Imagine a world where walking alone at night doesn’t require you to have one hand on the pepper spray at all times. A world where being alone in a room whose other occupants are of the opposite gender doesn’t make you nervous. A world where one's gender does not force a certain lifestyle, a certain set of norms on you. A world where you aren’t expected to be subtle and weak and subservient.
Of course, the relatability of the above depends, unfortunately, heavily on your gender. In our world, more often than not you’d have to identify as a woman to experience that. However, in ‘The Power’, Naomi Alderman introduces us to a world where it's the men that can relate to the above. And unluckily enough for them, pepper spray is useless.
The book begins with a young male author, Neil seeking advice from an established female author, Naomi. We receive his manuscript, which is a novelization of history as they know it. Peppered with anthropological discoveries and accompanying descriptions), the centuries-old presence of a matriarchy is firmly established. Yes, you read that right. A matriarchy! For most of recorded history.
In the manuscript, we are introduced to the major characters, through whose perspectives the story unfolds. First up, Roxy Monke, daughter of a British crime lord, ruefully witnesses the murder of her mother by enemy goons. Next, Olatunde Edo, a twenty-one-year-old Nigerian man, whose life is changed when a potential love interest “shocks” him with her abilities. Margot Cleary, Mayor of Wisconsin, and mother of two young women, is wrestling with the political aspects of being a woman suddenly endowed with an otherworldly power, by her eldest daughter nonetheless. And finally, Allie, a not so classic product of the American foster system, turned religious leader with unimaginable influence. Against the backdrop of social turmoil, women slowly but surely establish themselves as the ruling sect with the help of a whole new organ called the skein (as opposed to centuries of systemic oppression). This little organ, nestled under the collarbone,presents the women with an ability which is powerful enough to render traditional weapons like guns incompetent. As the chapters progress, these far-flung characters are brought together, while the breakdown of the world order is being orchestrated, culminating in The Cataclysm. The book ends with Naomi's criticism of the manuscript, which includes the suggestion that writing under a female pseudonym would make it more appealing to the masses and thereby increase sales.
Lauded as an essential modern feminist work, ‘The Power’ is also criticized by some as misandristic, perhaps in reaction to the brutality that the men are eventually subjected to at the hands of the women. (The criticism leads you to wonder why the same brutal acts are considered to be normal, or at least frequent occurrences when they’re reported on in the news, every single day). Whatever else this book may be, it is most definitely not misandrist. Yes, if you’re a woman reading the book,you might feel a sense of glee and a vicarious high at the taking back of power by the women. And perhaps men will be left feeling indignant and wronged. But in the end, you realize (hopefully) that while the book is heavily based on and exceptionally highlights gender inequality, what you are meant to leave with is that too much unbridled power, in anybody’s hands, is simply destructive. A fitting quote from the book illustrates the same: “Gender is a shell game. What is a man? Whatever a woman isn’t. What is a woman? Whatever a man is not. Tap on it and it’s hollow. Look under the shell and it’s not true.” So no, the book is neither misandrist nor explicitly feminist (in the true sense of the word), and to read into those aspects too much is to miss the plot entirely. In the opinion of an indifferent reader, the book merely talks about an alternate universe of sorts, where all the privileges the patriarchy confers to men are dissolved and adopted by women. Ultimately, the lesson that should be learned is that the transfer of absolute power from one gender to the other will inevitably result in the same misuse and oppression.
The levels of immersiveness waver throughout the book, but the concept is brilliant and definitely gives you something to ponder about. While the character arcs are well thought out and developed, most of the characters only briefly, if at all, evoke the reader’s affection and compassion. Also, the absence of representation of the trans, intersex, non-binary and gender nonconforming communities leaves the feeling of lacking a well-rounded perspective.
If you read The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and were enraged by the events that transpired, this book should help take the edge off a little bit. If you’re looking for books that will similarly alter your worldview, try 1984 by George Orwell, or Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.
Rating: 3.5/5
Page count: 400
Category: Science fiction
Reading difficulty: Medium
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