The Power

The Power

by

Naomi Alderman

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on The Power makes teaching easy.

Bernie Monke Character Analysis

Bernie is Roxy, Terry, Ricky, and Darrell’s father. Bernie is a crime boss in London, and Roxy admires him for his reputation for violence, recognizing how it protects him. Bernie loves Roxy, but when Roxy discovers that Bernie had Roxy’s mother killed and she ousts him from his business, Bernie does not hesitate to retaliate. He cooks up a plan to have Roxy’s skein removed and surgically implanted into Darrell instead, to restore the power to the men in the family. Thus, he becomes just as corrupted by power as anyone else, doing anything that he can in order to maintain the existing power structure—even if it comes at the cost of his daughter’s life.

Bernie Monke Quotes in The Power

The The Power quotes below are all either spoken by Bernie Monke or refer to Bernie Monke. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Power and Violence Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

The shape of power is always the same; it is the shape of a tree. Root to tip, central trunk branching and re-branching, spreading wider in ever-thinner, searching fingers.

Related Characters: Allie/Eve, Roxy Monke, Margot Cleary, Neil Adam Armon, Bernie Monke
Related Symbols: Tree
Page Number: 3
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19: Roxy Quotes

You can turn money into anything. One, two, three, presto. Turn drugs into influence with Tatiana Moskalev, President of Bessapara. Turn your ability to bring pain and fear into a factory where the authorities will turn a blind eye to whatever you're cooking up there that sends purple-tinged steam into the skies at midnight.

Related Characters: Roxy Monke (speaker), Tatiana Moskalev, Bernie Monke
Page Number: 177
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 43 Quotes

There is a voice in Margot’s head. It says; You can’t get there from here.
She sees it all in that instant, the shape of the tree of power. Root to tip, branching and re-branching. Of course, the old tree still stands. There is only one way, and that is to blast it entirely to pieces.

Related Characters: Margot Cleary, Jocelyn Cleary, The voice , Darrell Monke, Bernie Monke
Related Symbols: Tree
Page Number: 364
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Power LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Power PDF

Bernie Monke Quotes in The Power

The The Power quotes below are all either spoken by Bernie Monke or refer to Bernie Monke. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Power and Violence Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2 Quotes

The shape of power is always the same; it is the shape of a tree. Root to tip, central trunk branching and re-branching, spreading wider in ever-thinner, searching fingers.

Related Characters: Allie/Eve, Roxy Monke, Margot Cleary, Neil Adam Armon, Bernie Monke
Related Symbols: Tree
Page Number: 3
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19: Roxy Quotes

You can turn money into anything. One, two, three, presto. Turn drugs into influence with Tatiana Moskalev, President of Bessapara. Turn your ability to bring pain and fear into a factory where the authorities will turn a blind eye to whatever you're cooking up there that sends purple-tinged steam into the skies at midnight.

Related Characters: Roxy Monke (speaker), Tatiana Moskalev, Bernie Monke
Page Number: 177
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 43 Quotes

There is a voice in Margot’s head. It says; You can’t get there from here.
She sees it all in that instant, the shape of the tree of power. Root to tip, branching and re-branching. Of course, the old tree still stands. There is only one way, and that is to blast it entirely to pieces.

Related Characters: Margot Cleary, Jocelyn Cleary, The voice , Darrell Monke, Bernie Monke
Related Symbols: Tree
Page Number: 364
Explanation and Analysis: