Volume 08 Issue 01 January 2025
1Asst. Lec. Muntadher Aqeel Abdulhamza, 2Asst. Lec. Mohammed Hussein Abass, 3Asst. Lec. Salam Hamzah Kadhim
1,2Jaber Ibn Hayyan University for Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences
3University of Kufa - College of Mixed Education
DOI : https://doi.org/10.47191/ijsshr/v8-i1-90Google Scholar Download Pdf
ABSTRACT
The Power by Naomi Alderman prompts readers to actively confront the prevailing patriarchal power systems that currently exist. The story takes place in a world that is mostly recognizable to us, with the exception of the emergence of "the power" - a unique capacity possessed by women to produce an electric charge. This ability is made possible by the presence of a little organ known as a skein. Throughout the narrative, the female characters derive their authority from several ideological frameworks: Eve from religious beliefs, Margot from the United States government and “the military-industrial complex”, “Roxy” from the realm of criminal organization, and “Tatiana” from an established dictatorship. Since the main characters strive to enhance the world according to their own judgement, they amass greater influence not from their personal abilities, but from the governing system that suppresses them, which they eventually come to control. This research employs Marxism framework of “dialectical materialism” and the ideological apparatus of Althusser (repressive and ideological state apparatus) to examine the relationship between wealth and gender, as well as the author's philosophy on the repressive ideologies and the prevailing “patriarchal power structure”. The story challenges the notion of a gendered oppressive system, despite seeing women engaging in the same violence that they themselves endure from men in contemporary society.
KEYWORDS:Ideology, Repressive State Apparatuses, Ideological State Apparatuses, Marxism, The Power Novel, Oppressive Authority
REFERENCES1) Alderman, N. (2019). Book club set: The power. Back Bay Books Little, Brown and Company.
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3) La Ferla, R. (2018, January 29). Naomi alderman on the world that yielded ‘the power.’ The New York Times. Retrieved December 8, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/29/style/the-power-naomialderman.html?-smid=url-share.
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