Power In A Thousand Acres

Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres offers a plethora of situations involving the idea of power. There is one word used by Smiley that seems to display the masculine power in her novel. The idea of gazing, whether at someone or something, is a traditionally male action. Larry Cook is a man in control in this novel. Ty also shows instances of showing his control throughout this novel. Smiley uses this action of “gazing” to display the power that both men have within maintaining control. Researcher Sandra Thomas states in her journal article on Men’s Anger, “Having control, and maintaining control, was viewed [by research participants] as desirable” (169). Not only does Smiley’s use of the word “gaze” display the power of these men, but the female
It can be speculated that his dominance is gained due to his incestual, violent, and abusive behavior. His dominance and control is realized most often by Ginny, the narrator. An example of this is when she states, “Instinctively, I followed [Dad’s] gaze, just to check on what he might be thinking about before disturbing him” (Smiley, 145). Larry makes a few gazes like this throughout the novel. Ginny goes on to state that these gazes give her a “room-darkening chill” (Smiley, 318). This type of feeling is somewhat disturbing. Ginny realizes her father’s authority and identity. Whether or not Larry gazes consciously or unconsciously is not the point here, the point is that Ginny realizes his dominance and control just from how he goes about looking at things. Most of these gazes that I will mention are also followed by an uneasy silence, which is a strong argument that these gazes are conscious and for a reason.
To discuss these silences, Lerner provides a good conversation on efforts and fighting to change a person in the article “The Challenge of Anger”. When attempts are unsuccessful, “our fighting protect the old familiar patterns in our relationships as surely as the silence of “nice ladies” (9). I found this relatable to the silence of the action of the gaze. The fight to change the girls’ father is
Larry’s act of gazing seems to be a type of masculine confidence he has to consistently show he is in charge. He doesn’t seem to even care about simple conversation with the girls. For instance, he doesn’t respond to Caroline when she speaks at him but instead he “smiled fondly, though not necessarily at her” (Smiley, 318). Is it Larry’s anger, lack of respect or prior incest that gives him this power over these women? Or all three ideas? Larry is so dominant and so powerful that Ginny has to pause and watch him before she disturbs him. Larry has the masculine confidence to not respond to Caroline. On the other hand, these non-responsive actions display the powerlessness that the girls have with Larry (and later Ginny with Ty, described in this essay). Smiley does not hold back in showing the lack of power these women have compared to male figures. Thomas states in her article on Women’s Anger, “Family members were the most frequently cited triggers of women’s anger, although women reported unwillingness to discuss their anger with these same family members” (Thomas, 505). A conversation about the stubbornness of Larry goes no where because of his radical and uncooperative ideals. Ginny even has issues bringing up problems with her own