Comparing Power In The Secret River And The Piano

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1. Discuss how power is conveyed in your text and one other related text of your own choosing The harnessing of power has the capacity to manipulate or undermine your surroundings. However, due to the complex nature of power, it can be both a negative and positive tool. Through Kate Grenville's accomplished novel, The Secret River and Jane Campion's haunting film, The Piano, we will explore the ways patriarchal power can be manipulated and undermined through personal, sensual and sexual relationships and the way cultural power is undermined and manipulated by weapons and the wealthy. Patriarchal power can be manipulated and undermined when it comes to personal relationships. In The Secret River, Kate Grenville represents Sal Thornhill as a strong-willed character who falls under the patriarchal power of her husband. William Thornhill is unwilling to leave the land he had worked hard for to protect. "He let himself imagine it: looking down over his own place. Thornhill's Point… To say mine, in a way he had never been able to say mine of anything at all."…show more content…
In The Secret River, Thornhill uses the power of his gun to undermine the local Aboriginals, "Devil take that one-at-a-time shit. Give 'em a dose of the green powder." The gun is used as a motif throughout the novel and poses as a threat giving Thornhill all the power that he needed. Cultural power was also undermined in the battle against the British and the local Aboriginals, "Get the men first. Then we clean up the breeders." The victory of the settlers was due to the number of people and the weaponry that they used to their advantage. But the manipulation of cultural power came when the Aboriginals used the power of their spears and powerful throws. "They stick a spear in you anytime they get the chance" The use of a spear was a very powerful tool for the natives, especially when the first settlers arrived
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