“Absolute Power” by David Baldacci: William Goldman’s screenplay for Clint Eastwood’s movie of novel supports interpretation of split personality

The novel includes super-burglar Luther Whitney; Kate Whitney, Luther’s daughter; and Jack Graham, the novel’s hero. Kate is Jack’s former girlfriend. She has long been estranged from her father. But Jack has always admired Luther, because, in his opinion, Luther, although a career criminal, has excellent character.

How can Luther be both a career criminal and a person of excellent character? It is never explained. He just is. It is the hero’s opinion of him and how he is portrayed in the novel.

Multiple personality is one possible explanation for Luther’s dichotomous, criminal/admirable, character. But the novel does not give him any other symptoms of multiple personality (e.g., voices or memory gaps). So to support that interpretation, I will cite the movie version of the novel.

In the movie, the novel’s hero, Jack Graham, is simply omitted! In effect, the hero of  David Baldacci’s novel has been incorporated into (like an alternate personality) the Luther Whitney character of William Goldman’s screenplay. The movie doesn’t explicitly raise the issue of multiple personality, but it is a feature of other works by William Goldman.

Search “William Goldman.”

Various other characters in the novel have self-contradictory personalities, too. But since this plot-driven thriller is more interested in action than psychology, its multiple personality is subtler than in literary novels.

1. David Baldacci. Absolute Power. New York, Warner Books, 1996.

2. Wikipedia. “Absolute Power (film).” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absolute_Power_(film)