HỆ THỐNG bầu cử ở mỹ và một số GIÁ TRỊ văn hòa mỹ gắn LIỀN với vấn đề CHÍNH TRỊ QUA TIỂU THUYẾT điểm dối lừa DAN BROWN

This graduation paper focuses on the analysis of the picture of American election system in the late 20th century and at the beginning of 21st century and some American core values as described in the novel “Deception point”, written by the famous thrilling novelist Dan Brown. This research includes three main parts with various aspects in the contents. The first part is introduction with some main reasons, aims and scope of the study. Part 2 of this thesis is devoted to some literature review in chapter 1 that include some theory about literature, novel the literature genre and some information about the writer Dan Brown and his famous novel “Deception Point”. Furthermore, Part 2 also concerns with the brief descriptions of American election system and some national core values. After that, the researcher takes an investigation of the election system and those values that can be seen through the novel. The last part of this research includes the conclusions for the whole thesis which sum up the main ideas that are analyzed in the previous parts, some limitations of the current research and suggestions for further studies of this novel.

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I ABSTRACT II GRAPH AND ABBREVIATIONS III

PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1 RATIONALE 1

2 AIMS 1

3 SCOPE OF THE STUDIES 1

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT 2

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 2

1.1 LITERATURE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH A CULTURE 2

1.1.1 DEFINITION OF LITERATURE 2

1.1.2 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LITERATURE AND CULTURE 3

1.2 LITERATURE GENRE: NOVEL 4

1.2.1 DEFINITION 4

1.2.2 ELEMENTS OF A NOVEL 4

1.2.2.1 Plot 5

1.2.2.2 Characters 5

1.2.2.3 Conflict 6

1.2.2.4 Settings 6

1.3 DAN BROWN AND THE NOVEL DECEPTION POINT 7

1.3.1 THE AUTHOR DAN BROWN 7

1.3.2 THE NOVEL “DECEPTION POINT” 8

1.3.2.1 Setting 9

1.3.2.2 Main characters 9

1.3.2.3 Plot 9

CHAPTER 2: AMERICAN ELECTION SYSTEM AND SOME NATIONAL VALUES 10

2.1 AMERICAN ELECTION SYSTEM 10

2.1.1 PRIMARY ROUND 11

2.1.2 THE NATIONAL CONVENTION 12

2.1.3 THE GENERAL ELECTION 12

2.2 ELECTION FINANCE 13

2.3 SOME AMERICAN VALUES 13

2.3.1 DEMOCRACY 14

2.3.2 LIBERTY 15

2.3.3 EQUALITY 15

2.3.4 TOLERANCE 16

CHAPTER 3: AMERICAN ELECTION SYSTEM AND SOME VALUES SEEN

THROUGH THE NOVEL “DECEPTION POINT” 16

3.1 AMERICAN ELECTION SYSTEM SEEN THROUGH THE NOVEL 16

3.1.1 PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ROUND 17

3.1.1.1 Winning the Party Nomination (Primary round) 17

3.1.1.2 The requirements of presidential characteristics 19

3.1.2 COMPETING FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 23

3.1.2.1 Political campaign strategies by Senator Sexton and Republic Party 23

3.1.2.2 Political strategies by President Zach Herney and Democratic Party 26

3.2 DEMOCRACY AND SOME OTHER VALUES SEEN THROUGH THE NOVEL 30

3.2.1 AMERICAN LAWS ENSURE THE DEMOCRATIC ATMOSPHERE 30

3.2.1.1 Divided government and limited time of presidential rime 30

3.2.1.2 Limited Legal amount of donation for presidential election 32

3.2.2 THE VALUES OF DEMOCRACY, LIBERTY, TOLERANCE AND EQUALITY IN SOME CHARACTERS OF THE NOVEL 37

3.2.2.1 Rachel Sexton with high appreciation of Democracy as well as love for liberty and tolerance 37

3.2.2.2 Gabrielle Ashe- a colored American woman with the love for Democracy and equality 40

PART 3: CONCLUSION, LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTION FOR FURTHER STUDIES 42

1 CONCLUSION 42

2 LIMITATIONS AND SUGESTION FOR FUTHER STUDIES 44

REFERENCES 45

This graduation paper focuses on the analysis of the picture of Americanelection system in the late 20th century and at the beginning of 21st century and someAmerican core values as described in the novel “Deception point”, written by thefamous thrilling novelist Dan Brown This research includes three main parts withvarious aspects in the contents

The first part is introduction with some main reasons, aims and scope of thestudy Part 2 of this thesis is devoted to some literature review in chapter 1 that includesome theory about literature, novel- the literature genre and some information aboutthe writer Dan Brown and his famous novel “Deception Point” Furthermore, Part 2also concerns with the brief descriptions of American election system and somenational core values After that, the researcher takes an investigation of the electionsystem and those values that can be seen through the novel The last part of thisresearch includes the conclusions for the whole thesis which sum up the main ideasthat are analyzed in the previous parts, some limitations of the current research andsuggestions for further studies of this novel

GRAPH AND ABBREVIATIONS

1 Graph

Graph 1: The elements of a plot

2 Abbreviation

FEC: Federal Election Commission

PACs: Political Action Committees

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

Dan Brown is the author of numerous best-selling novels, including The DaVinci Code, which has become one of the best-selling novels of all time as well as thesubject of heated debate among readers and scholars I have first known about DanBrown through the Film Da Vinci Code which is developed from the novel with thesame title At that time, I was deeply impressed by the author’s rich experiencereflected in the film Being attracted by Dan Brown’s way of writing with thrillingtwists and turns, I was then indulged myself in reading his incredible series of fiction.Among them, the novel “Deception Point” has fascinated my imagination about thereality of American Democratic society as well as its political issue so much Thus, itcame to my mind on carrying out a research about this fascinating novel whenchoosing subject for my graduation paper

The thesis aims to find out some features of American politics at the end of the

20th century and beginning of the 21st century by analyzing the national Democracyseen through the election system focusing on two rounds: primary and competing forgeneral campaign Furthermore, an analysis of some core beliefs and values ofAmerica which are attached to political issue of this country is also included in thisgraduation paper

This thesis only focuses on small aspects of the whole novel, that is, AmericanDemocracy and some other American values attached to politics and election system

as seen through the novel “Deception Point” written by Dan Brown That is the reasonwhy this research does not cover other issues depicted in the novel The main

discussion of the thesis contains things about American politics, including Americandemocracy, and American election system and election campaign

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 1: Literature Review

1.1 LITERATURE AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH A CULTURE

1.1.1 DEFINITION OF LITERATURE

In general, depending on the contexts and the purposes of the users, literature isdefined from different perspectives.Normally, in widest sense, literature is referred toanything that is in written form We will come up with the perspective of “literature”with the definition from Oxford Dictionary which refers Literature as:

“Literary work or production, the activity or profession of a man ofletters; the realm of letters”

(Oxford English Dictionary, 1989)

In this sense, we can see a general agreement that literature foregroundslanguage, and uses it in artistic ways as Terry Eagleton, an English literary theorist andcritic, once said: “Literature transforms and intensifies ordinary language, deviatessystematically from everyday speech” (Eagleton, 1996, P.2) Furthermore, for someother theorists, a work that is called literature must display excellence in its form andstyle

Besides, literature is realized as a body of writings in prose or verse, animaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value However,literature is not only a perfect written work but it is also the slice of life that reflectsthe human experiences Literature is something that reflects society, makes us thinkabout ourselves and our society and allows us to enjoy language and beauty

Although literature is defined from different point of view, the literal worksshare the following initial characteristics: Literature is imaginative, Literatureexpresses thoughts and feelings, Literature deals with life experiences and Literatureuse words in a powerful and effect manner Furthermore, any work of literature carriesthe same function that is to pleasure the readers.

1.1.2 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LITERATURE AND CULTURE

The functions of literature have been discussed from the very early timesamong the critics Despite the fact that they differ among one and the others regardingthe other functions of literature, they all stand the same point that the main functions ofliterature are to serve as an active- engaging role and a passive-reflective role

The active role represents the very action of reading This role is a significantpart of an individual’s development From reading, an individual forms ideas andconcepts about the world in which he lives These ideas and concepts form togetherinto an ideology of sort which stems individual motivation, action, and engagement.Generally, through a reading of literature aspects of life are widened and deepened,experiences are also enriched and interests are satisfied In this way, the function ofliterature is to:

“interpret life immediately about us and guides us to the life that “liesbeyond the narrow confines our existence”

(Grace E Storm (May, 1945) Areas of Children Literature Retrieved

on April, 19 th 2013 from the website

http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/998417?

The reflective role of literature differs from the former one in the way that it is athing observed, rather than a thing done Literature has the responsibility to illustratethe history of ideologies, of thought, and of action It heightens the awareness of thereader to certain aspects of the society It allows the individual to understand how asociety functioned and why it functioned that way For example, an individual readingthrough Ernst Bloch will peer into the hearts and minds of the German people duringthe early 19th and late 20th century There, one can find the ideas of the Germanideology and how it functioned in central Europe during the given time period

Besides the normal way of thought about the functions of literature that is topleasure the readers, literature has two main functions accounting as active andreflective ones Overall, thanks to the existence of literature, we have chance to takepleasure in and following as well as participating in the imaginary but real-lifereflective adventures and experience

1.2 LITERATURE GENRE: NOVEL

1.2.1 DEFINITION

The term “novel” is rooted from the Italian word “novella” and the plural ofLatin “novellus”, a late variant of “novus”, meaning "new" The novella was a kind ofenlarged anecdote like those to be found in the 14th-century Italian classic Boccaccio'sDecameroneach which exemplifies the etymology well enough This word was onceused to describe a short and compact realistic tale popular during the medieval period.The stories are little new things, novelties, freshly minted diversions, toys; they are notreworkings of known fables or myths, and they are lacking in weight and moralearnestness

1.2.2 ELEMENTS OF A NOVEL

As having been discussed so far, a novel aims for a comprehensive unifiedeffect in which all of its elements intertwist with one and the others to make the novel

appealing and worth reading to the readers Normally, the novelists use five mainelements that can be listed as follow: plot, characters, conflicts, setting, and theme

1.2.2.1 Plot

Plot is the core of the whole novel Plot helps the author to illustrate the storyand its underlying meaning According to E.M Forster, an English novelist, plot isdefined as a “narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality” In fact, plot is aseries of events selected and arranged by the author of a work of fiction A plot doesnot depend solely on the sequence of events, but on the relationship among the createdevents Each would be the reason of this event and the results of the others at the sametime The elements of a plot can be described as the following line graph

(Graph 1: The elements of a plot Adapted from The Relationship Among Character, Plot, and Theme Retrieved on April, 20 th , 2013, from the website www.pdesas.org Copyright 2013 by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania)

1.2.2.2 Characters

Novel writers hire a variety of characters to weave their own stories They arethe fictional figures who take part in the flow of the plot There is no need for the

writers to create the characters physically realistic because they are made of wordrather than of flesh In the novel, beyond the standard definitions of protagonist (themain character in a literary work) and antagonist (the main character or force thatopposes the protagonist in a literary work), recognizing the types of characters and theparts they play while reading an interesting story can add to the experience Besidesthose two main types of characters, they are also divided into some further categorieslike confidante, dynamic character, flat character, round character, foil and staticcharacter.

1.2.2.3 Conflict

Being the creator of the characters, the novelist must be the master of usingconflict As conflict is the key component that weaves all the element of the novel alltogether, it is necessary for the writer to add conflict to the plot of the novel to makethe story much thornier The readers will find the story worth reading because conflict

is what makes the readers’ hearts beat faster and encourages them to turn the pages

Most novelists grasp the reader’s attention by having the conflicts developedtogether with the flow of the novel Conflict depicted in the novel is not the crisis orwhat happens to its characters It is not the battle, the argument or the deception but itrests upon the characters’ thoughts and feelings toward the events they experience.Conflict is found within the moral choices of the characters, in their emotional reaction

to the events that swirl about them Thus, conflict is divided into two main typesincluding internal conflict and external conflict Internal Conflict is a struggle thatoccurs within the main character This struggle happens within the character's ownmind External Conflict is a struggle that the main character has with anothercharacter, with society, or with a natural force

1.2.2.4 Settings

The other element that contributes to the success of one novel is the setting ofthe work Setting is where the plot takes place which fulfills most of the core aspects

of a story Without a place there is no story Setting serves multipurpose roles fromhelping with plot, determining and describing character to providing metaphoric links

to theme There are several aspects to the novel setting which can be counted asmeasuring circumstances, amplification and contradiction and weather

Measuring circumstances: Circumstances in novel modify the nature of time

and place Thus they refer to the period of history and geographical location of theplots Different circumstances help the writer to feature the characters’ conflicts,aspirations and destinies in unique flavor

Amplification and contradiction: The novelist may put his or her characters in a

setting that may amplify their emotions or contradict them, depending on thecircumstance of the characters, their mood, disposition and tendencies

Weather: Although this is not as important as the other elements in the novel,

its effects can somehow make the readers understand the characters' feeling In fact,weather conveys the mood and tone of both story and characters To a writer, weather

is not just part of the scenery it is also a device used in plot and theme For example,with the influence of the weather aspect, the readers can understand how the desertsetting and the hot winds evoke mood, characters, tension, theme and ultimately story

1.3 DAN BROWN AND THE NOVEL DECEPTION POINT

1.3.1 THE AUTHOR DAN BROWN

Dan Brown is the talent novelist of the most thrilling novels Brown's novels arepublished in 52 languages around the world with 200 million copies in print Thisfamous writer is a graduate of Amherst College and Phillips Exeter Academy, where

he spent time as an English teacher before turning his efforts fully to writing

Dan Brown was born on June 22, 1964 in Exeter, N.H in a family of threechildren with a mathematics teacher at Phillips Exeter Academy and a church organistmother, who was a professional musician Dan Brown was raised on a prep schoolcampus where he developed a fascination with the paradoxical interplay between

science and religion This has a great influence on the ideology in his novels later on.Brown then attended Amherst College, graduating with a degree in English andSpanish in 1986 and spent several subsequent years attempting to establish himself as

a singer-song writer and pianist with only marginal success In 1996, Dan’s interest incode-breaking and covert government agencies led him to write his first novel,

“Digital Fortress”, which quickly became the national best-selling eBook Brown’sfollow-up techno-thriller made him continue his career with “Angels and Demons”with religion thriller set within a Swiss physics lab and Vatican and “Deception Point”,centered on similar issues of morality in politics, national security, and classifiedtechnology

With the talent of making the novel full of turns and twist, Dan Brown is one ofthe most famous American detective authors That is the reason why he receives a lotreader’s compliments like Library Journal with the praise: “Brown is among the mostintelligent and dynamic of authors in the thriller genre In this dazzling high-techadventure, he has skillfully blended his own wit and style with the rip-roaringadventure of Cussler and the modern technology of Clancy Highly recommended.”

1.3.2 THE NOVEL “DECEPTION POINT”

Deception Point is another fast-paced thriller of Dan Brown- the man behindthe success of The Da Vinci Code The novel is about the Americans’ facing anotherPresidential election with two contrasting personalities It is not an incident that the St.Petersburg Times gives Brown a great praise for his novel: “A taut, fast-paced, barn-burner of a book There are no weaknesses in the story or storytelling” Generally, inDeception Point, the readers find it unputdownable because they are attracted by anexciting plot of political issues with a fast and thrilling moving pace Dan Brown notonly testifies his ability through creating such amazing situations and bringing along abreakneck feeling to the readers all over the world, through the novel “DeceptionPoint” he also introduces a bright spot in American politics as well as its core value

1.3.2.1 Setting

The setting of this novel is at the late 20th century and at the beginning of 21stcentury This period has seen the giant leap as well as important discoveries in scienceand technology (EOS, PODS…), which turn out to be the political weapons for thepoliticians in this novel

1.3.2.2 Main characters

In Deception Point, not only is the interesting plot referred to but it is also itsown characters with complex and complete personality that take part in the flow of theplot, making the success of the novel They are President Zach Herney, SenatorSexton, Rachel Sexton, Gabrielle Ash, William Pickering, Marjorie Tench, LawrenceEsktrom and four civilian scientists Each individual brings along his or her owncharacteristics that both help Dan Brown to enlarge his plot and make the readersbelieve in his or her life beyond the boundaries of the story told in this novel Enjoyingthis novel, the readers will find out various types of characters which can becategorized into different blazons of characters that must include confidante, dynamiccharacter and round character Obviously, in this novel, the characters are created withmultiple characteristics which mean, each character can be categorized into more thanone group

1.3.2.3 Plot

Deception Point is a rocket- fast thrilling novel with a lot of turns and twists inits plot The story is about the presidential campaign with two candidates- theincumbent President Zach Herney supporting for NASA and Senator Sexton raisingthe slogan of “Stop spending Start mending.” Thus, NASA is considered to be thepolitical issue in the election In the first days of the campaign, Senator Sexton seems

to have the advantages over the incumbent President However, when a new NASAsatellite spots the evidence of an astonishingly rare object in the Arctic ice, thereappears a reverse in the polling process of the campaign In fact, a victory has

profound implications for the policy of Zach Herney and the impending presidentialelection After that discovery, Mr President sends Rachel Sexton to the Milne IceShelf to verify the authenticity of NASA’s success Together with a team of fourcivilian scientists, Rachel uncovers the truth about the existence of the outer life which

is the evidence of a political trickery that can threaten to plunge the world intocontroversy However, they are then attacked by DELTA Force controlled by amysterious power in the government who want to hide the truth After that they learnWilliam Pickering- the director of NASA is the one that is behind the masterful playcreating the most shocking deception ever

Chapter 2: American election system and some

national values

2.1 AMERICAN ELECTION SYSTEM

The most essential point of American political life must be the presidentialelection For the American voters and political observers, the process leads to thefateful Big Tuesday once in every four years is the pinnacle of the nation’s politicalcycle In fact, the election serves as a unifying event of Democracy coming at theconclusion of an elaborate pageant of the public life despite their repetition of everyfour years United States Election Process basically determines the number of thepotential candidates competing in the election, out of which two winners are declared

as the President and Vice President of the American nation for four-year tenure.However, it must be remembered that Presidential Election in the country is conducted

at the various state levels and not a matter dealt by the national federal government.Generally, the process of choosing American president contains three main stagesclassified as primary round, national convention and general election campaign thatare discussed as follow

2.1.1 PRIMARY ROUND

Primary round is the first step in choosing the party’s candidate Unlike mostcountries in the world in which the candidates are chosen by the party, American lawregulates that it is the voters who have the right to declare their support for a certaincompetitor which is in the pool of the eligible

Primary gives chances for the voters to raise their voice and have the expression

of their candidate preference It will then turn into the share of delegates for eachcandidate from the state to the national party convention The representative is the onethat receives more poll-voting than the other opponents within the party do Somestates in the US like Iowa hold the caucuses, which are the local meetings of the partyactivists In caucuses, the party members gather to discuss the candidates and to selectdelegates to the next round of party conventions Depending on the party rules of aparticular state, delegates selected at a caucus might go on to a county or stateconvention before attending the national convention in the summer Mr WayneSteger, an associate professor of political science at DePaul University, says that thisprocess of gathering and talking distinguishes caucuses from primaries, although theyserve the same function While the primaries allow people to simply indicate at theballot box which delegates they support, caucuses are more complex and work byselecting delegates through a number of stages

To become the US President, one candidate must meet certain demands Theyare set out in the Constitution, Article II, section 1, clause 5 and state out three mainqualifications:

“No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the sametime of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of thePresident; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not haveattained to the Age of thirty five years and been fourteen years a resident within theUnited States”

Overall, the primary round provides a base to provide the most qualifiedcandidates from each party to the White House which is close to the nationalconvention People who have more advantages in the round must satisfy the politicaldemands including the political experience and personal characteristics

2.1.2 THE NATIONAL CONVENTION

National conventions have been held in August in recent election years, andthey have to show both Republican and Democratic parties at their very best as themedia coverage of these events are immense Whether these conventions are a vitalpart of the American political structure, though, is open to debate

It is said that no part of the selective process has undergone more dramaticchange than the presidential nominating convention In this stage, each state of theAmerica arrives at the hall, holding their banners and slogans to declare whichdelegates they are supporting The national party conventions have evolved in theelection campaign over the past half century and now they are considered as the forumfor officially authorizing the results of the primary season, rather than the place wherethe nomination is actually chosen The national Convention serves several functions.First, it gives the two parties the chance to ratify their standing point in their policywhen there is any disagreement about the platforms Besides, it is also at theconvention round that the candidates can strengthen their chances to win the generalelection campaign

2.1.3 THE GENERAL ELECTION

The general election comes after the nomination procedure In this round, thecandidates have to show an appealing political policy to the voters The candidatesfrom two parties and their staffs have to make careful strategies to win the election.After that the nominees have the televised debate about important issues and show thevoters the reason why they should be elected instead of their opponent from the otherparty’s nominee The round of general election sees a heavy spending on nationwide

television publicity This helps the two candidates to enlarge their images among thecitizens and to raise the voters’ awareness of their policy On the Election Day,citizens of the United States of America can vote by popular ballot for candidates forpublic offices at local, state and national levels.After votes are recognized, the processmoves to the Electoral College In this process, the election of a president and vicepresident is accomplished Electoral College system is considered as “the framers ofthe Constitution conceived as a compromise between selection by Congress and DirectElection by popular vote.” (Benenson, Bob (2008) P 166)

2.2 ELECTION FINANCE

There is a strong link between money and politics in the US In fact, the cost ofpolitical campaign in the US has risen sharply, creating intense controversies in theway candidates raise and spend their money Not only does finance for election assistthe candidates to pay for the cost of the campaign but it is also an evidence to show thevolume of supports that they receive from the voters According to Bob Benenson, inorder to create the equality and fairness in the election campaign the “Congress, statelegislator and lawmaking bodies have responded by adopting laws requiring disclosure

of campaign contributions and expenditures and limiting contributions by individualsand organizations” In fact, the government has tried to put limitations to the amount

of legal donation that each candidate can have which can be changed due to theinflation rate of the country in different years

2.3 SOME AMERICAN VALUES

From its birth, America has been considered as the country of multi-culture.People immigrated to this land to pursue their American dream in which they havechance to rise from poverty to the greatest wealth, to live in freedom and democracy.Besides, according to Anne Marie Slaughter, Dean of the Woodrow Wilson School atPrinceton and Bert G Kerstetter Professor of Politics and International Affairs,America is not just a place, a people and a country but it is also an idea: “It is the idea

of a nation founded on a set value of universal values- self-evident truths that come notfrom blood, or soil or skin color or wealth but from the fact of our common humanity.

It is the idea of a nation bound together not by territory or religion or ethnicity but by aself- conscious commitment to shared values, for ourselves and for all peoples” Based

on that concept, the values underpinning the idea that is America are included:Democracy, Liberty, Equality, Justice, Tolerance, Humility and Faith However, in theframe of this graduation paper, the researcher just focuses on analyzing four mainvalues that can be identified from the novel Deception Point; they are democracy,equality, liberty and tolerance

2.3.1 DEMOCRACY

The term “Democracy” means ruling by people It is derived from two Greekwords, “demos” which means people and “krato” which means rule or power.Basically, democratic government has two forms: direct of pure democracy andrepresentative or indirect democracy America is the country who followsrepresentative democracy in which the government’s decision is made by men andwomen elected by the people to represent them Democracy has become the USbackbone value which assures the self- government by all citizens This means, allAmericans have the right to vote Thus, Democracy is well reflected in the stability of

a free and fair election system However, according to Slaughter, “Democracy does notdepend on the elections alone” but the Checks and Balances are also the essential part

of the system that the Founders designed to ensure the preservation of AmericanDemocracy Elections are the primary means of assuring popular representation inwhich the citizens choose their own representatives to serve their interests anddemands Besides, the Founders also wanted the whole country to be put under thedirect surveillance of the people In this way, the freedom of expression, the equality,justice, humanity and faith come in

2.3.2 LIBERTY

If Democracy is the backbone value of the whole nation, Liberty is at everyheart of the American identity Liberty is defined as the freedom of mind and body forthe individual citizens and the freedom of the country from any foreign rule TheAmerican concept of Liberty is found on the freedom of expression In this way,people are free to think and say what they think This means that every citizen has theright to commune with his or her own soul to decide the issues based on the deeprooted beliefs The Liberty is also well reflected in the freedom of conscience In thiscase, liberty is depicted as the freedom to decide what one believes and expresses thebeliefs through worship, writing and public proclamation In this sense, Liberty is anessential instrument for establishing and maintaining a stable Democracy

2.3.3 EQUALITY

In the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Thomas Jefferson emphasized:

“We hold the truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal” This impliesthat from the beginning of the country, the Founders paid much attention to thecreation of equality for everyone That is the reason why so many immigrants havedawn to this country They believe that everyone has chance to succeed in herebecause their right of freedom is assured From the early days of the US, the Founders

“embraced equality as a political principle, the principle that no men were inherentlyordained to rule over other men” (Slaughter (2007) P.75) Thus, political equalitybegins with the value of equality in the eye of law This means the citizens receive theequal protection of the laws to fulfill their happiness and the right to participate inchoosing the government Americans citizens are protected with the social equality inwhich they are created equal chance to “make good, regardless of birth or breeding”.Americans believe that each individual should have an equal chance to be successful,

to enter the race to his or her success and compete against each other to win

2.3.4 TOLERANCE

America depends on the tolerance for its very survival as an enormously diversedemocracy Tolerance does not have the same meaning as “liking” A person cansomehow disagree with the other point of view but he or she can tolerate it, especiallywhen he or she lives in a country with high appreciation for democracy In fact,democracy assures the other core values of America that create chances for them toraise their voice and fulfill what they pursue Furthermore, it also requires people toseek facts, discuss them with the other citizens and have a kind consideration foropposing opinions and a tolerant attitude for those who differ

CHAPTER 3: AMERICAN ELECTION SYSTEM AND SOME VALUES SEEN THROUGH THE

NOVEL “DECEPTION POINT”

“There is no excitement elsewhere in the world, short of war, to match theexcitement of American Presidential Election Campaign” From the researcher’s point

of view, not only does election system in America open up a new period for thecountry, it also depicts a picture marvelously colored with the national values Onstudying carefully the presidential election system, the researcher receives a lot offirst- hand experience of American Democracy which is successfully illustrated in theelection system, the law and some characters in the novel Furthermore, some valuesincluding liberty, tolerance and equality attached to the election process, which arestrongly rooted in each American, are also considered to be the appreciable elements

of the whole novel

3.1 AMERICAN ELECTION SYSTEM SEEN THROUGH THE NOVEL

The basic process of selecting American President is spelled out in the U.SConstitution and they have been modified a bit over time Normally, to understand

what happens in the electoral process, people must read a lot of books focusing onAmerican laws and Political issues and achieve the theory that makes up a black-white political picture However, Dan Brown brings a new atmosphere of political life

in America to his readers With Deception Point, there is no need to experience thejejune readings because this novel depicts a colored political vigorous canvas.Although the Electoral process appears in the novel from a close- up angle with twomain stages including the primary and competing for the general campaign, itsuccessfully goes to the heart of every reader It goes without saying that after readingthis novel, it is easy to identify the road to the White House is always long, rough andcomplicated

3.1.1 PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ROUND

The primary round in American presidential election is considered to be thefirst step of choosing a party’s candidate Generally, Primary round gives voters anopportunity to express their candidate preferences The tabulation of these preferencestranslates into a share of delegates for each candidate from the states to the nationalparty convention Throughout the incidents in the novel, it is apparent for the readers

to identify what happens within the American political War and recognize the neededcharacteristics of the candidates to satisfy the presidential ambitions

3.1.1.1 Winning the Party Nomination (Primary round)

In order to get the right to be the representative of the Party for the presidentialcampaign, each candidate must win the Party Nomination With a brief description ofthe Nomination in Democratic and Republic Party process, Dan Brown makes itpossible for the readers to conceive that Primary election has numerous participatorycomponents but it retains an important element of indirect democracy

The primary round of the election campaign is mentioned in the first chapter inwhich the readers see the victory of Senator Sexton in the Party nomination when he

defeats all twelve delegates in Republic Party on the primary round and becomes theparty representative to compete with the opponent of the other Party

“The Senator was a regular here and currently one of the country’s most famous men.Last week, having swept all twelve Republican primaries on Super Tuesday, theSenator was virtually guaranteed his party’s nomination for President of the UnitedStates”

Within Republic party, US Democracy is assured by giving the members equalchances to dominate and lead their party through all obstacles on the way to the WhiteHouse In the other words, Democracy grants an invisible hand of competition amongthe candidates Normally, the Primary season furnishes the contestants with forum todebate current political issue and critique one another as well as candidates of theincumbent Party Thus, it is crucial for the competitors to prepare a certain politicalstanding point to win the party nomination From what proceeds in the primary round,the readers can draw an inference that within the Party, twelve Republicans must stateout their political views and campaign strategies to compete with the others so thatthey can become the representative running for the presidential position This will helpthe voters to choose the most qualified candidate in each party for the nation’s highestoffice Twelve members in Republic party are conceded the right to raise their voiceand discuss their political issues within the party; nonetheless, not all of them canbecome the party’s delegates In the end, after identifying the political potential ofSenator Sexton, the citizens bring their ballot to support him Being selected as themost appropriate nominee of Republic Party, Senator Sexton is expected to representthe interest of the whole constituents which helps to form the indirect Democracy fromthe very primordial during the election

Unlike Republic Party, the primary round of the election in the incumbentPresident’s Party is carried differently It comes as a fact that because the Party doesnot want to admit they made a wrong decision to choose their representative four years

earlier, the incumbent President has more favorable chances in his reelection than theother members in his party That is the reason why President Zach Herney apparentlybecomes the party dominant Thus, the case of Mr President must be accepted by theother members in his own party.

Generally, to gain the Party representative right, the candidate like SenatorSexton has to compete with many other members However, the case is different withthe Party of the incumbent President like Zach Herney who receives the privileges and

it goes without saying he is obviously dominant the Democratic Party Overall,primary round is a fundamental tool to depict the indirect American Democracy inwhich the selected executors of the two parties, on behalf of their constituents, willmake decisions to outline the strategies to win the election

3.1.1.2 The requirements of presidential characteristics

To become the presidential candidates is not easy for anyone That’s whypeople say “Many are called but few are chosen” Overcoming many opponents togain the domination position in the party, President Zach Herney and Senator Sextonmust satisfy the political qualities which include personal characteristics and politicalexperience as the law has regulated

For Mr Sedgewich Sexton, he has the ability to attract and impress the otherswith his appearance Under the pen of Dan Brown, Senator Sexton turns up as a kindman with “silver haired, silver- tongued political animal who had been anointed withthe slick look soap opera doctor” It is obvious that his appearance plays an importantpart in his campaign A look of soap opera doctor means a good guy who always lets ahelping hand for the other people Thus, his good looking makes people believe thatthe new president has the ability to bring and serve the best things for the benefits ofthe whole nation This physical appearance is also a gift for Sexton in his politicalcareer because it helps him to create trust among American citizens Besides, his

“penetrating eyes and refined carriage” have a great power to attract the voters His

penetrating eyes are also an advantage for the senator as “penetrating eye” is thesymbol of the truth People with penetrating eyes are the ones who dare to see throughthe truth, evaluate the situation and state out the ways to deal with difficulties Thus,

he can “open a window to an impassioned soul and extend a bond to trust to all” That

is the reason why he is supported by a huge number of citizens in the campaign and

“he was quickly gaining” the country’s trust but not his daughter- Rachel Sexton’s.Even his daughter feels that his eyes are the gift which can help him to step in theWhite House Threshold Gabrielle has the same feeling as Rachel when she seesSenator Sexton looks presidential through “his handsome features and perfect attire”.After all, his physical appearance assists and consolidates his viewpoint towardspolitics which is “it’s all about trust” As in politics trust is among the key factors ofthe candidates’ success, receiving the “nature gift”, which is the physical looking,absolutely does good for Mr Sexton since the very beginning of his campaign

From the first days of the election campaign, Senator Sexton exposes himself inthe politics as a man with good family’s background to create the preferable positionwith the aim of gaining poll in the election However, there is a contradiction betweenSenator Sexton’s appearance and his inner thought While he looks so good in hisappearance, he is “cold, calculating side of his mind” with a daring ambition to run therace to the White House As the voters may base on the family background of thecandidates to vote, Senator Sexton always appears in the popularity as a man of thefamily This is revealed in the interview with Ralph Sneeden from Washington Post.Being asked about his initiative of equal salaries for women as well as tax cuts for newfamily, he says the main the reason is that he is “a huge fan of strong women andstrong family” Even when he makes up a meeting with the nation’s ten largest medianetwork to reveal “the scandal of the decade”, he still gets every opportunity to enlargehis attitude towards the family He stops his announcement to see his daughter with theold reason of “Family first” He also shows his grieve for his wife’s death with amiserable face when he holds a small conference to announce that his wife had passed

away in a crash during Thanksgiving Day: “I only wish that I had been home for herthis weekend This never would have happened” It comes as a fact that being a man offamily model gives Senator Sexton a lot of advantages which is proved by the largeamount of “sympathy votes” during the Party nomination.

Like his opponent, the incumbent President Zach Herney has outstandingqualifications to become the leader of the US in four years and continue to run the racefor his reelection However, Dan Brown depicts Zach Herney in a different way inwhich he focuses more on his talent rather than his physical looking

Unlike Senator Sexton, throughout his physical appearance, the readers areimpressed with Mr President as an unimposing man He does not have the presidentiallooking but comes on the scene like any other plain men From his physical looking tohis casual dressing with “blue jeans, a polo shirt, and L.L Bean hiking boots”, hecreates his own image of a friendly man That is the reason why no one can mistake

“the man’s effortless warmth and amiable smile” though he is skewed in the work ofpolitical cartoonists This does a favor for himself as he can achieve the reliabilityfrom the other people Furthermore, through his eye mirroring “sincerity and dignity atall the time” the others find that as a president he will serve the interest and do the bestthing for the whole nation Thus, “it was said that if you met Zach Herney once, youwould walk to the ends of the earth for him” Overall, Zach Herney comes up with anaffable image which helps him to create a cordial atmosphere This makes up a greatsuccess for Zach Herney, especially when he makes some intercourse with the voters

In President Herney, people not only see his easygoing countenance but theyare also impressed by his political talent Zach Herney has a good command ofdiplomacy which is about people’s skills but Zach “has had it as a gift” This can beclearly inferred from the conversation between Zach and Rachel Zach knows how tocreate familiar atmosphere for Rachel, sweeping away tension and uncomfortablenessshe has when talking to the most powerful man of the country: “The President’s