Since our discussion on Tuesday, I’ve been thinking about possession in the context of American culture. The concept of possession has been extremely relevant in the news as well as in my classes. With today’s “purge” of sexual predators, I find that the cause of these incidents are driven by the desire to possess two things: women and power. In fact, the mistreatment of women most often stems from the desire to possess them. It is apparent in Zeitoun, where Zeitoun stalks Kathy and physically abuses her for fear of no longer “possessing” her. In American history, the possession of things, and people, is an essential pillar in one’s position in society. In revolutionary times, the possession of property determined one’s citizenship rights. In the antebellum South, the possession of slaves became a status symbol. And even today, the possession of women (as wives, girlfriends, mistresses, etc.) is still a demonstration of one’s power. When observed altogether, it seems as though American culture was built around the possession of things and people. This may be why the second part of Black Boy caused such discomfort in the public discourse. The distinct communist tone (in other words, the rejection of possession) pushed the novel in a new, frightening direction.
I agree that this idea of possession is an interesting idea to further explore. For Wright, this word can take on several different meanings. For example, at various points in his life, the most important thing for him might be the possession of a job, the possession of food, or the possession of a stable living situation for him and his family. However, Wright also seeks possession of broader things like a sense of self or his own freedom. In this sense, possession can both take on a literal or a more figurative meaning. In either case, this idea of possession is often a symbol of success or prosperity. Thus, as you noted above, this idea of “possession” is something that can be very meaningful to people, as they might judge their success or their personal worth based on their possession of the various things that they seek in life.
Our discussion of power was also very relevating to me. I thought more about the material things that people often compare each other to. I am interested to research more about why and when people began to see the monetary value as the worth of an object or person. This is something that creates the society we live in today and changing this idea could change opportunities and obstacles that many people face.The acheivements of Zeitoun are very material yet not all his losses are. Losing his sense of self and freedom is not material, but the home and business often are. The idea of possession is crucial to the world’s functionality, therefore we should investigate the consequences of it more.
I kind of disagree that the Communist Party rejected the idea of “possessions.” On the surface, they definitely did, but eventually the downfall of the Communist Party, at least Wright’s rejection of it, was because the Communist Party tried to possess and control Wright’s writing. While this isn’t put into monetary terms, it’s definitely a power-play intended to exacerbate the power of the possessor. The highlight here is the possession is not only physical, but spiritual and encompasses the mind. This phenomenon can be seen in the institution of slavery when people in positions of power would do things solely for the purpose of creating an atmosphere of terror. It’s another way of being in control of “the narrative.”
Nice post Lillie!
Possession is something that is ingrained into American minds from a young age, especially in the midst of our consumerist society. We measure wealth and in turn happiness in possessions- how big our houses are, what new products we own. Consumerist mentality encourages buying the newest goods. If you cannot afford something, you should still buy cheaper items and hope that purchasing in quantity over quality conveys a message of wealth. Why was Zeitoun so concerned with his property? American society had told him that owning houses was an indicator of his success, and for this reason he was more concerned with his property than his family. The American ideal stresses wealth as the ultimate goal and with it happiness will come, rejecting the ideal of following passions like marrying poor for love or being an artist.
Possession is central to American culture. We can see that with the idea of property. Property meaning land and people. This also ties into the idea of human agency and how there is a human instinct to take agency from other people if possible. The constraints on human agency are often constraints from one person to the other.
This is a really interesting point Lillie. I think especially given America’s colonial origins one might be able to claim that the thievery that made America possible has never really left the American consciousness. Which makes me think of Antin and her treatment of George Washington, her desire to write a poem about George Washington, how she and her family prized the poem that she had written about him, and how this impulse and aura was almost possessive. But also how she describes her, and her families stay in the other European countries they lived in and comparing that to her time in America, how other European countries acted as if they owned Jewish people, but also how she never thought of herself as belonging to any of those countries. But taken in the context of the antisemitism she wrote her novel to counteract, and how she didn’t describe any antisemitism in the book how these American ideas of belonging and possessing obscure oppression.