Places and forms of power - How do people exercise their power?

Extract

[...] The Shawshank Redemption (Director + Andy) Afterwards, people can also exercise their power by giving orders and laws. To show this, I would like to talk about another document: the movie ‘the Shawshank redemption'. This movie mentions the subject of a prison, the Shawshank prison, which is very big, strange for a prison. It actually shows the greatness of the prison's director. Indeed, the place also shows the inferiority of the prisoners who only live in little cells. The director can then show his power by showing that he is the one who gives the laws here, and this place is his. [...]

[...] This is how people can exercise their power, by giving many orders to people. To conclude, people can show their power by an advantageous physical condition or by giving orders and laws. This latter can be revealed by places. In this way, big places underline people's high status, whereas little places highlight people's low status. We can bring this notion closer to the notion of spaces and exchanges in that Mariam, in A Thousand Splendid Suns, has less and less space as we go through the book. [...]

[...] Places and forms of power – How do people exercise their power? I'm going to talk about the notion of ‘Places and Forms of Power'. There are many places and forms of power. When people think about power, they usually associate it with kings and queens. Nevertheless, power can also be associated with the superiority of someone. But how do people exercise their power? First, we will see that people can show their power through their physical condition but also by giving orders and laws. [...]

[...] By depriving them of water and food, he demonstrates his complete control on their fates. He has the capacity to show his power, especially thanks to his strength. Furthermore, he shows his superiority by belittling women. In fact, Rasheed expects women to be subservient, that is to say to cook, to clean the house She also needs to be obedient and fertile, or she will be in so much pain. He belittles Mariam by telling her superstitions are only women's preoccupations or even by letting her alone in the house and by forbidding her to go outside. [...]

[...] This is a form of power in the way he can lie to them to get what he wants. He also has the possibility to keep his reputation whereas this is really unfair for Nana and Mariam; which is also a form of power. This is how people can exercise their power, by showing their superiority (physically and psychologically) and by their social status. Indeed, they symbolically represent the characters' social status. For example, Herat is the big city, where everything takes place and this is where Jalil lives. [...]