Power is a touchy subject for the oppressed and a necessary subject for the oppressors. When talking about hierarchies, we talk about who has the power and who does not; being the most basic power structure, you can find one in every civilization that is amongst the commonwealth. Though we run on the notion in our particular society, that all men are created equal, we run into the problem that not everyone believes that. When talking about any real society, there are bound to be inequalities and manipulation, this is where this notion that all men are created equal becomes merely a sentiment. It is an interesting prospect to see what the world would be like without hierarchies. Would the world be chaotic, or will there finally be true equality? Hierarchies fulfill our deep need for order and security, when a country, family, or person is in a vulnerable place it is easy for someone to take advantage of them and perpetuate existing inequalities. This takes place in both Geek Love and V for Vendetta. Through the prospect of classes, gender, manipulation by the government, and societal norms. Both authors are able to show a clear-cut representation of feasible hierarchies that are plausible to exist in the real world.
In every society, people inevitably form hierarchies. But what those hierarchies consist of and who is on top depends on the society of which they’ve constructed. Many hierarchies are formed through binaries, in our society we have a gender binary while in Geek Love their major binary outlined is based upon abnormal vs normal (Wiedeman). The power dynamics that surround the societal norms of what is and is not considered normal, is a major theme of Dunn’s work. These preconceptions and definitions are based on hierarchy and tradition. In any society, those who have power is that of the people and their opinions. When raising their children Al and Lil went against this preconceived notion of what is and what should be normal and raised their children against it. Al and Lil successfully flipped the societal view of what is considered abnormal and contorted this view to be seen as uniqueness, through the creation of the carnival, and promotion to be abnormal. You can see how this has influenced the children especially Oly as she stated “I get glimpses of the horror of normalcy. Each of these innocents on the street is engulfed by a terror of their own ordinariness. They would do anything to be unique” (Dunn, 223). It is interesting how Oly has flipped the narrative and pities those who are not like her. It is hard for many people to go against the grain and be unequivocally themselves. In many ways, the hierarchy outlined here is society vs. the Binwiski family in all that they are. But I think what many people miss when looking at these power dynamics is the power dynamic of the actual family. By Al and Lil flipping the narrative and telling the children to embrace themselves, and in the process condemning normalcy, they are also not allowing the children to be themselves. We are all made up of each experience and interaction that we hold, by cutting off society and every opinion that society holds, the Binwiski parents have limited the families world view. By controlling what interactions a person does or does not have, holds a major influence on character development, which is why this should be treated as a power. When first examining the family one would think that Arty has the most influential amongst the family, but who influenced him? In this hierarchy of taking back power, the original power of society has influenced and shaped the Binwiski parents, who have influenced and shaped Arty. The preconceived notion of normality has power over the Binwiski’s actions in creating their adverse reactions. The societal view of normality has spread its wings and reached far in the sense that two major characters, Vern, and Miranda, have been influenced by these notions as well. Within the first half of the novel, the Binwiski family is walking up to the grocery store, as they are minding their own business, Vern who is later known as the bag man opens fire trying to put the children out of their misery (Dunn, 87). Because the children were perceived as an oddity or deformed this gave Vern the power to justify to himself, why he has the right to assassinate the family. Another example consists of Miranda, who is Arty, and Olympia’s daughter. Being born of two abnormal people the only abnormality that existed on Miranda was her tail. Not being raised by the Binwiski’s societal norms, public societal pressure was able to reach Miranda, thus leading to the yearn for Miranda to remove her tail. When raising their children Al and Lil knew that something like this might happen, that their oddities might hinder them because of this social hierarchy, and social pressures, by flipping and changing the narrative and embracing their uniqueness this will benefit and shield the children from these experiences amongst their private society which is the carnival.
When talking about the Binwiski’s it’s hard to not talk about conformity, specifically as it relates to Arty’s cult; Arturism. Arty’s cult Arturism is one of the most notable and recognizable power dynamics within the novel. When looking at the structure of cults and comparing them to that of the structure of a hierarchy you will notice that they are one in the same. Arty is at the top of the hierarchy, he is the leader. Those at the bottom are his followers who can ascend higher and higher, by cutting more and more limbs off. Arty has asked his followers to conform wholeheartedly to his belief system. When examining the power dynamics of a cult it is interesting to see how the manipulation aspect of it works. For this, we are going to look at the Asch Conformity Experiment. The Asch Conformity Experiment disguised itself as a vision test and was divided into two groups: the confederates, and the stooges. For each rendition of the experiment, there were three confederates (those who were a part of the experiment) and one stooge (the one who was being experimented on). The Experiment asked all four people to state which line was the same length as the control, the three confederates all said the same wrong answer, and 75% of the time the stooge would conform and say the same answer as the confederates. What this experiment highlights is that most people can be manipulated to conform and are highly influenced by the people around, even when the answer is so obvious, people are more apt to think there's something wrong with themselves before looking at their surroundings (Mcleod). The Asch conformity test not only speaks to how society can manipulate the people but if you isolate this manipulation and figure out how to use it, you can control the masses, this is what Arty did. By isolating this power cult leaders can exert a systematic social influence that can produce great behavioral changes, which will account for the power dynamics associated with this hierarchy (Collins). By creating and manipulating his followers into “quasi-religion cult making” (Dunn 223), Arty, in doing so, has successfully passed his narrative that abnormality is superior to that of society's version of normality. Arty has asked his followers to forget society, and not conform to society, but to conform to his cult. This in turn made Arty more accepted and feel more normal within his society that he created.
When looking into the literary genius of Allan Morre you will notice that his work is different from your traditional novel. The novel consists of two stories, one of which is shown and the other of which is written. Moores novel consists of three main social constructs which all play into the binary of coercion vs. consent, which has resulted in a hierarchy. The main hierarchy of this novel is that of the government, which has used the power of propaganda, and gender dynamics. The structure of the government is flawed in the way that the government has complete control over its people, most would say that democracy is the best way to govern, this futuristic English society is an authoritarian regime.
Many hierarchies thrive out of vulnerability and yearn for security, it is obvious that through the graphics and conversations of the characters that the government relies heavily on misinformation to control the masses. Through the widespread use of fake news and propaganda, there is no way for the masses to fully conceptualize what is real, and what is fake, but this concept perpetuates the existing vulnerability and makes the people feel as if they need their government to be safe. The purpose of spreading propaganda is primarily to influence the masses or further an agenda. Through the promotion of propaganda, a hierarchy has been created. With the government in this situation on the top because they tell the media what to say, the media in the middle because they are above the people and present information to the masses, and the people on the bottom because they look to the media for their information. Through this fictional reality, a hierarchy is formed. With this hierarchy, it is made easy for the government to manipulate the people and tell them what and how to think. The government has made it easy to kidnap and kill citizens, cover-up government crimes, genocide, and hinder the people’s right to accurate information, all benefitting the government and allowing the agenda of the government to prosper. The main forms of propaganda consist of the voice of fate, media outlets, posters that have the government motto such as "England Prevails", and "strength through purity, purity through faith" or even signs that say “for your protection” written on them, all leading to civilian dependence (Moore, 9;11). Through the use of personification, the people are able to relate to the propaganda instilled upon them, which has furthered the manipulation of the people (Brentleeblog). To understand this concept more deeply we can look at the Asch Conformity Experiment again, in many ways this experiment told the stooges what to believe through the confederates, in Moore’s fictional society this is what the government has done. Through the words of Delia, she explains how the people were driven to help commit genocide “They were ordinary people, and they were prepared to torture a stranger to death, just because they were told to by someone in authority. Some of them said they’d even enjoyed it. I think I enjoyed what I did at the time. People are stupid and evil” (Moore,73). By no one standing up for what is right and standing against a tyrannical government, genocide was able to occur.
In many ways literature mimics reality, in the topic of gender dynamics V for Vendetta lives up to this. In Moore's fictional society, women are under men, this inequality is outlined within the first chapter when Evey is shown trying to prostitute herself to earn money so she can eat. But as prostitution is illegal Evey is harassed by male government officials who state “you’ll do anything we want then we’ll kill you” (Moore, 11) inferring that they will rape her first, until V shows up to rescue her. Though Evey could very well have been treated as a damsel in distress, V goes against societal norms and does not. In Moore’s futuristic English society because the government is ruled by only men, this confirms that men are meant to be put in power roles and make laws, by not having women alongside men in many ways creates a trickle-down thought process, with the conviction that men are superior to women, this has resulted in the misuse and mistreatment of women, and as a result, this thought process affords men a privilege. Moore’s society mimics that of the present day; worldwide women are underrepresented in positions of power, this has created power dynamics that have resulted in women being paid less, denied promotions, sexually harassed in the workplace, abused by partners, and sexually assaulted/ abused outside of work (Galinsky). The hierarchy outlined has afforded men the power to take advantage of women, and use women as mere objects.
Both authors, Dunn and Moore, would agree that hierarchies only perpetuate existing inequalities amongst society. Thus being said no one would agree that inequality is what the commonwealth strives for. By affording power to one person or a small group forms a hierarchy, when a small group of people or one person has the majority of power you cannot trust that group or person to use that power for good. According to John Locke, “there is no need that the legislative should always be in being” to Locke the legislative branch is the supreme power, given that a legislative branch is relatively a small group of people this allocates for easy tyranny (Rosen and Wolff). One who seeks to eliminate hierarchies seeks to eliminate inequalities, manipulation, power, tyranny, but also comfort, security, order, and civilization. Most people would agree that there is power in numbers, this is why there is the power of the people. There is no problem with hierarchies per say, just the way that people use them. What Dunn and Moore seek to eliminate is the horrifying and negative aspects of hierarchies. By calling attention to horrifying and negative aspects of hierarchies Dunn and Moore have successfully started a conversation that will allow the people, who have the greatest power, to recognize and strike down a tyrannical person, or government. The only hierarchies that Dunn and Moore seek to eliminate are negative hierarchies that perpetuate and create inequalities and negativity amongst the commonwealth.
A world without hierarchies is a world that cannot exist. There are two types of hierarchies, natural, and man-made (Rosen and Wolff). Natural hierarchies are hierarchies that can be found in the wild, such examples consist of the predator-prey hierarchies, hierarchies between different pods or groups over who gets access to which resources, or watering holes. Man-made hierarchies occur once man creates civilization. To have a functioning civilization, the only known option is to form hierarchies, there are no known civilizations who have successfully survived without a hierarchical structure. Not all hierarchies perpetuate inequalities, the only way a hierarchy will do this is if there are tyrannical leaders, people at the top who have jaded intentions, or a plurality of the people who have jaded views of superiority. This is why it is important that the ruled, the people, get a say in who is in office, and are able to hold peers and leaders accountable.
A world without hierarchies is a world unknown, what is more feasible to do is to recognize when you are a part of a hierarchy and use judgment to examine your situation. A truly equal society cannot exist, the only time in history when there was anything close to such a society is before civilization and before society (Rosen and Wolff). If we place characters from both novels, into a situation where they are fully dependent on themselves to provide, you don’t have much of a character. What Dunn and Moore wrote about is society, without hierarchies or power dynamics, you don’t have one. If we pretend to have a perfect society where no inequalities exist, every character lacks a purpose. What makes every character and personality unique is they have a purpose in creating inequality or solving inequality. Without a hierarchy to strike down, Dunn and Moore’s characters are merely existing. This notion is true in the real world as well, without human interaction, or lack of injustice to fix the only purpose of people is to live, much like trees, grass, and flowers. The practice of inequalities and manipulation through hierarchies spices life up and provides a more purposeful existence.
Power roles and dynamics in any civilization is a discussion to be had. Through the literary geniuses of Dunn and Moore and their works, this starts the long and tricky process of creating a more perfect and equal society.
Work Cited
Brentleeblog. “Propaganda.” V For Vendetta, 5 Apr. 2017, brentleeblog.wordpress.com/2017/04/04/propaganda/.
Collins, Glenn. “THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE CULT EXPERIENCE.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 15 Mar. 1982, www.nytimes.com/1982/03/15/style/the-psychology-of-the-cult-experience.html.
Dunn, K. (1989). Geek Love. New York, NY: Vintage Books.
Galinsky, Adam. “Are Gender Differences Just Power Differences in Disguise?” Ideas & Insights, Ideas at Work, 13 Mar. 2018, www8.gsb.columbia.edu/articles/ideas-work/are-gender-differences-just-power-differences-disguise.
Mcleod, Saul. Solomon Asch - Conformity Experiment. www.simplypsychology.org/asch-conformity.html.
Moore, A. (2005). V for Vendetta. Burbank, CA: DC Comics
Rosen, Michael, and Jonathan Wolff, editors. Political Thought. Oxford Readers, 1999.
Wiedeman, Megan. “A Queer and Crip Grotesque: Katherine Dunn's.” University of South Florida, core.ac.uk/download/pdf/213969351.pdf.