because of the economic status of the town to an extent of ignoring an impending health crisis for the town.

Peter Stockman, the mayor of the town is quick to assess the economical and technical implications of Dr. Stockmann’s findings and shows little or no regard to the health of the inhabitants of the town. He says in page 35.
I made an excuse this morning to go and see the town engineer and as a thing we might perhaps have to consider same time later on.
    In another instance when Hovstad and Billings are chatting on getting rid of Aslaksen, who seemingly threatens to block their assault to the local government. They say:-
Hovstad: Do you know anyone else who will allow some credit for our paper and printing bill?
Billings: it is an infernal nuisance that we don’t posses the necessary capital.
It is in this understanding of their financial situation that Hovstad and Billings would rather fight against Dr. Stockman’s truth.
            Considering that three illustrations would suffice, we can focus on one more person who appears materialistic.
    Morten Kiil, the owner of the tanneries of the molledal is one rich man who overestimates the value of money and material possession. He gives to Dr. Stockman and attempts to buy him over, making him denounce his discovery and thereby declare Morten kiil as a clean man this attempt is however met by Dr. Stockmann’s assertive stance. His family therefore gives us a glimpse of an on materialistic society. Hovstad goes on as far as to declare that Dr. Stockmann is swayed by his heart and not his head in other words he would rather die poor for his truth than compromise it for material possession.
 Theme of Materialism in An Enemy of the People

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Theme of Suffering in An enemy of the people
In the attempt to show how far an individual can stand against a strong opposition, Ibsen portrays, a man and his family who undergo and endure pain and distress in their endeavour to not only preserve the truth, but also to communicate it to the rest of the society.Dr. Stockmann and his family suffer in two major ways. First, the distress and psychological pain they experienced when   Peter Stockmann influences the whole town to reject them, Members of the family lose their jobs and their children are ejected out of the schools.

This expulsion from public and social amenities would bring a stigma on the family as nobody in the whole town would want to associate with a family that is tagged to be an enemy of the people.
It therefore subjects them to suffering loneliness in a crowded town and this leads him to contemplate exile. The attempt to leave for exile is again disrupted when captain Horster, who would help them sail away is retrenched from his job. Dr. Stockmann then resolves to live on in his town.

Secondly, physical suffering is brought out in the play when Dr. Stockmann’s children, Morten and Ejlif fight out with other boys in the town and at school.  They therefore inflict pain on each other. In addition, at the end of Dr. Stockmann’s lecture people in the crowd decide to mash Dr. Stockmann’s windows and Duck him into the fjords. This violence, decreed on Dr. Stockmann led to them tearing his  trousers though they didn’t duck him into the fjord.

Theme of Suffering in An enemy of the people

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Theme of suffering in an enemy of the people
In the attempt to show how far an individual can stand against a strong opposition, Ibsen portrays, a man and his family who undergo and endure pain and distress in their endeavour to not only preserve the truth, but also to communicate it to the rest of the society.Dr. Stockmann and his family suffer in two major ways. First, the distress and psychological pain they experienced when   Peter Stockmann influences the whole town to reject them, Members of the family lose their jobs and their children are ejected out of the schools.

This expulsion from public and social amenities would bring a stigma on the family as nobody in the whole town would want to associate with a family that is tagged to be an enemy of the people.
It therefore subjects them to suffering loneliness in a crowded town and this leads him to contemplate exile. The attempt to leave for exile is again disrupted when captain Horster, who would help them sail away is retrenched from his job. Dr. Stockmann then resolves to live on in his town.

 Secondly, physical suffering is brought out in the play when Dr. Stockmann’s children, Morten and Ejlif fight out with other boys in the town and at school.  They therefore inflict pain on each other. In addition, at the end of Dr. Stockmann’s lecture people in the crowd decide to mash Dr. Stockmann’s windows and Duck him into the fjords. This violence, decreed on Dr. Stockmann led to them tearing his  trousers though they didn’t duck him into the fjord.

Theme of suffering in an enemy of the people

 

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Theme of change in An Enemy of the People

Ibsen in An Enemy of the People is concerned with change that takes place in the society. Though much of the change he writes about doesn’t happen during the play, the reader is not left with doubts that change will occur.

Dr. Stockmann, Ibsen’s protagonist invests much of his energies, materials wealth and even hope in young people of whom he says: they are the ones to stir up things a bit in future. (Pg6). He finds it necessary to spend time with such people as Hovstad, captain Horster, and Bilings  who have an ambition and are liberal and have active minds.

After Dr. Stockmann makes his discovery, he intends to use these men in agitating for change.

            In the long run, however, Hovstad, Aslaksen, and Billings, controlled and held captive by the compact majority and the subscribers to the peoples messenger fails him. All the forces of the compact majority, the press and the political leaders oppose and declare him an enemy of the people.

Still focused on the change that he finds necessary for his town, Dr. Stockmann disregarding the humiliation he suffers, recollects himself and sets himself on a new path. Change will soon be effected when he has made courageous high minded men in his own school. These men will drive out all the wolves out of the country. It is for this kind of revolution that he accepts to be called a revolutionary.

Theme of change in An Enemy of the People

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Themes in Henrik Ibsen's play: An Enemy of the People

More than any other kind of freedom, an every of the people tackled the freedom of expression. Through Dr. Stockmann, Ibsen seems to be crying against the society and its structures that deny people their freedom of expression.
To peter stockman, Dr. Stockman asks, “is it not the duty of a citizen to let the public share in any new ideas he may have?” (Pg 37)

And to Hovstad he says : “you are the editor and an editor controls his paper I suppose!” This last opinion is only party responded to by Hovstad when he says to Petra; “ou are perfectly right; but an editor cannot always act as he would prefer. He is often obliged to bow to the wishes of the public in unimportant matters”. Hovstad therefore introduces us to another aspect in the field of self expression. There are certain forces in the public that restricts an individual’s freedom.
Closely- following Hovstad’s words to Petra, we find him faced with difficult choices. Aslaksen says: “It is public opinion- the enlightened public – house holders and peoples of that kind who control the newspapers.” saying this, Aslaksen is using his power  over the householders and general public prevail upon Hovstad to reject Dr. Stockman’s article.  Hovstad is therefore not free to express his honest opinion and opts to join Aslaksen in support of peter Stockman rather than face his wrath.
Dr. Stockman, in contrast to Hovstad refuses to bow to the wish of Aslaksen and peter and insists on his freedom of expression.  This pits him against the compact majority and he ends up rejected as An Enemy of the People. He also loses his position as the medical officer of the baths, not to mention his ejection from his house.
Themes in Henrik Ibsen's play: An Enemy of the People

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“Poor leadership is the main cause of many problems in the society.”
Introduction: mention problems caused by poor leadership.  It can be general or specific (should be first paragraphed)

Body
a.    Nepotism is caused by poor leadership.  Peter Stockman appoints his brother Dr. Stockmann as the medical officers of the baths p. 37 – 38

b.    Leaders intimidate and manipulate the people to stop fighting for the truth e.g. the mayor intimidates subordinate member of staff p. 39, others on p. 55 – 59

c.    There is inefficiency and negligence in leadership.  Dr. Stockmann says he had advised against the pipes being laid where they were but nobody listened to him p. 19-others p. 35.

d.    Greed is also portrayed in leaders. The mayor would rather have the tourists die from disease than incur expenses to relay the conduit pipes.   P. 18, 34, 52, 103 -104.

e.    Leaders are corrupt 102 – 103, 35.

f.    The leaders are arrogant. P. 80 P2
Dr. Stockmann refers to other people as ill-bred-strain of animals.
P. 19 – mayor does not know the name of his maid.

g.    Poor leadership leads to the problem of underdevelopment and wastage to taxpayers’ money. Pipes have to be relaid- P-19, P57-58. visitors are getting diseases P. 17 – 18
h.    Poor leadership breeds violence e.g. the one meted on Dr. Stockmann by the crowd. P 87

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“The press has failed in its responsibility.” Drawing your illustrations from An Enemy of the People write an essay in support of this statement
a)    The press is indecisive/ easy to manipulate- Hovstad, Aslaksen and Billing promise to support the doctor fully to inform the public about the rot in the baths. However, they refuse to do so later.
b)    Treacherous- They betray the doctor. They change their view towards him and fail to tell him so until late. They support his rival.
c)    Selfish- According to Hovstad, the initial intention of putting Dr stockmann’s articles on the peoples messenger is to sell more newspapers- not the ideas but out who.
They refuse to support the doctor because they will suffer financially if the baths are shut.
d)    Opportunistic- Hovstad and Aslaksen rush over to Dr. Stockmann  to cash in on what they believe to have been a plot to make money by the doctor and Morten Kiil.
e)    Dishonest- Hovstad admits to Petra that the article he wants translated may be untrue but since it  says what people want to read, it will make the newspaper sell.

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Drawing illustrations from Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of  The People, write an essay in support of the following statement: “ The Love for money and power can make one inhuman”.
-    A general statement on the effect of the love for money and power.
-    A definition of love for money and power. It must be tied to the question
-    Accept any other relevant introduction be it general or contextual.
Content
The candidate should use different characters whose lover for money or power makes them act inhumanly.
    (i)    The Mayor: Peter Stockmann
-     His love for power makes him manipulate the pressmen who end up rejecting the Dr. Stockmails report. They instead publish his.
    -    He doctor Stockmann’s his brother.
-    He claims that the residents will pay for the relaying of the pipes a process which will take two years.
    (ii)    The Pressmen(Hovstad , Billing and Aslaken)
-    They withdraw their support for Dr. Stockmann because they feared for their newspaper as well as the payments for they would have to make as citizens for the relaying of the pipes .
-    They later visit the  doctor to strike a deal with him.
(iii)    Morten kill
-    His tannery being the major pollutant he urges the doctor to manipulate the report.
-    He buys the shares from the baths cheaply hoping to sell them later expensively when the doctor his son – in – law ‘ owns up’ that he was wrong.
(iv)    The town council
-    They are money – minded. When Dr. Stockmann discovers that the baths are contaminated and comes up with a plan of relaying the pipes, they sack him.
-    They would rather risk the health of the town’s people than tell the truth about the baths.
Accept any other relevant well illustrated point.

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Lust and greed for power may lead to environmental degradation,” Discuss with illustrations from Henrik Ibsen's 'An Enemy of the People'
In an attempt to enrich oneself or remain in power or in business, man has done several activities that are
destructive to the environment for example in the play, an Enemy of the People several activities although gainful destroy the water system of the town.  
                 
Officials in the town would like to remain in power. Dr. Stockmann has scientific proof that the water system of the town is polluted and the situation should be corrected but Peter Stockmann sees this as a threat to his leadership and will have nothing to do with that.
-    Collection of revenue. Officials collect revenue from the baths for individual gains and are reluctant to take suggestions meant to rectify the degradation.
-    Gains from tourism. Should the baths be closed down even for repairs, the tourists would stop coming and this would affect the income they generate. The town’s officials are unsupportive to suggestions on closure of the Baths,
-    Investors: investors like Morten Kiil whose firms are polluting the water do not want them rectified or admit liability as they stand to lose profit/
-    Cost of repair: correcting the degradation involves relaying the conduit pipes and would cost a lot of money. For that reason, the mayor and his gangs are unwilling to have the situation remedied.
Businessmen won’t risk losing business. Although initially Hovstad wanted change when he discovers what may happen if the Baths condition is to be remedied he changes otherwise his paper may lose popularity and then he would be out of business

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Betrayal is a common vice in our society. Support this statement, drawing your illustrations from “An Enemy of the people” by Henrik Ibsen
Betrayal can be termed as a breach of the trust placed on a person or a group of people by others. An illustration is where by one’s best friend lets out a secret which the friend never expected to be done/politicians abdicating their responsibility to serve their electorate

• In the play, the town authorities have neglected their duty of ensuring the good health of the citizens. They do this being inconsiderate to the state of the baths.
• The tourists and invalids who visit this town spend huge sums of money on recreation and recuperation. They trust that the water is clean, yet the same water is contaminated with bacteria that cause diseases. This is betrayal of the trust the consumer places on suppliers.
• Peter Stockmann feels bitter that his brother has made the report known to the public. He argues that he is the one who organized for Thomas to be employed as the medical offices of health. For that matter he feels utterly betrayed by his brother arguing that Thomas is ungrateful.
• The masses are manipulated by the mayor into viewing Stockmann as insensitive to their welfare. They get convinced that it is them who shall foot the cost of rebuilding the baths (forty or fifty thousand pounds). It is for this reason that they are led to believe the doctor has betrayed their welfare, crowning him an Enemy of the people. Morten kill gets utterly enraged at the doctor report that the biggest source of pollution comes from his as his son – in – law should not have come up with such a report. He views it as a great form of betrayal.
• Morten kill gets utterly enraged at the doctors report that the biggest source of pollution comes from his tanneries at molledal.  He feels that Thomas as his son-in-law should not have come up with such a report.  He views it as a great form of betrayal.
• Morten kill in revenge purchases shares from the contaminated Baths with the estate he was to bequeath to Katherine and Thomas’ son’s it stems from selfishness.
• The masses insult Dr. Stockmann, tear his best trousers and want him expelled from the town yet he was all along fighting for their welfare. This is betrayal.
• Hovstad, Billing and Aslaksen assure Dr. Stockmann of their support in printing his report in the “People’s Messager”. They even praise his finding and Hovstad says it is a true reflection of the happenings in the town. However they later twin against him terming his report ‘a mere rumour and an exaggeration’ they refuse to print it thus betraying him.

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