The Power: A Novel Study Guide Breakdown

The Power: A Novel Study Guide
The Power: A Novel by Naomi Alderman

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Contents
The Power: A Novel Study Guide................................................................................................. 1
Contents...................................................................................................................................... 2
Plot Summary.............................................................................................................................. 3
Pages 1 - 58................................................................................................................................ 5
Pages 59 - 119............................................................................................................................. 8
Pages 121 -187.......................................................................................................................... 11
Pages 190 - 251........................................................................................................................ 14
Pages 252 - 313........................................................................................................................ 17
Pages 314 - 382........................................................................................................................ 20
Characters................................................................................................................................. 23
Symbols and Symbolism............................................................................................................ 26
Settings...................................................................................................................................... 28
Themes and Motifs.................................................................................................................... 30
Styles......................................................................................................................................... 35
Quotes....................................................................................................................................... 37
2
Plot Summary
The following version of this book was sued to create this study guide: Alderman,
Naomi. The Power. New York: Hachette Book Group, 2017.
The novel opens with an introductory frame narrative. In a matriarchal society, a male
writer named Neil has written a novelization of potential historical events taking place
before a cataclysmic event that occurred about 5,000 years prior. The novel proper
begins with Roxy, an English teenager, who discovers one day that she has new,
seemingly supernatural powers that allow her to inflict pain. Two men break in and kill
her mother, and Roxy is too untrained with her new powers to stop them. In Nigeria, an
aspiring journalist named Tunde begins to document the emergence of these new
powers in women. In the United States, Margot—a mayor in Wisconsin—discovers that
her daughter seems to be developing these powers as well. In the southern United
States, a teenage girl named Allie runs away from her abusive adoptive parents after
discovering that she has the powers as well. She takes refuge in a convent.
The powers eventually emerge in all women around the world. Tunde becomes a
professional journalist and travels the world to document the social and political
upheavals caused by the changes. In Saudi Arabia, women clash violently with the
government, which uses its military to suppress female rioters and protesters. Allie finds
that she can use her powers to heal people, and she becomes a revered religious
figure. She begins to promote the idea of female supremacy having religious and
scriptural basis. Margot begins working with a private security and defense firm to
establish training camps for young women. In Moldova, paramilitary groups of women
begin to roam the country. The President’s wife, Tatiana Moskalev, kills her husband and
assumes power, uniting the women under her authority.
A few years later, Awadi-Atif, a member of the Moldovan royal family, forms a rebel army
to oppose Tatiana. Tunde goes to India to document the unrest and riots there, and he
is almost raped by a woman who attacks him with her powers. Margot campaigns to be
the Governor of Wisconsin, and after she uses her powers to hurt her opponent during a
televised debate, she is seen as strong and is elected. Meanwhile, Roxy, whose father
is a British crime boss, begins manufacturing a drug called Glitter that enhances
women’s powers. Tunde meets with an anti-women activist who goes by the name
UrbanDox. UrbanDox says that he believes women will mass-exterminate most men
once they take power of the world’s governments. Allie, Margot, and Roxy become allies
with Tatiana, as they support her in the fight against Awadi-Atif. Roxy eventually
discovers that her father, Bernie, was the one who ordered her mother’s killing. She
forcibly takes over Bernie’s crime organization.
A few years later, Allie becomes concerned that Tatiana may be growing, as Allie
witnesses Tatiana sometimes behaving erratically. Tunde comes to Moldova to report on
the war and sociopolitical unrest. While he is there, Moldova institutes strict laws limiting
the agency of men in the country. Roxy is kidnapped one day by her father, who has the
biological source of Roxy’s powers removed. Bernie then retakes control of his criminal
3
organization. Tunde discovers mass killings of men in Moldova. He is kidnapped by a
violent group of women, but he is saved by Roxy. Allie eventually kills Tatiana and takes
control of Moldova. She decides that the only way to ensure female supremacy in the
world is to incite global warfare, thus blowing civilization back to the Stone Age and
forcing it to progress again but in a world where women have their new powers. The
novel ends with the frame narrative. Neil tells Naomi that the point of his book is to show
how present-day power structures, which are based on gender divisions, originate in the
brutality of less advanced times. Naomi likes the book and suggests that Neil publish it
under a woman’s name so that it will not be dismissed for having been written by a man.
4
Pages 1 - 58
Summary
The novel begins with an introductory frame narrative. An unspecified number of years
in the future, women are the dominant gender on the planet. However, some
archaeological evidence still remains of the patriarchal order that used to exist. A male
writer named Neil Armon has written a novelization of how the transition likely occurred,
based on this archaeological evidence, and he has asked a female writer named Naomi
to read the book and give feedback. The novel itself then begins ten years before the
transition of power between the genders. Roxy is a 14-yearold girl living in England with
her mother. One day, two men break into her house and assault her mother. Roxy
suddenly feels a strange new power inside of her and uses it to attempt to repel the
attackers, but they knock her out and kill her mother. The narrative then transitions to
Nigeria. A university student named Tunde has a crush on a young woman named
Enuma, and he flirts with her one day by his family’s pool. However, when Enuma
touches him, he feels a strange pain and then a numbness run through his body.
Tunde, shaken by the experience, becomes obsessed with this sensation. One day, in a
grocery store, he sees a man harassing a young woman, and he records the incident
with his cellphone. The woman touches the man and incapacitates him with some
unseen power. He uploads the video to the internet. The narrative then transitions to an
unspecified city in Wisconsin. The strange power suddenly possessed by young women
has gained international attention. The Governor, Daniel Dandon, orders the mayor,
Margot Cleary, to temporarily close schools for safety’s sake. Margot receives a call that
her teenage daughter Jocelyn was in a fight with a boy at school and that the boy had to
be hospitalized. Margot goes home to speak to Jocelyn. Jocelyn reveals that she has a
“skein” (21), which is the biological network associated with the strange new powers. At
Margot’s request, Jocelyn demonstrates the power. A spark of energy passes through
Margot, and Margot feels the strange new power awaken in her too. Margot promises
not to tell anyone about Jocelyn’s power.
The narrative then transitions to the southern United States. 15-year-old Allie
Montgomery-Taylor is in the care of the two abusive parents who adopted her. She uses
the power to fight off Mr. Montgomery-Taylor, and then she runs away. She is guided by
the mysterious voice that has guided her since she was young. A year later, Allie has
found refuge in a convent where nuns care for orphaned girls and young women. Allie,
wishing to maintain anonymity, adopts the name Eve. The narrative then transitions to
Roxy, whose father is a crime boss named Bernie. He says that a rival criminal named
Primrose was responsible for killing Roxy’s mother. Aware of Roxy’s powers, Bernie
sends Roxy and some of his other men to a meeting with Primrose, where they are
instructed to kill Primrose and Primrose’s men. Roxy uses her powers to kill Primrose.
5
Analysis
The frame narrative serves to introduce the premise and conceit of the novel as
interrogating and deconstructing prevailing gender divisions by examining a speculative
world in which women assert general dominance. From the very beginning, the novel
indicates that its narrative is a reaction to the inherently patriarchal structures of the real
world. The frame narrative is set an unknown distance in a speculative future in which
women are the dominant gender, which reminds the reader that the real world is
ubiquitously defined by male dominance. When Naomi states how strange it is to read
about “male soldiers, male police officers, and boy crime gangs” (2), the line points to
certain symptoms of the patriarchy in the real world and implies that in this fictional
Naomi’s world, those groups are typically comprised of women. Within this frame
narrative, the novel itself is Neil’s attempt to state the idea that men were once
dominant, to dramatize how this transition of power occurred, and ultimately to promote
the idea that genders should be treated equally, with no unjust dominance.
Roxy’s character introduction, which is split into two parts in this section, introduces the
mechanism of this power shift and demonstrates how it serves to clash with and move
past set patriarchal boundaries. In the first scene with Roxy, which is the first scene of
the novel apart from the frame narrative, there is very little exposition about Roxy. It is
not yet known to the reader, for example, that her father is a powerful crime boss.
Nonetheless, the scene itself functions as a tableau for the shifting dynamics that define
the overall narrative. Roxy and her mother are attacked by two male assailants, and
Roxy fights back with a power that she has just discovered within herself. The narration
dramatizes Roxy’s use of her new power with the grandiose, recurring line, “She
cuppeth the lightning in her hand. She commandeth it to strike” (10). Her power is
unfortunately not yet honed enough to stop the attack, and her mother is killed by the
men. Roxy then avenges her mother’s death by killing Primrose. (Roxy does not yet
know that it was actually her own father who ordered her mother’s killing. That is
revealed alter in the novel.) Roxy’s use of power against the these men represents the
turning balance of power between these gender divisions. This representation is further
augmented by Tunde’s observations, in which young women use the power to repel
sexual harassment. Thus, the power gives women more control in this patriarchal
society.
Allie’s character introduction sets the tone for the struggle between her painful past and
the forces of morality that begin to influence her as she enters the next phase of her life.
Allie, an orphan, has lived much of her life under the control of her abusive adoptive
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery-Taylor. However, she leaves after the power
awakens in her, and she finds refuge in a convent. Unlike Roxy, she does not seeks
vengeance against those who wronged her, but she still carries the emotional scars of
the abuse she suffered. However, she appears drawn to the sense of security and
morality exuded by the convent. She is also influenced by the abstruse purposes of the
mysterious voice that she believes “has never steered her wrong” (41). Allie’s struggle
to determine a righteous path begins to form parallels with the politically ambitious
Margot. Both women ultimately wish for positions of status and power, and they
6
sometimes struggle to determine the truly moral path forward. These parallels and these
themes continue to develop as the novel progresses.
Discussion Question 1
What is the narrative effect and function of the introductory frame narrative? How does it
help introduce the reader to the themes and functions of the novel?
What are the salient aspects of Roxy’s introduction as a character in this section? How
does her background and backstory affect her relationship with her new powers?
What impressions does Allie make in the narrative when first introduced? What
elements of her personal backstory are salient to understanding her as a character?
Vocabulary
strata, sulk, tendril, primrose, intent, unwieldy, acquiesce, demure, vulnerability,
forensic, liability, avail, unfurl, skein, entrails, impending, genome
7
Pages 59 - 119
Summary
The narrative returns to Tunde. He has left university to be a professional journalist. The
day after he uploaded the grocery store video, CNN contacted him and bought the
unedited video file from him for $5,000. On the strength of that success, Tunde has
begun traveling the world to document the sociopolitical effects of the new power
appearing in an increasing number of women. He goes to Saudi Arabia, where tensions
are growing between the government and the female population. The tensions grow into
riots and violent conflicts between women and armed military units. The narrative then
transitions to Margot. Margot worries about Jocelyn, whose powers seem to fluctuate
randomly in terms of potency and control. As a public official, Margot is force to undergo
testing for the presence of the powers in her. Margot manages to suppress her powers
for the duration of the testing. Margot dislikes Daniel and thinks about how she wants to
someday take his place as Governor.
On page 83, the narrative transitions to Allie. She has gained a high degree of control
over her powers, and she finds that she can actually use them to heal physical ailments
in others. The women and girls in the convent begin to see Allie as a potential religious
figure, and they believe the voice that speaks to her is that of God. The girls in the
convent begin to call her Mother Eve. Allie begins to promote the idea that women are
greater than men because all men are born of women. She likens this to the idea that
God is greater than the earth because God created the earth. Allie thusly combines her
ideas of gender and her ideas of religion and promotes them in the convent. She
becomes a preacher, and her congregation begins to grow. The narrative then
transitions to Margot. Margot and Jocelyn appear on a news program to be interviewed.
Margot states that Jocelyn is able to control her powers with training. Margot announces
her plane to establish a training center for young women with powers so that young
women can be educated on how to control their powers and keep them safely in check.
Daniel is firmly against this idea.
On page 101, the narrative transitions to the country Moldova, where human sex
trafficking is rampant. The young women who have been kidnapped as part of the sex
trafficking industry begin to hone their powers, which they ultimately use to kill their
captors and escape. The escaped women then form “paramilitary gangs” (104) in the
region. Tunde arrives in Moldova to report on this phenomenon. Tunde interviews the
Moldovan President, Viktor Moskalev, and Viktor’s wife, Tatiana Moskalev. Viktor plans
to fight the paramilitary groups with the country’s army. However, he is soon found dead.
The narrative implies that Tatiana killed him. Tatiana then assumes control of the
country. The narration then transitions to Roxy, who has come to the United States to
meet Allie. Allie helps Roxy hone her powers, and she converts Roxy to her way of
thinking regarding the primacy of women and its religious substantiation.
8
Analysis
As the powers become more widespread among the women of the world, the novel
examines the beginnings of political shifts that implicitly lead to the ultimate inversion of
power between the genders. In Saudi Arabia, for example, this transition begins with
widespread social and political tension. Saudi Arabia as a country has a history of stark,
overt oppression of women. Women experience restrictions on their freedoms that stem
both from social and legally codified sources. Thus, the sudden increase of women’s
power causes a sense of uneasiness in the country’s ruling powers. Both sides of the
tension implicitly realize that if women’s power continues to grow, then the women could
stage a forceful insurrection of the country’s power structure. Thus, the government
appears to initiate preemptive military strikes against its own female population, thus
further motivating the women to strike back against the controlling powers of the
country. These tensions therefore erupt in violent riots. This political upheaval is
juxtaposed with the subtler political upheaval beginning to stir in the United States.
Margot resents the rather aggressive tactics that Daniel and other men in politics have
taken to suppress the growing power of women. Margot thusly takes her own initiatives,
such as the establishment of training centers for young women. Regarding Daniel,
Margot thinks to herself, “You’re gonna pump my gas someday, Daniel. I’ve got big
plans” (79).
These political shifts share parallels with the religious and philosophical shifts catalyzed
by Allie, who begins to promote her own ideas of female primacy as she gains social
ascendancy as a political figure. Allie’s healing powers and her leader-like qualities
gains her a place of respect and reverence in the convent and the surrounding
community, and she uses this position of reverence to further the ideas that she has
developed. Allie states, “The one who creates is greater than the thing created” (89).
She states this first regarding God’s greatness in creating the earth, and then regarding
women’s primacy for having created each living man and woman. Thus, the growing
power of women in society is given a type of spiritual vindication in the new religious
and philosophical ideas preached by Allie. The fundamentals of the Christian religion
are based on patriarchy in that God is gendered in the Bible as male. Thus, Allie seeks
to reverse this religious male primacy with her new spiritual teachings.
These shifts are further augmented by the events in Moldova, which demonstrate even
more decisive and immediate effects of women utilizing their powers to fight against
patriarchal structures. For example, the narrative targets human sex trafficking, a
rampant real-world phenomenon in which women are kidnapped and sold as sex
slaves. The captured women are eventually able to use their new powers to kill their
captors, escape, and form paramilitary communities in order to protect their newfound
freedom. President Moskalev wishes to send his military after these groups of women,
but his wife Tatiana kills him and assumes power. Tunde notes that “The scale of the
thing has increased” (108), meaning that the scale at which power is shifting between
the genders is increasing.
9
Discuss the social and political tensions in Saudi Arabia as described in the narrative.
How do these dynamics elucidate the tensions and dynamics following the emergence
of the skein powers?
What are the significant elements of Allie’s rise to a position of religious reverence?
What is the significance of her personal religious doctrines?
What are the significant aspects of social and political upheaval in Moldova? How do
these changes dramatize the overall effects of the skein powers?
Vocabulary
regime, capacity, venture, fluctuation, innocuous, yearn, conceal, glamorous, apparatus,
mandatory, eligibility, smirk, electrode, autonomic, imperceptible, adrenaline, schematics
10
Pages 121 -187
Summary
Police bear the convent grow wary of the increasing power of the girls living in the
convent. About one dozen armed police officers arrive at the convent to try to take
control of the convent. Allie and Roxy repel the police with their powers. Police officers
across the state begin to become more aggressive against women in general. They
severely beat a young woman and take her to a police precinct. Allie and the convent
girls go to the precinct to demand that the young woman be sent to the hospital. The
police, aware of how powerful Allie and the convent girls are, obey Allie’s orders. Roxy
decides to go back to England, and Allie tells her to be wary of all men. The narrative is
briefly interrupted by some short media artifacts from World War Two that demonstrate
the primacy of men in the government and military at that time. These artifacts are
followed by more recent media artifacts that demonstrate the rise of the women’s
mysterious new powers.
On page 143, the narrative moves ahead about 2 – 3 years. Tunde has discovered
proof that King Awadi-Atif, a member of the Moldovan royal family, is training a secret
army to fight against President Tatiana Moskalev. Meanwhile, other countries are
experiencing their own social upheavals in which women are taking social and political
control. Tunde travels to these other countries, such as India, to document the
upheaval. During a riot in Delhi, he finds safety on the roof of a nearby building.
However, he is attacked by a seemingly deranged woman who attempts to use her
powers to rape Tunde. The woman is stopped by other women. The narrative then
transitions to a brief internet exchange between various anonymous men on an anti-
women website. The men discuss their belief that women using their powers are
terrorists and should be killed. The leader of the group appears to use the codename
UrbanDox.
On page 163, the narrative transitions to Margot, who has begun to campaign to be
Governor of Wisconsin. Her campaign is built on the strength of her training camps for
young women, which are funded in part by a private security firm called NorthStar and
which have been replicated in 12 states. Jocelyn begins dating a boy her age named
Ryan. Ryan has a chromosomal irregularity that causes him to have a skein and the
associated powers despite being male. Jocelyn does not tell her mother this. The
narrative then transitions to Roxy, who has begun using her powers to manufacture a
new type power-enhancing drug called Glitter. She employs a few men in the operation
and uses the threat of her powers to exert control over them. The narrative is then
interrupted by a brief diagram and description of a mass grave of male skeletons who
appear to have been killed by women’s skein powers. The narrative moves ahead about
one year to a televised gubernatorial debate between Margot and Daniel. Daniel
appears to be winning the debate at first, and Margot grows angry, especially when
Daniel makes an insulting remark about her children. Impulsively, Margot gives Daniel a
11
shock with her powers, and the audience realizes what happened. Impressed with this
show of power, the state elects Margot as Governor.
Analysis
The episode between the convent and the police dramatizes the specific nature of the
growing tensions within the United States, as the traditional sources of power and
authority begin to fear and aggress against the increasingly powerful women. In this
way, this dynamic is similar to the rising tensions already dramatized in other countries.
The convent becomes recognized as a concentrated source of the new rising power,
and the police thusly attempt to take control of the convent by force and disassemble it
as a functioning unit. However, Allie and Roxy repel the police easily. Police across the
state then begin to become aggressive with women in general, eventually leading to a
climactic standoff at the police precinct where a wounded young woman is being held
illegally by the police. The mysterious voice points out to Allie, “You could take this
station, you could kill every man in it if you wanted” (131). The police officers present
are likely aware of this shifted power dynamic as well. Thus, the scene at the police
station demonstrates how the women have become more powerful than the police,
which are the part of government meant to exert central control.
This dynamic continues to be mirrored in the social and political upheaval in other
countries, and Tunde functions as the perspective through which the magnitude and
significance of this upheaval is shown to the reader. In Moldova, for example, Tunde
continues to survey and explore the country in order to report on its salient events
regarding the continuing struggle for power. He makes the significant discovery that
King Awadi-Atif, a member of the Moldovan royal family, is training a secret army to fight
against President Tatiana Moskalev. This tension sets the stage for an full-scale war in
which Atif, a representative of patriarchal power structures, attempts to fight Tatiana, a
representative of new matriarchal power structures. Tunde also documents upheaval in
India, which is similar to the upheaval in Saudi Arabia in that generalized protests and
mutual violence are the mechanisms by which the patriarchal power structures are
being overturned and inverted. The scene in which Tunde is almost raped points to the
idea that both genders are capable of abusing power. The novel continues to examine
that idea as the narrative progresses.
Margot’s election as Governor explores and demonstrates the extent to which power
can be used to sway minds as a means of gaining power, which contrasts to the more
forceful means being employed in other countries. Margot prepares diligently for the
campaign and the debate, and although her approach to manipulating the voters
appears to be as cynical, underhanded, and aggressive as Daniel’s, she intends to obey
the normal rules and customs of the campaign and debate. However, Daniel appears to
have the advantage in the debate, implicitly because he is a more experienced
politician. Margot eventually, impulsively, uses her powers to give Daniel a shock. The
voters react to this by viewing Margot as the more powerful. “She’s strong” (187), they
appear to think to themselves. And thus the effects of the violent power extend beyond
physical power to more abstract social power.
12
What are the significances of the events between Allie and the local police? How do
these events illustrate evolving tensions and dynamics?
Discuss the events involving the Delhi riots and Tunde’s presence during those riots.
How do these events affect the overall tone and focus of the narrative?
What is the significance of the campaign debate between Margot and Daniel? What are
the narrative and social implications of the motivating reason for Margot’s election?
Vocabulary
jaunty, pipette, succumb, flawless, munitions, discreet, duration, censure, intoxicate,
hectic, scour, mete, solidarity, scuffle, barricade, dabble, parboil
13
Pages 190 - 251
Summary
The narrative shifts to Tunde, who has gone to Arizona. UrbanDox, the leader of an
online anti-women movement, has invited Tunde for an interview. UrbanDox meets
Tunde in person but does not reveal his real name. Tunde interviews UrbanDox and
records the conversation. UrbanDox makes highly bigoted comments about all groups
that are not Caucasian men. UrbanDox and his followers believe that women plan to
exterminate men on a mass-scale after attaining power, as only a certain number of
men will be needed for reproduction. UrbanDox tries to convert Tunde to their cause.
UrbanDox also implies that he has encouraged his followers to engage in acts of
domestic terrorism to fight the rising power of women. Tunde believes UrbanDox to be
dangerous and delusional. The narrative shifts to Allie, who has begun performing
televised healing sessions. She heals a boy who has been paralyzed from the waist
down for most of his life. Allie uses her powers to restore his ability to walk. She has
amassed a very large following. Allie has become allies with Tatiana Moskalev, and she
supports Moskalev’s military efforts against the rebel army of Awadi-Atif.
On page 213, the narrative transitions to Margot. Margot disapproves of Jocelyn dating
Ryan. Thus, she lies to Jocelyn, saying that a background check has revealed that
Ryan has frequented extremist anti-women websites. She forbids Jocelyn from seeing
Ryan anymore. The narrative then transitions to Roxy. Roxy has also become an ally of
Tatiana, and she has agreed to supply Tatiana with a large supply of Glitter to augment
the female soldiers’ powers. One day, she learns that her younger brother Ricky was
attacked and sexually assaulted by a group of several young women. Roxy tracks down
the assailants and severely hurts them with her powers. She later learns that a man
criminal named Newland was the one who told her mother’s whereabouts to the men
who killed her. When she attacks Newland, Newland informs her that her father, Bernie,
not Primrose, was the one who ordered her mother’s killing. Bernie had done so
because Roxy’s mother had been unfaithful to her. Roxy then confronts her father and
threatens to kill him if he does not hand his entire crime organization over to her. Bernie
acquiesces.
On page 231, the narrative shifts to Jocelyn. Jocelyn and her younger sister Maddy
have joined NorthStar as paramilitary cadets, ostensibly for training with their powers
but implicitly as NorthStar’s private military force. One night, Jocelyn loses control of her
powers and accidentally kills a man. Margot and NorthStar order Jocelyn to lie and say
that the man had attempted to shoot her with a gun. The narrative then shifts forward
about four years. Margot Cleary has been elected to the United States Senate, and she
has become a political ally of Tatiana Moskalev. On a delegation to Moldova, she and
Moskalev agree on a contract for the establishment of NorthStar camps in Moldova. By
this point, Margot is receiving substantial unpublicized payments from NorthStar for her
advocacy on their behalf. Margot also agrees to promote Tatiana’s cause against the
continuing military rebellion.
14
Analysis
Margot’s character arc continues to take increasingly dark turns as she becomes further
corrupted by greed, ambition, and lust for power. Because Margot never expresses and
particular sense of idealism or altruism, her political ambitions appear to be based solely
in ambition for its own sake, and the narrative demonstrates this as toxic via her
character arc. Firstly, as seen in the previous section, the propulsion of her political
career was heavily aided by a show of physical aggression during a televised debate.
This aggression was involuntary, but proceeds to use more direct forms of aggression
as she continues with her political ambitions. For example, she lies to Jocelyn in order
to remove Ryan from Jocelyn’s life. Then, when Jocelyn accidentally kills a man, Margot
and NorthStar order Jocelyn to lie about the incident so that their positions of increasing
wealth and power will not be threatened. Four years later, Margot has become a United
States Senator and is continuing to use her position of power for her own gain. When
Tatiana expresses her desire for Margot to facilitate a deal between Moldova and
NorthStar, the narration notes, “[Margot is] already calculating the kind of bonus she’ll
get from NorthStar if this all works out” (250). Thus, the novel further demonstrates how
power can corrupt the morals of those who wield it.
This dynamic is mirrored in Roxy’s character arc, as her own morals and scruples
appear to continuously degrade as she accrues more power in her own sphere of
control. She first turns attention to gaining wealth and power via the production of
Glitter, a drug that enhances and augments the natural powers of the skein. Additionally,
she uses her powers to instill fear and obedience in the male workers she employs. She
sells the Glitter to Moskalev, in part implicitly because she believes in the cause and in
part implicitly to turn a profit. Moreover, she later uses force to take over her father’s
entire criminal organization. Roxy may believe that this action is warranted because
Bernie killed her mother, but nonetheless, she is still taking charge, and therefore
responsibility, of a large-scale criminal organization in order to increase her wealth and
power even further. These abuses of power are juxtaposed with the young women who
physically and sexually assault her younger brother Ricky. These assailants are clear
representations of the rampant physical and sexual assault that men perpetrate against
women in the real world. Thus, Roxy, Margot, and these other women are becoming
morally corrupted by their power. Even Allie’s motives appear to be suspect, as she
uses her supposedly altruistic resources to expand her own influence. The televised
healing of the paralyzed boy is portrayed to the reader as mainly a publicity stunt to
increase Allie’s renown. The narration states that Allie had passed on a different
paralyzed boy for the televised segment, as “he wasn’t right for this televised segment.
Acne” (203).
Ironically, the text appears to foreshadow the idea that the bigoted, dangerous,
delusional UrbanDox may actually be justified in the fear of women mass-exterminating
men; thus, this explicitly feminist novel further promotes its secondary agenda as the
corruption of power being the main driver of inequality and oppression. The diagram
and caption on page 180 show a mass grave of killed male humans, foreshadowing the
books later details of mass male deaths at the hands of women. The book thusly draws
15
parallels between this fictional female aggression and the ubiquity of female oppression
in the real world.
What is the narrative and thematic impact of Tunde’s conversation with UrbanDox? How
does this moment in the plot affect the overall tone and focus of the narrative?
Discuss the nature of the alliances between Tatiana, Allie, Margot, and Roxy. How do
these alliances affect the overall sociopolitical state of Moldova?
What is the significance of Jocelyn accidentally killing someone? What is the
significance of Margot and NorthStar’s response to the event?
Vocabulary
deformation, repulse, pseudonym, dimple, pension, spoof, bigoted, rhetoric, lozenge,
acolyte, conviction, poise, profound, plead, mutter, consolation, tentative
16
Pages 252 - 313
Summary
The narrative then transitions to Allie. She receives a visit from Jocelyn, who asks for
advice about her deformed skein, which is what causes the irregularities in her powers.
Allie uses her powers to reform Allie’s skein into a functional shape and order. Later,
Allie is a meeting with Tatiana and other female heads of state. At one point, Tatiana
humiliates and severely physically harms a male waiter. Tatiana appears very unstable
to Allie in that moment, and Allie grows privately concerned. The narrative then
transitions to Roxy. Roxy and Allie confer about Tatiana’s increasingly unpredictable
nature and how it could threaten their positions of power. Later, Roxy goes to a meeting
in a remote location in Moldova arranged by one of her associates. However, she is
ambushed and knocked out. Bernie has Roxy’s skein surgically removed in order to
take her power away and so that he can take back his criminal organization. While they
surgically implant the skein into Roxy's brother Darrell, Roxy escapes from the building
on foot.
On page 268, the narrative shifts to Tunde. Tunde helps remove shards of glass from
the male waiter that Tatiana attacked. Peter communicates to Tunde that Tatiana is
planning on expelling all journalists from the country and then exterminating most of the
country’s male population. When Tunde tries to upload this story to the internet, he finds
that internet communications have been blocked. Tunde is barred from leaving
Moldova, so he spends his time investigating current events in the country. Oppression
of men rises sharply, and police supposedly no longer investigate the murder of men.
The government institutes a law in which no man may move freely about without a
female guardian. Tunde decides to flee on foot form the hotel where he has been
staying. The narrative then moves ahead about six months and shifts focus to Allie. Allie
is anxious about Roxy’s disappearance, believing she has turned traitor. In addition,
Tatiana continues to grow unstable. The voice in Allie’s head convinces her that she
must take control of Moldova in order to be safe. Allie persuades Tatiana to give her
legal power in addition to her religious influence. Meanwhile, Bernie plans to sell Glitter
and skein implants internationally.
On page 289, the narrative shifts to Jocelyn. Jocelyn is back in touch with Ryan, whom
she no longer believes visited extremist websites. Jocelyn discovers the location of a
Glitter manufacturing center near the NorthStar base where she is stationed, and she
decides to go see it. The narrative then shifts to Tunde, who is traveling on his own
through Moldova. He is eventually captured and imprisoned by a group of women. He
witnesses the women ritually executing men in the woods. He sees that Roxy is with
them. Roxy has joined this cult for refuge but has no influence among them. Roxy says
that the cult members hunt and kill men at night. Roxy bargains with the cult members
and gives them some Glitter in exchange for Tunde’s freedom. Tunde goes to a nearby
village and interviews locals who say that the government has been detaining and
executing large groups of men.
17
Analysis
The more power Allie gains, the more her hunger and feeling of need for power grows,
thus depicting the desperate, single-minded struggle for control as self-destructive and
self-defeating. From the beginning of the novel, Allie’s character arc has been subtly but
distinctly defined by the need for safety and security. She fled her adoptive parents
because they were abusive, she took refuge at the convent because it was a safe place,
and she began to promote her spiritual and social views as a means of further
extending her own control. However, she has reached the point where she now has
exponentially more control and influence, and yet she does not seem to feel any safer.
The risks of losing any measure of power appear to be catastrophic to Allie now, as she
is dealing with people who are equally power-hungry and potentially quite dangerous.
When Tatiana humiliates and severely injures a waiter, Allie feels concerned that Tatiana
may be dangerous and unpredictable. This view of Tatiana grows in Allie’s mind as time
goes on, and she feels that the only way to secure her own safety is to take control of
the country. After Allie persuades Tatiana to give her more legal authority, Allie thinks to
herself, “I’ll take the country. And then I’ll be safe” (284). However, this thinking does not
take into account the idea that she will be even more exposed and at risk as she
continues to claim even more power for herself.
The continuing struggle between Roxy and her father further emphasizes the risks and
mutual degradation perpetuated by power and hunger for control. Roxy has taken
control of her father’s business, but her father eventually kidnaps her and has her skein
removed so that he can have it implanted in himself. The tragedy of these events is
underscored by the tragedy of a family struggle, which is in turn at odds with the moral
failings of both Roxy and Bernie. Both characters seem to share a certain reprehensible
ruthlessness at this point that emphasizes their mutual moral degradation in their lust for
power, wealth, and control.
Tunde continues to function as a lens for the increasing violence and horror of he
narrative, as the power of the skein appears to be corrupting the morals of most women,
not simply the ones in positions of political power. The increasing oppression of men in
Moldova continues to be an analog for the oppression that women experience in the
real world at the hands of power structures defined around male dominance. In the
novel, the restrictions placed on men in Moldova share direct parallels with restrictions
placed on women in many parts of the world. Tunde finds that he is legally barred from
most forms of personal agency without the consent of a woman; many real-world
nations, either currently or in the past, have explicitly employed such restrictions, and
the legacies of those restrictions continue in various forms even if the restrictions
themselves have been repealed in places. These restrictions appear to eventually lead
to mass exterminations of men. Tunde notes that, for men in Moldova, “the list of crimes
punishable by death has grown longer” (313) and that the murder of men is no longer
investigated in Moldova. This explicit violence is an analog to both the literal and social
violence experienced by women in real life.
18
What is Allie’s internal reaction to Tatiana attacking a waiter? In what ways does this
moment represent a shift in the dynamics between Allie and Tatiana?
What major legal shifts does Tunde witness and experience in Moldova? What does
Tunde see as the significance of these shifts? What are the narrative significances of
these events?
What are the potential reasons for the alliance between Tunde and Roxy? What are the
narrative and thematic significances of this alliance?
Vocabulary
disreputable, cronies, circumvent, blockade, diplomacy, formaldehyde, antiseptic,
restraint, paralysis, implantation, gauge, translucent, courier, manifesto, presume,
leniency, impassive
19
Pages 314 - 382
Summary
Tunde is eventually captured by a militant group of women, and one of them rapes him
while her compatriots shout their encouragement. Roxy watches, powerless, from a
concealed position. That night, Roxy helps Tunde escape. They are pursued by the
militant women, but Tunde and Roxy manage to escape. Meanwhile, Tatiana is
beginning to lose control of her army, which has begun committing atrocities against the
rebel army without direct orders. Allie fears there will be a military coup if she does not
take control of the situation. Allie uses her powers to control Tatiana’s body; she makes
Tatiana kill herself with a sharp letter opener. The narrative then shifts to Tunde. Roxy
has promised to help him get out of the country. He waits by the side of the road until a
car comes driven by a woman sent by Roxy. Tunde enters the car.
On page 340, the narrative shifts to the Glitter factory in Moldova. Jocelyn has
approached it, and she is met by Darrell. Darrell attacks with his skein, and Jocelyn
attempts to defend herself. However, the skein repairs performed by Allie appear to no
longer be working, and Darrell incapacitates Jocelyn. The women working in the factory
witness this, and they exit the factory, approaching Darrell. They promptly kill him, as
they implicitly object to his having the powers of the skein. The women inform Roxy of
all that has happened, and she goes to the Glitter factory. Among Darrell’s remains, she
finds her skein, which appears to be damaged beyond recovery? She later meets with
Allie, who is now the President of the country. Allie says that she intends to perpetuate
war until humanity is blasted back to the Stone Age by the mass destruction of
worldwide conflict. Allie says that humanity will evolve once again from that state, and
societies will all be matriarchal because of women having the power of the skein.
Beginning on page 355, Allie calls her adoptive mother to try to reach some sense of
closure regarding the abuse she suffered at the hands of her adoptive parents.
However, the conversation merely leaves Allie feeling untethered. She then converses
with the voice in her head, whom she now suspects of possibly being the voice of evil.
However, the voice says that it has always been concerned only with Allie’s safety.
Meanwhile, Margot receives word of Jocelyn’s injuries and of the growing global conflict
stemming from Moldova. Margot proceeds to fan the flames of war in pursuit of her own
interests, which are still tied to the interests of NorthStar. The narrative ends with the
outbreak of near-apocalyptic levels of global warfare breaking out. The novel ends with
the frame narrative of letters between Naomi and Neil. Neil reiterates the idea that the
matriarchal power structures of daily life are based on the darker realities of less
advanced times. He advocates for a world in which the genders are equal in status.
Naomi commends Neil’s novel and wants it to reach a wide audience, so she suggests
that he publish it under a woman’s name so that it is not dismissed due to the fact that a
man wrote it.
20
Analysis
Allie’s character arc continues to take a dark and dramatic turn, as she decides that the
only way for women to have dominance in the world is to reset society so that culture is
rebuilt in a world where individual women are inherently more powerful than individual
men. The thematic function of this motivation is multifaceted in that it highlights the
source of male power in the real world and condemns the idea that either gender should
be dominant over the other. Because the world has been built around inherently
patriarchal power structures, Allie believes that a cataclysmic war is the only way to
break down these power structures. Allie then states, “And then there will be five
thousand years of rebuilding, five thousand years where the only thing that matters is:
can you hurt more, can you do more damage, can you instill fear?...And then the
women will win.” (353). This idea points to the fact that the patriarchal structures of the
real world are based solely on the fact that men were able to exert more physical power
and violence than women in less advanced times. With regards to Allie’s specific
character arc, her loss of all moral rationality serves to condemn Allie’s idea that one
gender should be more powerful that the other. Allie’s final conversations with the
mysterious voice and her adoptive mother demonstrate a sense of desperation and
uncertainty that emphasize the idea that the reader should not view the likes of Allie,
Roxy, or Margot as people to be emulated. Power has thoroughly corrupted them all.
The main narrative ends with the cataclysm of global war that is the axis point between
the world of the patriarchy and the world of the matriarchy, and the inherently self-
destructive nature of this event serves to condemn the actions of all of the characters
involved in spurring it to climax. The tensions between the genders are tracked and
demonstrated throughout the novel, such as in Moldova, India, Saudi Arabia, and the
United States, and the fight for power between this arbitrary division of gender ultimately
climaxes in an almost apocalyptic event. The world is implicitly blasted back to the
Stone Age, as Allie predicted, and then reformed into the matriarchy of the frame story.
However, the world of the patriarchy and the world of the matriarchy both have the
same problems of one gender being oppressed by the other.
The concluding segment of the frame narrative serves to reemphasize the central ideas
of the novel, which are that, in an ideal world, both genders would be treated equally,
and that, in the real world, the patriarchal system is based around the cruel exertions of
power that were widespread in less advanced times. Neil states in a letter to Naomi,
“The world is the way it is now because of five thousand years if ingrained structures of
power based on darker times when things were much more violent and the only
important thing was—could you and your kin jolt harder?” (381). This statement can be
applied to the real world, with the idea of physical violence replacing the supernatural
“jolt” of the powers of the skein. In the final lines of the novel, the narrative emphasizes
how these former power structures shape and affect social structures: Naomi advises
Neil to publish the book under a woman’s name so that people will not dismiss it due to
the fact that it was written by a man.
21
Discuss Allie’s final conversations with her adoptive mother and with the mysterious
voice in her head. What are the narrative and thematic significances of these
conversations?
What are Allie’s motivations for inciting catastrophic global warfare? How does her
reasoning develop and illuminate the novel’s themes?
Discuss the concluding section of the novel’s frame narrative. How does Neil and
Naomi’s exchange serve to elucidate the novel’s themes?
Vocabulary
gesture, soothing, dampen, manufacture, gravel, perimeter, proposition, dicey, chute,
inconclusive, sensible, haul, lunge, discharge, applaud, gristle, auspice
22
Characters
Allie
Allie is an orphan from the Southern United States. After she discovers that she has the
powers of the skein, she flees from her abusive adoptive parents and takes refuge in a
convent. Allie is guided by a mysterious voice in her head that has spoken to her since
she was young. Allie is able to use her powers to heal people, and she is soon seen as
a religious figure. She begins to promote the idea that God is female and that women
should be held as the dominant gender over men. When Roxy comes to temporarily
visit the convent one day, Allie and Roxy become Allies and friends
Allie eventually becomes allies with Moldovan President Tatiana Moskalev. Allie wishes
to aid Tatiana in her fight to impose a matriarchal society and to fight the rebel army
opposing Tatiana’s presidency. However, Allie sees Tatiana’s behavior growing more
unpredictable over time, and Allie eventually kills Tatiana and takes power of Moldova.
Allie eventually decides that the only way to assure matriarchal power is to incite
apocalyptic global conflict to reset society in a world where all women have the powers
of the skein.
Roxy
Roxy is from England and is the daughter of a dangerous and powerful crime boss. She
discovers she has the powers of the skein when she is 14 years old. Two men break
into her home and kill her mother Roxy tries and fails to use her powers to stop them.
Roxy later uses her power to kill Primrose, a rival crime boss who supposedly killed her
mother. Roxy briefly visits Allie’s convent and befriends her.
Roxy eventually learns that her father was actually the one who killed her mother. Allie
forcibly takes over her father’s crime organization and begins manufacturing a power-
augmenting drug called Glitter. She sells the drug to the Moldovan government. Her
father and brother eventually kidnap her, have her skein removed, and retake control of
the organization. Roxy returns to Allie and attempts to convince her not to begin a global
conflict, but she is unsuccessful in doing so.
Margot
Margot begins the novel as the mayor of an unspecified city in the state of Wisconsin.
After women around the world begin to wield the power of the skein, Margot clashes
with the Governor, Daniel, on how to proceed. Daniel wishes to advise women not to
use the power, but Margot instead contracts with a private security company called
NorthStar to create training camps for young women. Margot receives unpublicized
payments from NorthStar, and the camps become more popular.
23
On the strength of these camps, Margot runs for Governor, and she wins decisively after
using her powers to shock Daniel during a televised debate. Margot eventually becomes
a United Sattes Senator, all the while continuing to facilitate private deals for NorthStar.
Margot and NorthStar help to militarize much of the female population of Moldova. As
Allie begins to initiate global conflict, Margot advocates the idea of a large American
military response.
Tunde
Tunde is a Nigerian journalist. His professional journalism career begins in the first days
in which the power of the skein begins to appear in young women. Tunde takes a
cellphone video of a young woman using them in public, and CNN buys the video for
$5,000. Over the next decade, Tunde travels the world to record and document the
shifting social orders of the world. He goes to Saudi Arabia and India, where women
engage in violent revolt against the patriarchal societies. He also goes to Moldova,
where he becomes trapped after the government begins killing large numbers of men.
He is able to escape with Roxy’s help.
Tatiana Moskalev
Tatiana Moskalev is the President of Moldova. At the beginning of the narrative, her
husband Viktor Moskalev is the President, but after he declares his intentions to fight
the paramilitary groups of women appearing in the country, Tatiana kills him and
assumes power. Tatiana then focuses the country’s military forces on fighting the rebel
army formed by King Awadi-Atif, a member of the Moldovan royal family. Tatiana allies
herself with Allie, Roxy, and Margot. Tatiana’s actions and disposition grow
unpredictable as time goes on, and Allie eventually kills her and assumes power.
Jocelyn
Jocelyn is Margot’s daughter. Her skein is somewhat deformed, and she thusly has
trouble controlling her powers. When she accidentally kills a man while being employed
by NorthStar, Margot orders Jocelyn to say that the man had tried to shoot her and that
she had killed him in self-defense. While stationed as a private NorthStar soldier in
Moldova, she discovers a covert Glitter factory being operated by Bernie and Darrell.
She goes to investigate but is incapacitated by Darrell.
Bernie
Bernie is Roxy’s father. He is a powerful British crime boss. He has his wife murdered
for being unfaithful, and he tells Roxy that the killing was perpetrated by a rival crime
boss called Primrose. Roxy kills Primrose but eventually learns of her father’s deceit.
She tales over the crime organization, but Bernie eventually regains control by having
Roxy kidnapped and having her skein surgically removed.
24
Darrell
Darrell is Bernie’s son and henchman. Bernie has Roxy’s skein surgically implanted in
Darrell. Darrell then operates the Glitter factory in Moldova. When Jocelyn arrives to
investigate the factory, Darrell fights her using his powers. When the women working in
the factory see that Darrell has skein powers, they promptly kill him.
UrbanDox
UrbanDox is a bigoted anti-women activist who harbors hatred and conspiracy theories
against all groups of people who are not Caucasian men. UrbanDox tries to recruit
Tunde and states that women will attempt to mass-exterminate most men after coming
to power. Tunde dismisses UrbanDox but later sees some elements of his prediction
coming true in Moldova.
Neil and Naomi

Neil and Naomi are the two characters of the novel’s frame narrative. They live in a
society much like the real world except for the fact that it is matriarchal. The main
narrative of the novel is a novel written by Neil. It is a novelization of events they may
likely have occurred based on archaeological evidence. Neil gives the work to Naomi to
read and critique. Naomi like the book but says that it may have a limited audience
unless he publishes it under a woman’s name.
25
Symbols and Symbolism
The Power
The power symbolizes the idea that social structures are based on violence and cruelty.
After women begin to develop the power of the skein, the patriarchal structures of
society begin to break down as women use their newfound might to take control of law
and society.
The Voice
The vice symbolizes hunger for power and control. Throughout Allie’s life, she obeys the
commands of a mysterious voice inside her head. By the end of the novel, it becomes
clear that the voice is solely concerned with power and control, much like most of the
novel’s characters.
Moldova
Moldova’s symbolizes social and political upheaval. The specific events of Moldova
dramatize how shifts of power can result in dramatic shifts of social and political
structures. Women take over the government, and predatory social practices of rape
and violence become inverted along the gender lines.
NorthStar
NorthStar symbolizes dangerous militarization. The advancement of Margot’s political
career is aided by her partnership with NorthStar, a private defense and security firm, to
establish training camps for young women. As these camps spread to other countries,
they evolve into a private military network that increases military and paramilitary
violence internationally.
Glitter
Glitter symbolizes the degradation of morality caused by a hunger for power. As Roxy
and her father fight for control over the manufacture of Glitter—a skein-enhancing drug
—they resort to increasingly immoral tactics, even as they already occupied positions as
criminals.
26
Journalism
Journalism symbolizes the desire to discover and expose the truth. Throughout the
narrative, Tunde remains committed to journalism as a means of documenting the
changes in society. This mirrors Neil’s desire to expose the possible truths to humanity’s
past and the basis of its gendered power structures.
Politics
Politics symbolize the cynical manipulation of power. As Margot advances her political
career, her priorities never seem to lie with any type of altruistic motivations, but instead
simply with her own hunger for wealth and power. Nonetheless, she utilizes a false
façade of altruism to win the trust of her constituents.
Criminal Organization
Bernie’s criminal organization symbolizes the inherent immorality of self-interest. While
the novel’s characters attempt to rationalize their self-interest as in some way being
righteous, the struggle between Bernie and Roxy over Bernie’s criminal organization
emphasizes the idea that lust for power is inherently immoral.
The Cataclysm
The cataclysm symbolizes the inherent destructiveness of hunger for power. The self-
serving narratives of the novel’s characters eventually lead to a near apocalyptic global
conflict that sends society back to the Stone Age. This demonstrates how equality rather
than unequal power structures would be far more beneficial for humanity as a whole.
Neil’s Manuscript
Neil’s manuscript symbolizes the social inequalities caused by past events. With his
manuscript, Neil attempts to promote the idea that the unequal, gendered power
structure of society is based on the violence of less advanced times. This is also the
purpose of the novel as a whole.
27
Settings
Moldova
Moldova is a former Soviet country in Eastern Europe. It becomes a hotbed of social
and political upheaval following the emergence of the skein powers. Tatiana Moskalev,
the wife of the Moldvoan President, kills her husband and assumes control of the
country. She eventually becomes allied with Allie, Roxy, and Margot. Tatiana instates a
matriarchal government. Allie eventually kills Tatiana, takes control of the country, and
purposely incites a global war.
Wisconsin
Margot is the mayor of an unspecified city in Wisconsin. She clashes with the Governor,
Daniel, on how to proceed following the emergence of the skein powers. Margot works
with NorthStar to open training camps for young women with powers. Margot is
eventually elected Governor of the state before going on to be elected to the United
States Senate.
The American South

Allie is originally from the southern United States. After she discovers that she has skein
powers, she flees from her abusive adoptive parents and takes refuge in a convent.
There, she becomes a renowned religious figure and eventually moves to Moldova.
England
Roxy is originally from England. Her father, Bernie, is a British crime boss. After Roxy
discovers that Bernie was the one who ordered Roxy’s mother’s death, Roxy forcibly
takes over Bernie’s criminal organization. She eventually moves to Moldova after
agreeing to supply Tatiana’s army with the skein-enhancing drug Glitter.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia is a country in the Middle East. After the skein powers emerge in women,
tensions grown between the women of Saudi Arabia and the patriarchal government.
Tunde visits Saudi Arabia temporarily to document and report on the violent clashes.
28
India
India is a country in South Asia. Much like Saudi Arabia, after the skein powers emerge,
tensions begin to grow in India between the country’s women and the patriarchal
government. Tunde also visits India to document the violent upheaval.
29
Themes and Motifs
Deconstructing Gender
The Power is an inherently feminist work that explores gender’s social constructions
through the lens of inequality and divisions between the ideas of male and female in
modern society. The narrative introduces this focus with its introductory frame narrative,
in which writers Neil and Naomi inhabit a society that is very similar to the real world
aside from the fact that it is matriarchal as opposed to the patriarchal societal structures
of the real world. After skimming through parts of Neil’s novel, Naomi reacts with
surprise at “scenes with male soldiers, male police officers, and boy crime gangs” (2),
which both emphasizes the patriarchal state of these power structures in the real world
while also indicating that Neil and Naomi’s world is reversed in this regard. Thus, the
novel prepares the reader for a thematic exploration of gender divisions as
manifestations of cruel and unjust dominance of one gender over the other.
The bulk of the narrative dramatizes how gender structures that are familiar to the
reader are upended by a sudden infusion of power and control to the historically
oppressed female gender; this narrative fixation thereby continues the function of
emphasizing real-world patriarchal structures while also exposing these patriarchal
structures as cruel and unjust. In the years after the emergence of the skein powers, the
female characters are shown to take control of all male-dominated spheres of power,
including political offices, religious leadership, and military might. Moreover, the women
are able to take control of these offices through the use of their powers, thus
emphasizing the concept that men originally have control of these positions of authority
through their own violent and immoral exploitation of power. Thus, the cruelties of the
female characters, such as murder, rape, and political manipulation, are designed to
emphasize how men are generally responsible for these abuses in the real world.
The novel ultimately promotes the idea that gender inequality is based in the immorality
and violence of less advanced times and that it is the duty of people in the modern
world to actively work to undo these inequalities. One of the places in the narrative in
which this idea is most explicitly stated is when Allie is explaining her reasoning for
wishing to initiate near-apocalyptic warfare: “And then there will be five thousand years
of rebuilding, five thousand years where the only thing that matters is: can you hurt
more, can you do more damage, can you instill fear?...And then the women will win”
(353) due to their new powers of the skein. Thus, Neil’s exhortation towards the end of
the book for the dismantling of gender inequalities is based in this acknowledgement
that the fact of this inequality is as immoral as its origins in the violence of less
advanced times.
30
Problematizing the Concept of Power
The novel’s examination of the idea of power is both intertwined with and parallel to its
examination of gender, as it seeks to examine power as a corrupting force both within
and apart from gender issues. First, it is important to understand the novel’s overall
philosophy of power as an inherent corruptor of morals. As the three central female
characters—Allie, Roxy, and Margot—gain access to more power after the emergence
of the skein powers, each one of them loses virtually all moral sense and thusly
becomes obsessed only with the acquisition of an increasing amount of power. Margot,
for example, focuses solely on her own political ambitions without any regard for actual
morality o works of altruism. She thinks of her gubernatorial opponent Daniel, “You’re
gonna pump my gas someday, Daniel. I’ve got big plans” (79). She then proceeds to run
a generally cynical campaign that succeeds because people are impressed by the
strength symbolized by her skein powers. As a Governor and then a Senator, her main
focus is expanding her wealth and power through her unpublicized military contracts
with NorthStar, ultimately contributing to the violent militarization that inadvertently
facilitates global destruction.
Allie and Roxy’s character arcs are similar, and these three central arcs are designed to
demonstrate that the moral corruption of power is what integrally contributes to the
destructive essence of gender inequality. The abuses of power perpetrated by Allie,
Roxy, and Margot function to call the reader’s attention to similar abuses perpetrated by
men. In the name of power, control, and personal safety, Allie assassinates Tatiana
Moskalev in order to take control of Moldova. In the name of revenge and personal gain,
Roxy struggles with her father for control of her father’s criminal organization. The
trifecta of these characters’ moral degradation emphasizes the corrupting nature of
power and the way in which that corruptive power lies heavily with men in the real world.
The novel then applies these ideas to issues of gender by dramatizing and explicating
how the immoral exertion of power leads to the immoral oppression of one gender over
another. As discussed above, the novel demonstrates through the central female
characters how power may corrupt a person while giving that person dominance over
others. The novel then applies this idea to the idea of how power was used to originally
form structures of gender oppression. Neil states towards the end of the novel, “The
world is the way it is now because of five thousand years of ingrained structures of
power based on darker times when things were much more violent and the only
important thing was—could you and your kin jolt harder?” (381). Neil, and thus the
overall narrative, then articulates the idea that it is possible to overcome the unjust
legacy of these unjust power structures that are a relic of, as Neil says, “darker times”
(381).
Critiquing Social Structures

The novel uses its examination of power as a means of deconstructing how modern
social structures are based on inequitable and unjust socio-historical phenomena, and
31
similar much of the novel’s thematic construction, this thematic exploration is subtly
initiated in the introductory section of the frame narrative. The way in which the two
writers interact is subtly defined by the social structures that distinguish them by gender.
Neil, for example, is a member of “The Men Writers Association” (1), which is not a
familiar concept in the real life but functions as an analog for women’s writers
associations, which are formed in reaction to patriarchal condescension against female
artists in the real world. This condescension is subtly mirrored in Naomi’s attitudes
towards Neil. While she seems to enjoy and value his work, she also undercuts the
work with a certain amount of flippancy, calling Neil a “saucy boy” (2) for his illustrations
of patriarchal military structures and referring to the world depicted in his book as “sexy”
(2), thereby using sexualization to undercut the image of the empowerment of the other
gender. This mirrors social habits of condescension and sexualization against women in
the real world.
The novel then returns to these ideas in the concluding section of the frame narrative,
where Naomi seems to be a little more sensitive to social dynamics after having read
Neil’s book while still operating within a society in which gender distinctions have
significant sway over public actions and opinions. Neil is somewhat optimistic about the
ability to alter social structures to incorporate equality between the genders: “We can
think and imagine ourselves differently once we understand what we’ve based our ideas
on. Gender is a shell game” (381), meaning gender distinctions are ultimately
meaningless. However, Neil’s optimism is somewhat undercut by Naomi’s suggestion
that Neil publish the book under a woman’s name, as the book may be generally
dismissed if people know that a man wrote it.
The novel applies these ideas of social structures as subjective to the central narrative,
as all the characters’ ideas of one gender being superior over the other are depicted as
false and harmful. The novel itself does not directly address the idea of the gender
binary itself being an ultimately meaningless social construction; however, that idea is
implicitly embedded in the narrative’s attack on the idea of gender divisions itself. None
of the characters identify as gender non-binary, and yet the novel demonstrates the axis
of the gender binary as being harmful no matter which way it is turned. Thus, the novel
appears to view social structures based around gender as ultimately subject to
corruption and to the propagation of oppression.
The Ethics of Politics

As the central characters of the novel gain more power and status, they must negotiate
various high-stakes political situations; the thematic function of these political
interactions is the elucidation of subterfuge and self-interest as integral to political
ambition and strategy. Margot’s storyline is the most explicitly political, as her character
arc is defined in part by the progression of her political career from a mayor to a
governor to a senator. Her gubernatorial campaign sets the tone for how she
approaches her career. Internally, her approach is cynical and self-serving, such as
when she is preparing campaign talking points with a mind towards manipulation and
victory rather than towards altruism. For example, the narration describes one of her
32
talking points as “a misrepresentation followed by a gross misrepresentation…Still, it
plays well” (163). The rest of her political career is similarly geared towards accretion of
wealth and power, such as her morally questionable use of her influence to promote
contracts with NorthStar for her own financial gain.
Allie also finds herself in high-stakes political machinations, and the contrast between
her initial motivations and her later actions demonstrates how self-interest in politics can
lead to catastrophic consequences both for oneself and for others. Many of Allie’s
actions are guided by the desire for security and control. This appears to be partly
motivated by the rootlessness she suffered as an orphan and the abuse she suffered at
the hands of her adoptive parents. However, as Allie pursues these goals of power and
control, she only serves to put herself and others in more danger as she rises in the
echelons of political power. She becomes Tatiana’s primary advisor, and she eventually
kills Tatiana to take control of the country. Allie thinks to herself, “I’ll take the country.
Then I’ll be safe” (284). However, her actions and decision ultimately lead to widespread
death and destruction, thus reemphasizing the dangers of intersections between politics
and self-interest.
The narrative also explores politics as both an extension of personal will and a reflection
of public will, as the social and political upheaval showcased in the novel is
demonstrated as a product of the confluence of these forces. The most prominent
example in the novel is the changes that occur in both the social and political
circumstances of Moldova. While women begin to use their powers to exert their wills
across the country, President Moskalev’s wife Tatiana uses her powers to kill her
husband and assume control of the country. In this way, the social and political changes
of the society are depicted as both hinging upon the same circumstances of power and
personal desires.
Moral Degradations and Exigencies

The novel’s moral landscape is highly fraught and debased, as the narrative explores its
characters’ moral failings in order to demonstrate both the causes and effects of those
failings. These failings originate in maladaptive responses to the inherent change in the
global power structure. The three central female characters, instead of using their power
for selfless causes, use it to increase and further their own self-interests. Margot
furthers her political career, Roxy furthers her criminal economic interests, and Allie
expands her influence over others. The essence of the immorality in these actions is
that their motivations concern little outside themselves, and thus the general destruction
and violence of the narrative is wrought, as this selfishness occurs on a wider scale
beyond simply these three characters. This moral landscape thereby mirrors the
selfishness with which many men approach their power and influence in the real world.
Tunde, meanwhile, represents both a parallel and a contrast to the book’s primary moral
landscape, for although he does seem, to some degree, to be seeking wealth and fame
via his journalistic efforts, he is also motivated by the selfless impulse to risk his own
safety in order to expose and document factual events as they occur. Even as Tunde
33
risks his safety for the truth, he acknowledges the idea that “No one wants to hear about
what’s happening here [in these countries]. The truth has always been a more complex
commodity than the market can easily package and sell” (276). However, he remains
committed to that complexity and uncovering as much of it as he can. Tunde’s
perspective also gives insights into the risks, dangers, and feelings of fear experiences
by the oppressed gender in a society of unequal gender status, thus mirroring and
representing the tribulations experienced by women in the world’s actual structures of
gender inequality.
The novel extends its moral implications from past events to present exigencies by
advocating for the idea that all people are responsible for acting selflessly and
consciously in order to undo the lasting legacies of historical inequalities. Neil states to
Naomi, “We can think and imagine ourselves differently once we understand what we’ve
based our ideas on” (381). In other words, present say social structures are often based
on immoral conventions of the past, but since it is possible to conceptually deconstruct
the historical origins of these structures, it is then our duty to imagine and actively work
towards undoing the lasting harmful effects. The novel specifically applies this moral
idea to gender inequality, but it can also be applied to other forms of injustice, such as
racial oppression, poverty, biased justice systems, and other phenomena. The fraught
moral landscape of the main narrative, as well as its immediate and lasting
consequences, thereby serve to explain and emphasize these moral exigencies.
34
Styles
Point of View
The narration is written in the limited third person and the present tense. The narration
adheres to a single character’s perspective at a time, but it often shifts between
characters. The characters whose perspectives are the most prominent and the most
common in the novel are Roxy, Allie, Tunde, and Margot. These characters and their
perspectives are significant in that their origins are all distant from one another and yet
their stories all intersect in different ways surrounding the main narrative. Margot and
Allie are from the United States, Roxy is from England, and Tunde is from Nigeria, and
yet the geographical locus of their intersecting storylines is Moldova. They are all drawn
to the political upheaval of Moldova, which is in many ways the most extreme upheaval
following the emergence of the skein powers.
These geographical intersections ultimately parley into thematic intersections, as the

interactions between the central characters serve to directly juxtapose their points of
view. Each character has a different experience and view of the novel’s events. Margot
focuses on increasing her political position, Tunde focuses on uncovering truth and on
surviving, Allie and Roxy look for personal meaning in their rising statuses, and all of
these perspectives add to the dystopian mosaic of the novel’s presentation of the world
as being consumed by the destruction of hunger for power.
Language and Meaning

The novel’s prose exhibits a mixture of conversational and formal styles, with the former
underscoring the naturalistic, humanized portrayals of the characters, and the latter
underscoring the gravity of the novel’s sociopolitical issues and the intense drama and
stakes of the overall narrative. Because the narration hinges so closely on the main
point-of-view characters, the diction of the narration often mirrors the conversational
style of the dialogue. For example, concerning Allie’s rising status as a religious figure,
the narration states, “How many miracles does it take? Not too many. One, two, three is
plenty” (125). This casual tone mirrors the characters’ own often casual approaches to
their roles in the larger phenomena of the narrative. The often self-assured personalities
of Allie, Margot, and Roxy substantiate this diction.
Meanwhile, the narrative often must support and emphasize the ultimate gravity of its
events and overall arc. As the power of the skein emerges throughout the world, the
people of the world undergo extreme changes that often result in horrific violence. The
narrative ends with near-apocalyptic global warfare. In the moment of the initiation of
this mass violence, the narration states, “When does power exist? Only in the moment it
is exercised. To the woman with a skein, everything looks like a fight…And can you call
back the lightning? Or does it return to your hand?” (370). This diction emphasizes the
35
ultimately serious, grave nature of the book, which is designed to decry the violence that
is inherent to gender inequalities in the real world.
Structure
The novel is structured within a frame narrative that is set in a society similar to real life
except that it is matriarchal instead of patriarchal. The frame narrative is structured as
an exchange of letters between two writers, Naomi and Neil. Neil has written a book—
which itself is the main part of the novel—and has asked Naomi for feedback. The
frame narrative establishes the book’s concern with the intersection of gender and
power in society, and it positions the main part of the novel as a look at how these
forces may have led to create the world of the frame narrative.
The book is written in the present tense and the third person, and the central narrative
spans about a decade. The narrative often shifts to focus on different characters, the
main ones being Roxy, Allie, Tunde, and Margot. The narrative will also often shift
ahead years at a time to focus on the next major events in the arcs of the characters
and the overall narrative. This mobility of focus allows the book to be grounded in the
arcs of the main characters while also focusing on the larger sociopolitical changes with
which the narrative is concerned. In addition, the juxtaposition between these close-up
views of characters and wider examinations of world events allow the book to explore
both the personal and global effects of its events. The characters directly experience
personal consequences of sociopolitical shifts, and they also observe the more general
changes through the lens of wide-reaching media.
36
Quotes
I see you've included some scenes with male soldiers, male police officers, and boy
crime gangs.
-- Naomi ("Correspondence")
Importance: Naomi says this after having read parts of Neil's manuscript. Naomi's
surprised reaction to these roles being occupied by men signals to the reader the
matriarchal nature of the society in which Neil and Naomi live.
She cuppeth the lightning in her hand. She commandeth it to strike.

-- Narration ("Ten years to go")
Importance: The narration makes this statement the first time that Roxy uses her
power. The grandiose nature of the language emphasizes the grandiose implications of
the power, foreshadowing the far-reaching effects that the power has in the narrative.
The voice has never steered her wrong.

-- Narration ("Nine years to go")
Importance: This statement refers to the mysterious voice in Allie's head that has given
her guidance for years. This line establishes the sense of trust that Allie has in the
voice. However, the narrative ultimately portrays the voice as essentially a force of evil.
You’re gonna pump my gas someday, Daniel. I’ve got big plans.
-- Margot ("Nine years to go")
Importance: Margot thinks this to herself one day during a meeting with Daniel, the
Governor. This thought of Margot's emphasizes her single-minded desire to advance
her political career, which contributes to her moral corruptness as the narrative
continues.
The one who creates is greater than the thing created.

-- Allie ("Eight years to go")
Importance: Allie uses this idea as the basis for her religious and philosophical
doctrines. She argues that women are superior to men because men are born of
women. Allie continues to promote these ideas as she gains more power and notoriety.
You could take this station, you could kill every man in it if you wanted.
-- The Voice ("Eight years to go")
Importance: The voice says this to Allie while Allie is in the police station demanding
the medical release of a young woman who was beaten by the police. While Allie does
not use her powers, the above statement emphasizes the idea that Allie and the other
women have become more powerful than traditional bodies of law enforcement.
37
You know what, though she's strong. She'd show them.
-- Voters ("Five years to go")
Importance: After Margot is elected as Governor of Wisconsin, the above is what

people imagine the voters' rationale was. Margot used her powers on her opponent
during a televised debate, and people viewed it as a show of strength. Thus, Margot's
election affirms the idea that people value strength and power above all else.
[Margot is] already calculating the kind of bonus she’ll get from NorthStar if this all works
out.
-- Narration ("One year")
Importance: This line of narration appears after Margot and Tatiana discuss a deal to
open NorthStar training camps and military bases in Moldova. Margot's focus on money
emphasizes her prioritization of wealth and power over any consideration of ethics.
I’ll take the country. And then I’ll be safe.

-- Allie ("Can't be more than seven months left")
Importance: Allie thinks this to herself after witnessing the destabilization of Tatiana and
of Tatiana's regime. Allie's thinking emphasizes the idea that her hunger for power is in
part motivated by a desire for safety and control. Paradoxically, her quest for power
leads only to more danger.
The list of crimes punishable by death has grown longer.

-- Narration ("Can't be more than seven months left")
Importance: As Tunde continues to explore Moldova, he finds the government

essentially instituting programs of mass extermination of men. One element of this
program is extending the list of capital crimes as applied to men.
And then there will be five thousand years of rebuilding, five thousand years where the
only thing that matters is: can you hurt more, can you do more damage, can you instill
fear?...And then the women will win.
-- Allie ("Here it comes")
Importance: In this quotation, Allie states her reasoning for wanting to begin a global
war that will blow humanity back to the Stone Age. As civilization progresses from that
state, women will gain dominance due to their powers. This emphasizes the idea that in
the real world, modern patriarchal structures are based around the violence of less
advanced times.
Have you considered publishing this book under a woman's name?

-- Naomi ("Correspondence" (II))
Importance: Naomi states this because she believes that the book will be generally
dismissed if people know that it was written by a man. This quotation, which is the final
38
line of the book, emphasizes how gender inequality of times past translates into social
inequality in the present.
39

The Power: A Novel Study Guide Breakdown

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The Power: A Novel Study Guide

The Power: A Novel by Naomi Alderman

Pages 121 -187.......................................................................................................................... 11

Pages 190 - 251........................................................................................................................ 14

Pages 252 - 313........................................................................................................................ 17

Pages 314 - 382........................................................................................................................ 20

Symbols and Symbolism............................................................................................................ 26

Themes and Motifs.................................................................................................................... 30

Neil and Naomi

The American South

Critiquing Social Structures

The Ethics of Politics

Moral Degradations and Exigencies

These geographical intersections ultimately parley into thematic intersections, as the

Language and Meaning

She cuppeth the lightning in her hand. She commandeth it to strike.

The voice has never steered her wrong.

The one who creates is greater than the thing created.

Importance: After Margot is elected as Governor of Wisconsin, the above is what

I’ll take the country. And then I’ll be safe.

The list of crimes punishable by death has grown longer.

Importance: As Tunde continues to explore Moldova, he finds the government

Have you considered publishing this book under a woman's name?

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