Running head: POWER AND PRIVILEGE

Power and Privilege: Who Has It?

Walter Ethan Cagle
Wake Forest University

POWER AND PRIVILEGE

Power and Privilege: Who Has It?

Beginning in September 2016, the cries of Charlotte protesters began to ring out at the
injustices experienced by black Americans, specifically focusing on the issue of police brutality.
Although such protests did not begin occurring in Charlotte until this time, protests and
demonstrations have been occurring across the United States for months prior, as case after case
of injustice has come to the attention of the public. In these specific political and social instances,
it is abundantly apparent where power and privilege is not fully present: the black American
community has not been afforded the same experiencethe same power, resources, or safety
that has been afforded their white American brethren. Acknowledging that such questions of
power and privilege are present within our schools, communities, and nation, approaching this
topic through literature becomes so much more pertinent to the lives of students. While
pondering on the discussion of power and privilege found within John Steinbecks Of Mice and
Men, similar discussions are found within other literary texts, albeit with varying facets and foci.
Novels such as Suzanne Collins The Hunger Games trilogy, Thomas Hardys Tess of the
DUrbervilles, and Toni Morrisons Tar Baby offer discussions concerning power, as well as
plays and short stories such as Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House and Charlotte Perkins Gilmans
The Yellow Wallpaper. Even shorter texts, such as William Blakes poem Visions of the
Daughters of Albion, offer insightful commentary on privilege and who is afforded it.
To understand most fully how all these texts connect with the concept of power and
privilege found in Of Mice and Men, it becomes pertinent to discuss Of Mice and Men itself. The
novel begins by zooming in on George and Lennie, the two main characters of the narrative.
Both men are fleeing a town where Lennie has overstepped the personal space of a woman, after
which she claimed he raped her. However, he was merely admiring the soft fabric of her dress.

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George guides Lennie and takes care of him. Although it is not explicitly stated in the novel,
Lennie experiences some sort of mental disability, but compensates through his brute strength.
The gentlemen eventually find themselves in a new area, working on a new farm. It is on this
farm that power and privilege are most apparent. There are many people who reside at the farm,
including Curly, who is heir to the farm, and who attempts to exert dominance amongst the men
as a result. There is also Curlys wife, who at first seems like a temptress, but is ultimately just
misunderstood and treated differently because of her sex. Other characters, such as Crooks and
Candy, are men who are alienated based on their complexion and age. While George does not
seem to suffer much conflict, Lennie, because of his great size and inability to articulate himself
well, suffers much, specifically at the hands of Curly. The novel eventually comes to a close
when Lennie, admiring Curlys wifes dress, accidently kills her while trying to silence her
screams. Curly, who already has frustrations with Lennie, calls for his death and sets out to kill
Lennie himself. However, George, not wanting Lennie to suffer at the hands of Curly, finds
Lennie first and shoots Lennie as a mercy kill. As can be seen, there are many facets of power
and privilege found in John Steinbecks novel: there are discrepancies of power and privilege
between men and women, between white people and black people, between young and old, and
between those who are mentally disabled and those who experience no such disability. Some of
these same examples show up in the conversation that follows about other texts that hold the
similar concept of power and privilege.
Following the protagonist Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games trilogy highlights a
post-civil war America, which now operates under a tyrannical dictatorship, as opposed to the
current democracy. Katniss, who is from an area of the country referred to as District 12, is from
a community that is regarded as the lowest of all communities, deemed only of worth for the coal

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that it produces. Furthermore, the Capitol, as the city of rule is referred to, requires of all the
working districts to sacrifice two children every year to a brutal game of murder, in which the
children hunt one another until one victor remains. The Capitol rules through fear and force, but
also through more covert means. In her review of Pharr and Clarks collection of essays on The
Hunger Games series, Miller (2014) states that power and privilege are evidenced in the novels
by the Capitols surveillance system, which modifies and shapes the actions of its citizens (p.
446). The power remains with the wealthy of the Capitol, whereas the workers of the districts are
perceived as second rate citizens. Only the victors of the games are given power and privilege,
which is only granted to them if they remain in line with the Capitols agenda, something that
Katniss Everdeen challenges throughout the duration of the series. This message holds much
importance for students at the high school level, many of which are still pondering on where
their lives will lead, what job they will pursue. Uncovering this biased perception against
individuals who are not wealthy allows students to see the virtues in the vast array of lifestyles
and jobs, rather than having eyes only for, what they perceive to be, the most prestigious and
wealthy of positions.
Where The Hunger Games series predominantly focused on power as it is allocated to the
wealthy, ruling parties, Thomas Hardys Tess of the DUrbervilles takes a different perspective.
Following a female lead character, the novel presents that power and privilege that is afforded to
men but not necessarily afforded to women. Touching on the main events of the narrative, Tess is
seduced by a man named Alec DUrberville, subsequently birthing his child. The child dies
shortly after birth, by which point Tess has already fled from Alec. Previously acquainted, Tess
comes in contact with a man named Angel Clare, both falling in love with the other. They
eventually marry, but when Tess confesses her past with Alec, Angel decides he cannot live with

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her confession. Despite having sexual transgressions of his own, Angel leaves Tess. Through
convoluted circumstances, Tess eventually ends up back with Alec, but only for a time. Angel
comes back for her and, seeing his genuine love, Tess decides to kill Alec. After she does so, she
is eventually executed for her crime. Tess shows the injustice of the sexual double standard,
along with the hypocrisy of gender and class hierarchies that always place the middle-class
maleabove the penitent working woman (Shumaker, 1994, p. 445). Although both Tess and
Angel had sexually deviant pasts, Tess is the one who is held accountable for her actions. The
same standards are not applied to Angel, by nature of his privilege as a male. Furthermore, Tess
is constantly taken advantage of by Alec, someone who is, at one point, a financial authority over
her and, at another point, a spiritual authority over her. The whole of the novel critiques the
nature of power afforded men by nature of their biology, while women are discarded. It also
critiques the issues of class, and how the working class, such as Tess falls under, is not regarded
as worthy of privilege as the higher classes. Although the society of the United States of
America is not class-based in the way that Tesss society is, the concepts can still be applied to
show students the discrepancies of power and privilege afforded the most wealthy that are not
extended to those less so.
Similarly, Toni Morrisons Tar Baby reflects on the nature of power and privilege
afforded men over women, as well as upper class versus lower class, but it also reflects on
privilege afforded people by virtue of their race. While there is no definitive main character
within the novel, each character adds to the conversation of power and privilege. A white
patriarch by the name of Valerian acts as the king of the scene. The novel, which takes place at
Valerians island mansion, presents Valerian and his wife as wealthy white people with black
servants. However, the servants, specifically the two house servants, a married couple named

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Sydney and Ondine, have a niece who is a model, whose name is Jadine. Valerian has been
Jadines patron since her parents died. The conflict of the novel revolves around a black man,
who calls himself Son, coming into all of their lives and testing their perceptions of the world.
Throughout the novel, Valerian is afforded the most privilege, yet his wife is afforded more than
the servants. Jadine, who is critiqued by Son as acting white, is afforded more privilege than
her aunt and uncle. Overall, the men seem to have more power than the women, the wealthy have
more power than those less so, and the white have more privilege than those who are black.
Again, much like in Tess of the DUrbervilles, this text lends itself well to revealing the
differences in power and privilege afforded men in many instances over women, as well as the
rich over the less so. What it adds to the conversation, which is extremely pertinent for students
to identify and acknowledge, is the differences in privilege and power afforded as a result of
race. As students in the USA are part of a multiracial, multicultural nation, they must be able to
identify how such discrepancies appear and work against them.
However, the conversation about power and privilege is not simply bound to novels.
Many authors of plays, short stories, and poems step into the discussion to provide insight.
Beginning with Henrik Ibsens A Dolls House, Ibsen focuses more specifically on the power and
privilege differentiated between men and women within marriage, similar to that found in Tess of
the DUrbervilles. Ultimately, A Dolls House is an analysis of how gender and gender
subordination are produced (Langs, 2005, p. 148). Nora Helmer, the protagonist of the play,
finds herself bound by social conventions that give men power and leave women lacking.
Opening with Nora entering the house from shopping, her husband, Torvald, treats her like a
little girl rather than his partner. Throughout the play, Torvald continues to tell Nora how to talk,
how to dance, how to behave. Nora is also taken advantage of by a man named Krogstad, who is

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blackmailing her to try to keep his job. She has taken out a loan illegally, for, in her social
context, women were not allowed to do anything without a male authoritys permission.
Krogstad holds this against her. Ultimately, when Noras husband Torvald finds this out, he
becomes enraged at her because he believes the blackmail will destroy them, ignoring the fact
that Nora took the loan out to take care of him when he had been sick. When the documents of
blackmail are given to Torvald, he becomes relieved and tries to make amends with Nora, but the
damage has been done and she chooses to leave. In this situation, the men are wielding all the
power. As aforementioned, Torvald, as Noras husband, perceives himself to be in charge of
Nora. Even the social conceptions reinforce this idea. Also, Krogstad attempts to take control of
Nora. She seems to be bound at every corner by men. She is afforded no privilege or power, and
when she realizes this fact, she cannot live with it, but rather chooses to leave. This last detail,
that Nora decides to leave an oppressive situation, can be used to speak loudly to students about
the pressure placed on those with less privilege and power. It highlights for students the necessity
to confront such situations for the benefit of those who cannot speak for themselves.
There are almost identical themes in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
The narrator of the short story suffers from nervous depression and other anxiety driven
diagnoses. That is the diagnosis of her husband John, at least, who is a doctor. Because of this
diagnosis, the narrator is not allowed to work or really be active, but is bound to her home. She is
ruled by the commands of her husband. She literally has no power or agency. In her anxiety
driven madness, she begins seeing the image of a bound, oppressed woman in the wallpaper of a
room in her house. Ultimately, she begins to destroy the wallpaper in an attempt to free the
woman she sees bound therein. Upon seeing this, her husband faints in horror. Like A Dolls
House, the husband holds the power in the marital relationship. The wife is bound by his words,

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his commands. However, unlike Ibsens play, the narrator of The Yellow Wallpaper does not have
the agency to walk out of the house, contrary to her husbands wishes. It is only when her
husband faints that she is able to defy him. In her essay, Feminist Criticism, The Yellow
Wallpaper, and the Politics of Color in America, Lanser (1989) calls the story a tale of a white,
middle class wife driven mad by a patriarchy controlling her for her own good (p. 415). This
sums up the presence of privilege in this short story: the presence of patriarchy exerting control.
With this in mind, it is pertinent to focus students on how, in their own environment, in their own
time, patriarchy still plays a major part in how the country operates, which then affects the
worldview of those people that live within it: namely, this text can be used to expose students
own biased worldviews, which is influenced by the patriarchy under which they live.
Although not as long of a text, William Blakes poem Visions of the Daughters of
Albion plays with similar structures of power and privilege. Basically, the poem is Blakes
version of a minor epic where the heroine struggles to find freedom in a confining world of
[repressive] laws (Lipipipatvong, 2006, p. 156). The heroine, Oothoon, represents the soul of
America. Oothoon, who is in love with a chaste man named Theotormon, is raped by another
man named Bromion. After the rape, neither Bromion nor Theotormon want anything to do with
Oothoon. Theotormon, with his false sense of righteousness, cannot get over how Oothoon has
been soiled. In regards to power, Bromion has taken complete control of Oothoon physically. All
privilege to her own body has been stripped from her. Theotormon, on the other hand, has taken
complete control of Oothoon spiritually, as he proclaims her unworthy and impure. The only
agency that Oothoon seems to have is in her own self-perception. Although she has been deemed
an outcast by Bromion and Theotormon, she chooses to see herself as worthy, which is, sadly,
not much of a consolation when such self-worth does not provide privilege. Using this thought

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as a jumping board, students can be made aware of the reasons behind the struggle for privilege
and power for all people. Despite the fact that individual people can retain their dignity and
choose to look forward does not provide them with the privilege and power they deserve.
Through this poem, students can be encouraged to speak up for the Oothoons who do not
speak for themselves.
While these aforementioned texts touch on the same theme found in Of Mice and Men,
the theme is not bound to fiction texts. In his autobiographical text Stride to Freedom, Dr. Martin
Luther King recounts his experiences with boycotting in Montgomery, Alabama. During the
years following the legal implementation of desegregation, some areas chose to ignore the law.
Such a place was Montgomery, Alabama. When power and privilege was not being afforded the
black American population in Alabama, Dr. King, along with many black Americans in
Montgomery, chose to boycott the bus system, a system that perpetuated segregation in a highly
visible way. In his autobiography, Dr. King outlines how power and privilege was very
racialized, as the white community members made all the local rules, by which the black
community members had to abide. This last text offers to students a challenge: just as Dr. King
saw a discrepancy in power and privilege and chose to speak out about it, so too can students use
their voices to point out such discrepancies.
Such boycotting of the uneven distribution of power and privilege resonates with the
similar resistance to the privilege that has also been seen in some of the texts discussed.
Although the discussion in Of Mice and Men focuses on a specific facet of the power and
privilege discussion, all of the above texts add to the conversation in beneficial ways. Each
uncovers some aspect of power and privilege that remains unseen in another literary work, and

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10

they each contribute to the understanding and critique of such privilege in the current American
political and social climate.

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11

References
Blake, W. (1959). Visions of the daughters of Albion. [Boissia, Clairvaux]: [Published by the
Trianon Press for the William Blake Trust, London].
Collins, S. (2008). The Hunger Games (First edition.). New York: Scholastic Press.
Gilman, C. P., & Bauer, D. M. (1998). The Yellow Wallpaper. Boston: Bedford Books;
Hardy, T. (1891). Tess of the Durbervilles: A pure woman (First edition.). [London]: James R.
Osgood, McIlvaine and Co.
Ibsen, H. (1968). A Dolls House. New York: Washington Square Press.
Langs, U. (2005). What did Nora do? Thinking gender with a dolls house. Ibsen Studies, 5(2),
148171. https://doi.org/10.1080/15021860500424254
Lanser, S. S. (1989). Feminist criticism, The Yellow Wallpaper, and the politics of color in
America. Feminist Studies, 15(3), 415441. https://doi.org/10.2307/3177938
Lipipipatvong, L. M. (2006). Freeborn joy: Sexual expression and power in William Blakes
visions of the daughters of Albion. In c. c. (ed. and preface) barfoot (Ed.), And Never
Know the Joy: Sex and the Erotic in English Poetry (Vols. 1xi, 490 , pp. 155172).
Amsterdam, Netherlands: Rodopi.
Miller, M. C. (2014). Of bread, blood and The Hunger Games: Critical essays on the Suzanne
Collins trilogy ed. by mary f. pharr, leisa a. clark (review). Childrens Literature
Association Quarterly, 39(3), 445447. https://doi.org/10.1353/chq.2014.0046
Morrison, T. (2004). Tar Baby (Reprint edition). New York: Vintage.
Shumaker, J. (1994). Breaking with the conventions: Victorian confession novels and tess of the
durbervilles. English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920, 37(4), 444462.
Steinbeck, J. (1993). Of Mice and Men (Reissue edition). New York: Penguin Books.