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Post by adamgrace on Dec 17, 2013 4:46:50 GMT
I'm quite surprised that no one has seemed to made the connection to a game of "rock, paper, adulterer". Each character seems to have a specific power over exactly one of the other characters. While at the same time they're weak to another one. Jack has obvious power over his mistress, because she is in love with him, but Jack is weak to his wife. Jack's wife has power over Jack, but Jack's secret lover has power over Jack's wife. This is due to the Jack's love for his mistress overpowering the love for his wife. This power dynamic keeps the characters in an infinite loop of adultery, hiding, lying, adultery, hiding, lying, etc. No one will manage to break the loop until they find a crack in another person's armor.
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Post by elizabethmeyer on Dec 17, 2013 4:53:47 GMT
This really could go any way, but I'm going to decide on Jack having the real power in this situation. I think even without reading the whole story the reader can tell that Jack has more power simply because he actually has a name. In a story in which only select characters have names, it tells me that those particular characters hold more importance over the others for some reason. Additionally, Jack is the one choosing to cheat on his wife with a much younger girl. If he didn't have the power in this situation, and let's say that his wife did, then she would not only know all about Jack's cheating ways, but, if she was really in charge, then she'd stop him from cheating on her. If the girl was the one in charge, which would be pretty strange given the circumstances, then Jack probably wouldn't be married anymore. Therefore, since Jack is the one cheating, he's the one keeping the secret from his wife (it's not like the girl is keeping the secret from the wife - what's she going to do, go and tell her?), and he's the one choosing to spend his free time with this girl, he's the one with the power. If he didn't have the power, then why would the girl stay with him, and why wouldn't the wife know about it all? The person who's keeping a secret from someone holds the power that secret contains over the person that they're keeping it from, even when they don't mean to. Although, in this case, Jack definitely holds the power of his secret over his wife, and he holds the power that keeping that secret has made over the girl.
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Post by carolinedorman on Dec 17, 2013 4:55:34 GMT
Jack tries to force the power upon himself. He enforces his power by calling the narrator childlike and by exercising his cynicism. However, I do not believe this gives Jack the power. His perspective on life seems to be a defense mechanism against risk or exploring new possibilities. He is comfortable in his life, yet not entirely happy. His affair with the narrator seems to be a compensation for something unfulfilled inside of him. I think he is too scared to do anything risky like end his marriage. With this being said, it seems like Jack has the least amount of power in his life. I think the narrator has the greatest power. She has the power to explore possibilities in her life without being confined. She is at a greater risk of being hurt, but a greater possibility for happiness.
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Post by sammywong on Dec 17, 2013 4:57:55 GMT
I don't believe the wife has much power in this story. How can one be so unaware of the truth and yet still possess power? I would say that though she is a limitation to both the man and the girl's dreams, because of the fact that she is unaware of her power renders her power actually quite useless. Trying to put myself in each character's shoe, I realized that the initial pointing of the finger when trying to answer "Who has the most power?" is not accurate. None of the characters have more "net power" than the others. Yes, each character seems to possess the upper hand and deciding vote on his/her own specialty. The girl controls the man sexually. The man may control the wife sexually as well, this relationship is not the most clearly defined. The man has power over the girl physically. The wife and the man have a marriage that limits power in both of them. But the situation the characters live in make them all equally trapped.
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Post by amysohlberg on Dec 17, 2013 4:58:33 GMT
ARRRRRGHHHHHH! I wanted to punch Jack in the face when I read, "He pushed me down onto the dirty floor of the pickup and kept one hand on my head... When he saw that I was going to stay still he took his hand from my head and ran it through his own dark hair." This passage shows that Jack has all the power in this relationship. He's older, he's more experienced, and he's a man. The thing that irritates me the most is that the narrator accepts her submissive role in the relationship and doesn't ask for anything more. When he pushed her down onto the floor, she simply "inhaled the musk of his cigarettes in the dashboard ashtray and sang along with Rosanne Cash on the tape deck." This power dynamic creates a relationship that is poisonous. When one person holds all the power in a relationship, it's impossible to keep both members satisfied for an extended period of time.
In kind of a weird way, the relationship between the narrator and Jack made me think of Oedipus. The way they interact with one another feels like a perverted father-daughter relationship rather than one between two lovers: "`How come,' he mocked. 'You even sound like a kid.'" His commands and authoritative statements ("'You're wrong'") reinforce the father archetype and help explain the power structure. The narrator is completely submissive and obedient because she is romantically involved with her "father", her main role model and authority.
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Post by gracepark on Dec 17, 2013 5:16:57 GMT
The power dynamic is pretty clear. Jack is in charge. And Tallent takes full advantage of the details she presents to represent this dynamic. Just take a look at Jack's physical description: bleached seams, the same muddy boots, and littered floors. Now look at the girl's descriptions and the images associated with her: butterfly dust print on her jeans, a fawn and the yellow fields of Wyoming. The images are totally different. Jack is portrayed as this extremely static and cynical character with his attitude towards his wife and the physical treatment towards the narrator while the girl reflects a much more blissful and youthful aurora that deeply contrasts his vibe. And based on these details, the readers can discover for themselves this obvious power division. By making the narrator heavily dependent on Jack and her fantastical dreams about their future together, Tallent paints an obvious ending with her reflecting the "weak" character of the two. We can all predict that the girl will portray a more dynamic reaction once the end comes, while Jack will remain his stagnant self. Therefore, by simply illustrating the two characters under different lights through concise details, Tallent portrays an accurate power dynamic that readers can refer to to predict the overall outcome of the story.
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Post by chrisb on Dec 17, 2013 5:25:37 GMT
If the "Name That Genre" thread is any indication, Tallent's "No One's A Mystery" places a strong emphasis on what is realistic. Many of us have categorized the short story as "realistic fiction" or "truth fiction." These perceptions of Tallent's work lead me to focus on a very simple interpretation of the power dynamic. In other words, there is great value in the face-value.
Looking at the story, the face-value of the power dynamic lies in logic. The character with the most power is the character with options. The character with options becomes the impacter (probably not a word), while the other characters involved become the impacted. In the case of "No One's A Mystery," the distinction between impacter and impacted is very straightforward. Jack can choose to stay with his wife or elope with the narrator. His options affect both his wife and, more importantly, the narrator. Thus, in the simplest of ways, Jack holds more power. This interpretation is far from profound, but it remains valid given the strong emphasis on realism in this story.
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Post by keelycorrigan on Dec 17, 2013 5:34:11 GMT
I’ll admit it. I have some biases, and one bias in particular is very important to the way I view the world. I am a feminist. I see situations, art, literature, etc. through a feminist’s eyes. I was ready, within the first few sentences to rip this story apart. It's power structures are-- superficially-- so dependent on gender, age, and other qualities that the story comes off as gender poorly executed--with sexist, simplifications of very complicated subject matter.
But, I really couldn't do that and I really don't agree wholeheartedly with what I stated above. This piece does not have a gendered disparity of power like I was looking for because it has stark, upsetting individualized disparities of power. This piece profiles a dangerous, real life situation in which the power dynamics in romantic relationships tips to one side. The man has superficial and material power over the teenage girl with whom he is having an affair, but she also has emotionally manipulative power over him. The same can be said in reverse. The woman has superficial and sexual power over the man, while he is able to emotionally manipulate her to feel pity for him. I have difficulty sussing out where to draw the lines of power because they are zig-zagged, blurred, and blended into indecipherable riddles that only the two in the relationship-- and I would argue the wife-- can fully understand.
Then again, it is a well written piece, and I found its style and execution rather puzzling, but we cannot ignore the questions it asks about the inevitability of power shifts and humanity’s predisposition for pain and power.
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joelk
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Post by joelk on Dec 17, 2013 5:56:52 GMT
As many have mentioned, the wife does seem to provide the catalysts for the conversation and action. Not only is Jack directly afraid of his wife discovering his affair, but he also seems to indirectly concede he will never stand up to his wife. When the narrator discusses her dream about marrying Jack within the year, he replies, “Must have been a quick divorce” (Tallent 247). While Jack may be simply being facetious, it’s more likely that he subconsciously—or consciously—believes that he won’t be able to divorce his wife. In other word, Jack doesn’t have the power over her; instead, she exerts influence over him. This sheds light on Jack’s statement about the narrator wondering “what I ever really saw in Jack. I wonder why I spent so many days just riding around in his pickup” (Tallent 247). Perhaps it’s not that Jack believes the narrator will leave him, but that he wants to encourage her to think of him as a nobody so that she will leave him, or at least be less hurt, when he reveals he has no plans to divorce his wife.
In turn, while the wife has power over Jack, Jack has power over the narrator. He certainly has physical power, but he also has the mental power over the narrator. He tries to manipulate her a few different ways. The first, as I discussed above, involves the future prospect of their relationship. The second way, though, deals with Jack’s attempt to make the narrator believe he is completely in control, such as when he says things like “I just know…like I know I’m going to get meatloaf for supper” (Tallent 246). Initially, you could argue that Jack tries to seem in control to gain admiration or respect from the narrator (and that she actually has the power), not because he is simply illustrating to her he is truly in control. I think that interpretation, though, falls when one considers the final lines. Up until the last two lines, Jack could either be teasing the narrator or more seriously disagreeing with her. After she says Jack is wrong, however, he replies, “I’m not wrong…and her breath would smell like your milk, and it’s kind of a bittersweet smell, if you want to know the truth.” Both the blatant “I’m not wrong” and then the elaboration on the disappointing image of the baby’s breath suggest that Jack isn’t playing—I can’t see how one might deliver “…kind of a bittersweet smell, if you want to know the truth” in a friendly or mocking tone. Rather, it appears Jack is serious. Thus, although Jack is inferior to his wife, he holds a mental power over the narrator, refusing to agree with her ideas and trying to convince her of his own through both light and serious statements.
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Post by clairem on Dec 17, 2013 6:40:04 GMT
I would have to say that I believe in the notion that Jack holds the physical power, the wife holds the mental power, and the narrator holds the emotional power. Throughout the story Jack is constantly the aggressive character who pushes the narrator's head "down onto the dirty floor" and keeps "one hand on" her head (246). He is constantly applying "pressure" and appearing "scuffed" which add to his dominant physical persona. Tallent presents Jack as the physically dominant and powerful character through the short story which doesn't necessarily mean that he holds all of the power. It is also clear through Tallent's writing that the wife holds plenty of mental power. She is always getting into Jack's head with her odd actions, for example she drives with her lights on in the middle of the day. We see how much this ticks Jack off and how she is constantly held in the back of his mind like a tick that he can't get rid of; for better or for worse Jack's wife holds supreme mental power. Last but most certainly not least is the narrator who is in charge of the majority of the emotional power in this short story. Not only is she pulling and controlling Jack by his heart strings, but she is also a romantic who acts emotionally and thus controls her life in emotional ways. When dreaming of her future life with Jack she refuses to look at the possibly realism of his story line and instead focus on the romantic and emotional route of her own. This further proves her emotional tendencies and, thus, power. I would argue that overall there is no one character that holds supreme power as they each reign over different facets of the human spectrum.
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Post by racheladele on Dec 17, 2013 7:00:17 GMT
I think it is the narrator's ignorance and denial that force her to hand the power over to Jack, even if he doesn't deserve it. He seems to understand reality much better than she does, and it is this connection to the logical plane that gives him the power of the two of them. The narrator lives in a dream world of sorts, where it would be nearly impossible to control her life. I think saying that Jack has the upper status in this story explains one of the reasons that the narrator is with him. When he pushes her head down, she doesn’t fight it. Instead she “inhaled the musk of his cigarettes in the dashboard ashtray and sang along with Rosanne Cash on the tape deck” (246). Some people have suggested that the girl in the story has the power because she has hope and love, but I would like to dance with that. Jack keeps telling her the reality of the future and she refuses to accept it, but this denial touches a second element. She thinks she is only ignorantly disagreeing with Jack in the moment, but she is ignoring the future altogether. Jack has the power between the two of them because he is the one who can and will actually create that future he sees. The narrator does not seem like one to make her dreams through actions, and therefore Jack possesses the upper status because he sees a realistic future and has the potential to shape it to what he sees.
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Post by naomiporter on Dec 17, 2013 7:16:34 GMT
I think Jack's wife might have the most interesting contribution to the power dynamic, but I do not believe she holds the most power. Before I talk about her, however, I want to posit that Jack appears to have quite a bit power over the narrator, even though the narrator has a lot of potential power over Jack. Though she does not seem to realize it, she certainly has the ability to put Jack in an awful situation if she wanted to tell his wife about their relationship. On the other hand, I am looking at this in terms of what kind of ending the story could potentially have, and how each character is able to influence it. This is why I see Jack as having more power than the narrator: the narrator wants (and half-believes in) a certain happy ending where she marries Jack, but realistically, her ending is not the one that will come true. She quite simply does not have the power to make Jack marry her. Meanwhile, Jack could theoretically make either ending come true: he could divorce his wife and marry the narrator, or he could abandon the narrator and let her forget him. It is a decision he can easily make without even considering the narrator's wishes. For this reason, I believe that he has the true power in that relationship in spite of the narrator's ability to tattle-tale.
Now for his wife. She certainly holds a certain amount and type of power over Jack while he remains in this secret relationship, but not in a particularly active way. Assuming she does not know about the relationship, she is almost more of a bystander. Though she has a big impact on Jack's and the narrator's actions, she is unaware of it, and cannot use the power to her benefit. On the other hand, if she does know the truth, it only speaks more clearly to the fact that she can do nothing about it. It is very possible that by confronting Jack about it, she could change the outcome of the story, but even then it would leave Jack options such as divorcing or pursuing her.
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Post by jamiezimmerman on Dec 17, 2013 7:23:10 GMT
I think there's a lot of value in what was not said in this story. For example, Tallent did not explore Jack's emotional spectrum (this, of course, would upset the story considering it is told in first-person). What if Jack was terrified of his wife finding out about his affair? With little information about the intimacies of Jack's home life, we are left to our own devices to sift out any preconceived notions of his feelings for his wife. Had he been terrified of his wife's discovery, we might have examined a more intricate power dynamic. On the narrator's side, we are left without a name. I think this was intentional. A name like Lady Victoriana of the Third Order has enormously more important consequences on our response to the character than a simple name like Honey or Baby. A name can give us an insight on the character's background - what if our narrator was fabulously rich and it would be advantageous to marry into such a family but you could only know that by knowing her name? Finally, there is the matter that the narrator says nothing in the end - Jack does. He gets the final word. If Tallent really wanted us to think that the narrator "held the power", she might have given her the final word.
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Post by danyhong55 on Dec 17, 2013 7:37:01 GMT
The mistress always has the power. The Narrator (whom I've previously named Eleanor) has the ability to destroy Jack's marriage, his life, his contentment, everything. Jack has much to lose, whereas Eleanor, in her youth, ostensibly has little. In this regard, she has a greater ability to influence someone else's life.
However, at first glance, Jack seems to be in control. As Sheridan pointed, the symbolism of his driving Eleanor around seems to point that he has power over her. His giving her the diary, his shoving her head down, his telling her what she'll write down in the diary, his rejecting of her fantasy all give the illusion that he has power over her. But then we see that Eleanor abides by her own rules. She stays down on her own accord, she give Jack a future opposite his and doesn't seem to be influenced much by his words. Though it seems that Jack has power over Eleanor, her independent spirit seems to defy his power, rendering it beyond useless--as if it weren't even existent. This isn't to say that Jack has no influence over her, but that he has little conscious control over Eleanor.
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Post by coreybrown on Dec 17, 2013 8:02:58 GMT
Through and through, I think it's pretty clear that Jack has the power in the story. As Jamie said, we have little insight into Jack's character and, therefore, the situation could be very different. Given what we're presented on the page, however, Jack is a dominant character who tends to control the narrator. The one thing that he can't control is her hopeful description of the future, but even that he is determined will fade and bend into the same future he presented to her.
In a different situation, the narrator could have a great deal of power. She could easily destroy Jack's marriage (as she knows who his wife is) and force him to build a life with her instead. Her character as described in the story, however, is much meeker. While she does seem to hold her own at times, Jack is the one controlling the narrative. He gives her the diary, he pushes her down, he calls her a "little kid" but compares his wife to "a woman." And, in the end, he gets the last word. He gets to say, one last time, that no matter how much either of them would want that happy future, they "know" that it will end the way Jack said it would.
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