Power is something that is impossible to avoid and is something that we come into contact with every day, even if we don’t realize it. It is something that the majority of mankind strives to attain, and is never easy to do so. As defined by www.onlinelibrary.wiley.com, “the standard theory is that power is the capacity for influence and that influence is based on the control of resources valued or desired by others”. In other words, the nature of power is the group of people whose opinions and judgements have the most influence, and therefore have the most power on the majority of the people (population wise). It is the magnitude of ability to bring about outcomes or changes in the world. This influence can be abused or used for the common good of the people. This essay will discuss how a certain group of people in society has the nature of power and how they keep it in their own control.
In our society today, it is a common opinion (and a reoccurring discussion in my house) that celebrities have the biggest power/influence on adolescents and even older generations. Since social media has come a part of our everyday lives, we are constantly seeing what celebrities think and their opinions, if they so choose to display their beliefs online. Since the average teenager is not watching the news or looking at a variety of perspectives on certain issues, especially if current events are not often spoken about in their homes, these celebrity opinions are all that they are going to know and that’s all that they are going to believe. Especially considering that the majority of celebrities have similar political opinions, this results in the majority opinion of youth being the same as these well-known people. Additionally, adolescents may think that their opinions are more valid because they have the backing of the biggest and most known celebrities. Along with political influence, these celebrities also definitely hold much of the nature of power when it comes to style, music, and anything else that is categorizes with ‘pop culture’. Celebrities such as Kylie Jenner, Beyoncé, Rihanna, etc. have a lot of power when it comes to setting trends and unique styles. If one of these huge celebrities were to put on something so random and quirky and go out in public, it would be seen as some of the most refined and elegant wardrobe pieces to be seen. It’s almost as if society is blinded by their popularity, that it doesn’t matter what they do or wear. In a similar sense, when Joe Starks and Janie in ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ come to this beaten down ‘village’ and fix it up into a real running town, Joe is seen as a sort of celebrity, and no one dares to question him or any of his doings, even if they don’t necessarily agree with him. Even after some time has passed and the people of the town start to doubt what he is doing and aren’t as fond of him anymore, they are still too afraid of his power and don’t try to question him to his face. Since the people of the town don’t really know any better because Joe Starks has been the only person to step up, they don’t think too much of it when he does something that seems to be only for the benefit of himself.
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Another specific group of people who hold a lot of the public eye are those whose jobs literally give them the power. For example, congressmen, senators, or any kind of politician have a lot of power. Again, the amount of followers and the amount of what they have definitely can be a large factor in the quantity of nature of power that they can hold themselves to. Since this group of people actually hold the power in that their votes are what can determine a law from being put into action or denied, it can be argued that they also hold a lot of power in our society. Since politics are a huge part of our daily lives, it can really affect people's lives in unexpected ways. For example, friend or even family relationships can be broken up because of differences in political beliefs. To be more specific, if there is an instance where a politician does something that can cause a lot of conflict, there will be debates about it in our personal relationships and it can end up badly. This shows the amount of power that these people hold in society, and it can be a scary thought. In ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ Nanny can be seen as a ‘political figure’, at least in Janie’s personal life, because she is the one who tells Janie that she should marry Logan to be safe and secure. Nanny has such a powerful influence on Janie’s life because Janie is under the impression that Nanny has a lot of life experience. This is similar to the people in society who automatically put all of their trust into politicians who they assume have all the experience in the world. In the end, Janie regrets her choice to marry Logan and even ends up running away from him. This shows the amount of power that Nanny held in Janie’s life, even when she was gone.
As discussed, these people (along with many other) hold much of the nature of power. In order to keep it, they have to keep up with their followers and assure that their actions to not defer someone from following them any longer. As much as these people hold power, their followers are just as important to them. The advocates can determine whether or not they even have a following anymore. A celebrity and politician need to ensure that their actions are not going to offend or upset their followers or else they will immediately become ‘evil’ and no longer have their power. Their actions need to be up to the standards of society. For example, if an artist were to come out with a new album and their promoters are not very fond of it, they will lose that popularity and everything else after that could be seen as ‘not good enough’ as their former music. As an artist, you need to constantly be outdoing yourself. The same thing goes for a politician. If they make a mistake or a piece of information from their past is dug up, they will no longer be seen as trustworthy and could possibly lose their body of support. In order for Joe Starks to keep his power, he has to make significant change in order for people to want him to be in power. “All we can do, if we want any light after de settin’ or befo’ de risin’, is tuh make some light ourselves. So dat’s how come lamps was made. Dis evenin’ we’se all assembled heah tuh light uh lamp” (Hurston, 45). This instance is an example of how Joe marked his power and a foreshadowing of how he is going to keep it. In order to get the people to trust him, he had to do something drastic, such as building a lamppost in the middle of town. This can be seen as a foreshadowing because this is the first of many things (such as the store) that he is going to bring to this town that are going to shed some light on this society.
To conclude, I believe that there are two main groups that hold the power of nature in today’s society, although there may be more. These two groups have an effect on our everyday lives and can be something that not everyone will be okay with. We see these groups work through the characters in ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’, through Joe Starks and Nanny.
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