What does it mean to be powerful? Does having power entitle someone to the highest respect? Is a powerful person the only one allowed to govern and decide upon rules or laws? Can someone who is powerless ever become the authority? According to J. M. Coetzee, in Dusklands, some who think they are powerful may in fact be powerless, while some who are perceived to be powerless, actually are in control. The reader can see that having power is puzzling because who we think has full control of a situation, in turn, is unstable or has no control. In today's society, one might say that each of us, as individuals, have an authority over our own lives. This might be true, but what about addiction? What about the soldiers who returned home from a war? Whatever they have been through is still replaying in their minds and bodies. A memory or a drug may in fact be controlling the individual and causing him or her to lose power over something simple or even completely take over his or her life.
In the first novella, "The Vietnam Project," for Eugene Dawn, the line between reality and the mind is blurred, causing Eugene to lose power over his life. Eugene has seen the effects of the war, and he actually carries them around with him in the form of photographs in his briefcase. Eugene cannot escape the reality of what psychological warfare has done. In fact, even though Eugene has not gone to war, it almost seems as if he is at war with himself. From the very beginning, all he wanted was Coetzee's respect. After work where he wants Coetzee's respect, Eugene goes home to a nagging wife, Marilyn. In reality, Marilyn just wanted to be a part of his life, but Eugene couldn't see that. When he finally decides to leave his wife and take his son to a motel, it appears that Eugene is taking control of the situation. It appears as if he now has the power. But then Eugene explains, "giving myself orders is a trick I often play on my habit of obedience... There is no doubt that contact with reality can be invigorating. I hope that firm and prolonged intercourse with reality, if I can manage it, will have a good effect on my character as well as my health, and perhaps even improve my writing" (36). Eugene is totally immersed by his need to please other people, even when he is the only adult and has the possibility to make his own decisions. I ponder the reason how, with this freedom and power, Eugene can make a decision to stab his son. But then I ask myself, in what right mind would a father stab his own son? This is proof that Eugene has lost control of his actions. All aspects of warfare made him crazy and powerless.
In the second novella, "The Narrative of Jacobus Coetzee," Jacobus learns that having power can easily turn into dependency on others who are powerless. In this novella, Jacobus describes his journeys surrounding the Hottentots. Hottentots move around following cattle. They are depicted to be less than the white man, but greater than the Bushmen. Bushmen are simply beasts. While Jacobus travels with his team of six Hottentots, he definitely lets them know he is in full command. Jacobus explains, "the success of the expedition had flowed from my own enterprise and exertions... They saw me as their father. They would have died without me" (64). Making all the plans and decisions, the Hottentots are powerless to Jacobus. Jacobus' state of power comes into question when he travels the land of the Greater Namaqua. Jacobus describes, "I realized that, sick with who knows what fever, I had fallen into the hands of callous thieves ignorant of the very rudiments of medicine, barbarians, children of nature whose hospitality I had only yesterday insulted" (76). Here he has lost control over his life. His Hottentots do not listen to him and Plaatje mocks him. In reality, Jacobus is now powerless among the Hottentots. But then there is Klawer, who still obeys Jacobus. To explain this, Jacobus says, "The habit of obedience is not easily broken" (88). If this is true, why does this only apply to Klawer and not the rest of the team? It is clear that when someone is in a state of power, the person is not entitled to the highest respect. Jacobus was treated poorly when the Hottentots took control and lost his power. On the other hand, Jacobus proves that the habit of authority is not easily broken when he embarks on his second journey back to show his power.
Mallory, I think you hit on one of the key concepts in this novel – power and all of its manifestations. I think you’re right about the fact that Coetzee plays with the concept of power in these two short stories. As you say, “some who think they are powerful may in fact be powerless, while some who are perceived to be powerless, actually are in control.” I would add that I think this is Coetzee’s way of challenging the readers’ notions of power and asking them to broaden and rethink their definitions of it. In some ways, too, I think that power is at least in part self-constructed by the characters themselves. They aggrandize their sense of self importance as a way of bolstering their feeling of power in situations where they feel powerless. A good example is the scene you mention at the end of your blog – the one where Klawer resumes his post as Jacobus’ subordinate. As you say, Jacobus responds with the line “The habit of obedience is not easily broken” as if Klawer’s submission is a sign that Jacobus’ power has been restored. In truth however, as you mention, the rest of the team does not submit. But Jacobus cannot face that fact. So, instead, he focuses on the one native that does submit in order to soothe his hurt pride.
ReplyDeleteAn even more blatant and brutal example of Jacobus’ reinstatement of power comes at the end of the novel when Jacobus returns to the land of the Great Namaqua. You mention that Jacobus “proves that the habit of authority is not easily broken when he embarks on his second journey back to show his power.” I think you’re right. Jacobus’ return to the Great Namaqua is all about regaining lost power, about saving face, about humiliating those who humiliated him. Upon his return, Jacobus speaks candidly about his desire to reinstate his powerful position and to make the Hottentots pay for taking his power from him: “There was nothing that could be impressed on these bodies, nothing that could be torn from them or forced through their orifices, that would be commensurate with the desolate infinity of my power over them” (102). This quote shows the extent to which Jacobus is willing to go to regain his power. I would add that he could have returned home, forgotten the whole incident with the Namaqua and gone on with his life, but instead he returns and annihilates nearly the entire tribe. Then, to bolster his power even more, he goes on a philosophical tear insisting that “They died in a storm of terror, understanding nothing” (106) and that they “died the day I cast them out of my mind” (106) as if their entire existence was dependent upon his acknowledgement and extermination of their lives. As the saying goes “absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
-- Keli Rowley
Hi Mallory,
ReplyDeleteYou bring up really important textual binaries: power/powerless, desire to be loved vs. the savage that is born after being rejected or humiliated. The binary narratives are representative not only in terms of the structure of the novel as a whole but also in terms of the individual characters themselves. The two mini narratives cover diverse aspects of history: the first focusing on the war in Vietnam as presented through the eyes of Eugene and the second we are driven through Jacobus’ journey. When the narratives are shattered by each character’s personality is where we can see a contrast in the state of mind of the individual. Within this powerful/powerless dilemma, I can see how as you mentioned Eugene is one who attempts to fit in and be liked. His character is then shattered at the realization that things are not the way he wants them to be; his desire of a perfect family is not possible due to his estranged mind. Surrounded by soldiers who would say things like, “At a hundred yards who can tell one slope from another? You can only blow his head off and hope, ” his mind might have adopted that kind of mentality (22). Transitioning over to Jacobus, he does not realize the savage until they make fun on him and humiliated. Then he returns ready to avenge that humiliation, taking on even children and anything that come, as is illustrated when he kills the young girl without regard.
When I was also reading your analysis, I was also thinking of how the powerful/powerless binary can be applicable to gender studies. Something I remember from the send week of class was Dr. Barnard mentioned that Coetzee is seen as a feminist author. When we look at the female women characters, we can see both sides of the coin. We see the cheater, we see the provocative girl who is performing a sexual dance, and we have a woman who has no say or no opportunity to even have any input in the story, as she is automatically killed. I was then thinking, who it at power and what allows that power. I believe the cheater in the sense has that power, even over her husband’s desire. We also see, however, the woman who is treated as a mere sexual object(having less power). I can definetly see how Coetzee, the author, is playing with this idea.
Norma Perez
I agree with your comment on the power we have over our own lives. Power does and can change someone from one extreme to another. I think Coatzee allows his characters to experience power for the time being and shows them how dangerous power can actually be. I also see Eugene at war with an invisible enemy, one that will eventually destroy him. His collapse comes when he kidnaps his son and stabs him, something a “natural father” would never do. I wonder if Coetzee looks at the United States involve- ment in the Vietnam war as something unnatural. I think Jacobus also is at odds with his self inflicted power. His insecurity as a colonizer causes him self doubt which eventually backfires. When you said, “He lost control over his life,” he does but he does not realize just how much control he has lost. He switches places from being ‘master’ to being ‘servant’. He loses his power for a moment and then seeks revenge in a violent manner to gain it back. He then continues his journey saying “a world without me is inconceivable.”
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