With the "Do I Dare" reading, I am soooo not touching the super long E and B words. So instead I'm going to talk about power. More specifically: who has it, who wants it, and how do you get it.
Dante, I think, is a good example of power in young adult literature.
In the reading, the author talks about the types of power--the "power to" and "power over." Society is most definitely a "power over" authority, in which it dominates over everything. The common force behind society pressures people--especially adolescents--to meld with the crowd, do what is considered normal (if there is such a thing) and if you cannot abide by the laws which society has laid out, you will be shunned. Society forces its power on people, sometimes without them even knowing. This allows for a kind of harmony. The author of "Do I Dare" mentioned Foucault contrasting two different ideas, something about how individuals will relinquish what power they have to society in order to live in this harmony, and the other idea being that people are repressed by this forceful domination. I think there's truth to both. I think Ari shows some traits of them.
Dante is more of a "power to" kind of kid in the way that he has the power to free himself from the constraints of society. From the get-go he stands out, not because he's trying to stand out but because that's simply the way he is. It's easier for Dante to let go of society's norms because of many reasons that can be debated. Dante has power; it comes from within him. Empowerment. Ari's power grows over the course of the novel. Some powers are hidden deeper than others.
That's not a bad thing.
The only problem with having empowerment is with incidents like Dante and the kids who beat him to a pulp. Some people are so scared or so angry of people who fray from the dominance of society that they will do whatever it takes to make them normal again. But there are always those people who will do what they want because that is what they are supposed to do. People like Dante. And because of people like Dante, with the capability to free themselves and others, they help people like Ari to find power.
Now I'm going to let the night have power over me. Goodnight, y'all.
I feel like there's so much to explore in terms of power in this novel--you're absolutely right. But I think that Dante is also very uncertain about the amount of power he has. It's true that he's very confident in his identity and is absolutely unafraid to be his own person; but it's also true that he wants to be validated in this endeavor... Hence why he writes to Ari about more "personal" issues like kissing boys and masturbating. He wants to know if it's normal. If Ari backs up his thought process, then he isn't in the wrong. In that sense, Ari /does/ have a bit of power over Dante, even though Dante tends to be the one to get the ball rolling on most of their issues.
ReplyDeleteI found your insight into people desiring that "harmony" over their power to be interesting... I'm going to have to reflect on that tonight. I've certainly seen it in real life.
Nice analysis of power relations, Alyssa. ;) I would agree that Dante has power in a way, but I wouldn't say that it comes naturally for him. I would argue that for Dante he is actively refusing to go along with social norms and that creates a power struggle with him. You mention the boys who beat him up and that's an extreme way of society beating down what Dante is trying to be. There are forces which are actively against what Dante wants and who he is, but he chose that life. He chose to go against the power of society. Ari chooses to conform and although it may make life easier on a surface level, it doesn't match with is identity and this creates inner conflict. It often becomes a decision of which battle you chose to fight for people in the LGBT community. You can either fight with society or fight with yourself, either way it's a struggle, but that's part of life I suppose.
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