Power: The Control over One’s Self or Another Person
Danyesha Bolton
April 1, 2013
Essay 2: Adam and Eve
Power is the control over one’s self or another person or thing. In the poem “Adam and Eve” by Tony Hoagland a man and woman strived mentally for power over each other. Instead of having the happy and loving relationship that couples are “thought” to have, at the first sign of disagreement these two instantly worked against each other to have a personal gain of their own. In this poem the speaker, Adam, and the woman, who is assumed to be Eve, struggle for power over one another to make themselves superior to one another. They use their reactions and emotions against each other to steal and regain power.
In the beginning the woman gained instant power the moment that she told Adam no. The speaker shows this when he writes two specific quotes “she held her milk white hand agitatedly over the entrance to her body and said No, and my brain burst into flame” (Hoagland 14-15) and “ I wanted to punch her right in the mouth” (Hoagland 1). Most people can just get over rejection when they are told no but Eve withheld something that can drive many men crazy. She withheld sex from him. After they were both in the mood and both at their peaks, she simply told him no and this enraged him immediately. Rejection was her initial gain of power. The fact that after she told him no, he immediately became enraged with her and stated that he wanted to cause physical harm to her shows that she then gained power over him again. Her ability to reject him and then alter his mood allowed her to get all power from him.
As the story continues the woman’s control of power intensifies by the Adam’s confusion. After his initial rejection, Adam goes along throughout the poem questioning his self about what is taking place and how he should feel as well. “If I couldn’t sink myself in her like a dark spur or dissolve into her like a clod thrown in a river, can I go all the way in saying, and say I wanted to punch her right in the face? Am
April 1, 2013
Essay 2: Adam and Eve
Power is the control over one’s self or another person or thing. In the poem “Adam and Eve” by Tony Hoagland a man and woman strived mentally for power over each other. Instead of having the happy and loving relationship that couples are “thought” to have, at the first sign of disagreement these two instantly worked against each other to have a personal gain of their own. In this poem the speaker, Adam, and the woman, who is assumed to be Eve, struggle for power over one another to make themselves superior to one another. They use their reactions and emotions against each other to steal and regain power.
In the beginning the woman gained instant power the moment that she told Adam no. The speaker shows this when he writes two specific quotes “she held her milk white hand agitatedly over the entrance to her body and said No, and my brain burst into flame” (Hoagland 14-15) and “ I wanted to punch her right in the mouth” (Hoagland 1). Most people can just get over rejection when they are told no but Eve withheld something that can drive many men crazy. She withheld sex from him. After they were both in the mood and both at their peaks, she simply told him no and this enraged him immediately. Rejection was her initial gain of power. The fact that after she told him no, he immediately became enraged with her and stated that he wanted to cause physical harm to her shows that she then gained power over him again. Her ability to reject him and then alter his mood allowed her to get all power from him.
As the story continues the woman’s control of power intensifies by the Adam’s confusion. After his initial rejection, Adam goes along throughout the poem questioning his self about what is taking place and how he should feel as well. “If I couldn’t sink myself in her like a dark spur or dissolve into her like a clod thrown in a river, can I go all the way in saying, and say I wanted to punch her right in the face? Am