Mumsie and ZIp personal response

Mumsie and Zip
1. The idea of power/superiority in a relationship is evident in this short text in which one person has complete control over the other and the relationship. The author shows the idea of power in the text in which zip results to violence to get his point across. ‘The sound of Mumsie’s head striking the wall echoed in the kitchen’. Zip does this to show that his word is final and the he doesn’t like to be revolted against by Mumsie. She did this by arguing that her sister and her husband could stay with her and Zip. Zips use of common dialogue and also Mumsie’s lack of retaliation shows that an occurrence like this is common in their relationship in which he carries on as nothing happened and also that Zip has total control over all decisions made in this relationship shown by particular things in the household how he likes it, for example the Casserole and peas made the way he likes it. This shows that Zip is obsessed with control and that within the confines of his home he is the superior and is able to be the ‘king’ while in the society he is a ‘nobody’ (which is why Zip doesn’t want anyone else (Mumsie’s sister) coming to live there). ‘They asked me to clean out the storage today, I’ve been working there 10 years and they asked me to clean out the storage’. This shows that he is frustrated by the fact that he hasn’t moved up anywhere in 10 years and is ignored by his superiors and uses his ‘king’ role to vent this frustration onto Mumsie.
2. In my opinion the author has incorporated the theme of power quite well. He has shown this idea of power through the relationship of Mumsie and Zip. This is used to show the dominance one can have over another in a relationship. Even though Mumsie is abused and beaten due to her difference of opinions to Zip’s she still remains in the relationship. Mumsie stays in this relationship because she has nowhere else to go as she has stayed in this relationship for too long to leave and therefore fears the life without Zip due to the lack of confidence she has in herself, which is the result of Zips constant verbal and physical abuse she finds herself helpless. Also the fear of doing something new holds her back. Her difference of opinion is shown by ‘anyways I’ve told them they can come and so they can’ which results in ‘Zip took a grip of Mumsie’s soft neck.’ This shows the idea of power as Zip uses his superior strength to further his point. The author uses this example to portray the idea of power and therefore abuse or domestic violence within New Zealand relationships and the amount of control the abuser has over the victim. Also that the victims are unable to seek help due to this control through fear of being further hurt by the abuser and the help sought either not believing her or not finding her problem significant enough to deal with, also the fear of being rejected by the help they sought.
3. The fact that Zip would physically and mentally abuse his partner Mumsie in such a horrific way is quite horrifying and shocking. This abuse can be related the film ‘Once Were Warriors’ in which the protagonist Jakes physically harms his wife as a result of her defying him by refusing to cook some eggs. Jake saw this defiance as a challenge to his dominance and control over the relationship. This is shown in Mumsie and Zip when Zip attacks Mumsie. ‘Zip took a grip of Mumsie’s soft neck.’ This was the result of Mumsie defying Zip and saying her sister could stay and going against Zips final word. This is also shown because Zip does not want anyone else in his household as they will likely see him for what he truly is, ‘a nobody.’ Other people in his household as it also maintains control over Mumsie by her not having contact with the society outside of the home disabling her to seek help. This can also be related to the idea of control though fear. In real life many societies are controlled by their governments through fear e.g. Burma, South Korea and other dictatorships or totalitarian regimes. This regime is shown in Mumsie and Zip by Zips control over every characteristic of the household as well the way Mumsie should think (total control) and if Mumsie’s opinion differs she is punished much like a totalitarian government. Another example if this is the short story Harrison Bergeron in which the government uses handicaps to create total equality and control. The same principle of showing obedience to the superior (in Mumsie’s case Zip) to refrain from consequences shows that Mumsie is afraid of what will happen if she disobeys Zip and controlled by this fear into making everything the way Zip likes it.

4. From this I have learned that humans aim to please each other though their motivations may come from different means such as power/superiority and therefore controlling through the fear of consequences. This is shown in Mumsie and Zip by Mumsie’s constant need to please Zip. At the beginning of the story she is depicted by the author as a ‘Mumsie’, a stay at home wife who gossips about the neighbourhood and the constant talking is a part of her personality. However later in the story it is revealed that the purpose behind this is to side track Zip from physically attacking her or calming him down, she also uses the means of operant conditioning in which she rewards him positively by giving him a treat to reinforce his behaviour of not hitting her.