Domestic violence is largely caused by various types of pain or agony, including those that are psychological, physical, mental, and sexual. Domestic violence also includes family violence or spousal abuse, which refers to an overt pattern of violent acts committed by one partner against the other in close affiliations such as dating, marriage, families, or groups of people living together. (Gueguen, 885). Studies reveal that the aggressors frequently use violence to express their desire to obtain control and authority over their victims. It is important to note the various types of domestic abuse. The different types involve bodily violence, such as beating, kicking, slapping, and throwing objects. Besides physical abuse, domestic violence further involves economic deprivations, sexual assault, and dictatorship (Gilroy, Heidi, et al., 97). The backpack literature highlights some of the notable instances of domestic violence. The paper thus intends to discuss domestic violence in backpack literature.
Violence and power tend to serve as significant sources of conflicts in the present world. The large animals tend to focus on exerting their powers over the smaller ones through violence and in their consumption. Such instance illustrates the food chain. On the other hand, people tend to exercise power through both violence and consumption similar to the animals. Despite the presence of the fact that not all violence is physical, the objective is usually the same, obtaining of control over the other situation or individual. Hannah Arendt asserts in her story, ‘On Violence’ “In the same vein he regarded the state as an instrument of violence in command of the ruling class, but the actual power of the ruling class did not consist of or rely on violence”.
Hannah Arendt further depicts the concept of domestic violence in her illustration of the way that the women tend to seize power at the assembly. The women entail the ruling class as portrayed in the play. The play illustrates the women’s lack of use of the physical and spoken violence towards obtaining control over the Athens. Furthermore, Arendt portrays the women as individuals opposed to violence through receiving authority by their attendance of the assembly besides ruling with power rather than using force. The play thus illustrates the fact that the women tend to comprehend some of the adverse effects of violence.
As the rulers, the women can facilitate comprehension of the fact that domestic violence tends to affect the people adversely hence the need for imposing rules on punishing the vice. Presently numerous nations have policies imposed towards eradication of the vice as it has huge effects on the economic status of the country. Domestic violence tends to affect the countries adversely by hindering progress in every aspect of the country (Price, 79). The element of economic growth evident in the play presented by Hannah is substantially attributable to the focus on the nation on limiting the instances of domestic violence amongst the members of the society. The state is thus capable of ensuring the efficient use of its resources and time rather than using such in the resolution of the domestic violence.
Furthermore, there is the necessity for noting that domestic violence tends to affect the children adversely especially those that witness and experience the violence during their early stages of development. The women in the play thus ensure that their leadership is harmonious as a way of reciprocating the way in which they developed. Growing up in a society characterized by peace and the lack of violence plays a crucial role in influencing the way that individuals treat others. Nurturing of the members of the community to understand the effects of the vice on the progress and development of the society is crucial for facilitating peaceful administration of the state as evident in Hannah’s play (Kennedy and Gioia, 67).
Additionally, the literature illustrates the focus by the women on promoting the change of the laws on the common properties and ownership. The acquisition of the Athens governmental control by the women entails their concentrate on improving some of the fundamental legislation to ensure that there is equal sharing of the properties, food, money, and sexual relations amongst the residents of Athens. Such actions play a vital role in promoting equality amongst the people hence eradication of domestic violence that tends to occur from the exploitation of the inferior state of the women by the male members of the society. Domestic violence in numerous instances occurs due to the exploitation of the powers by the men to ensure that the women yield to their demands. The play, however, illustrates the focus by the women on eradicating potential exploitation by providing transformation of some of the oppressive laws that tend to promote domestic violence in Athens.
Through changing some of the exploitative laws, the women hope that the democratic influence would result in abolishing thievery, violence, and inequalities amongst the members of the society. The women propose on ensuring withholding of some of the food privileges for wrong doings, which is crucial for the elimination of all crime from Athens. Despite the absence of mentioning the governmental control over the women, the play illustrates the presence of violent rule in the regime.
The literature plays a crucial role in demonstrating some of the considerably fundamental theories to the concept of domestic violence. Comprehension of the ideas is important in facilitating the discovery of some of the reasons for domestic abuse amongst the various members of the society. The notable theories evident from the Backpack literature include the symbolic interactionism theory, structural functionalism theory, and the social conflict theory. The social conflict theory tends to imply that the occurrence of the domestic violence tend to arise out of the presence of the intimate relationships when one of the partners possess more resources that the other party. The compensation of the ego of the other thus results in the hurt partner resorting to violence (Ather, et al., 407). As evident in in the various stories, the element of domestic violence is substantially attributable to the imbalance in possession of resources amongst the partners. The fact that the men in the community tend to possess more resources than the women is attributable to the occurrence of conflicts amongst the members of the state in their aim of compensating for their hurt.
On the other hand, the structural functionalism theory attributes domestic violence to the failure by the governmental and nuclear families towards ensuring the proper execution of their roles. The theory thus asserts that the domestic violence tends to occur in instances whereby the women focus on occupying the instrumental roles primarily meant for men. The occurrence of domestic violence on women is thus attributable to people seeking alternatives through violence in their failure to hold some of the crucial roles in the society. As evident in Everyday Use, the revolution orchestrated by the women results in the men ensuring maintenance of their relevance in the society by resorting to the violent means of ensuring their presence (Kennedy and Gioia, 59). The people decide on exercising their superiority through the exploitation of the women besides making them feel inferior.
The symbolic interactionism theory as evident from the literature attributes domestic violence to the failure by the partners in comprehending each other’s symbols and meanings (Messing, et al., 306). The theory thus recommends the necessity for ensuring that the partners share symbols and meanings in the marriages to facilitate avoidance of the occurrence of the domestic violence. The various literary materials assert that the incident of domestic violence arises out of the control and power issues. The perpetrators on numerous occasions tend to feel the necessity for assuming control over their partners. For instance, in Before the Law, the domestic violence mainly occurs due to the struggle for power and oversight (Kennedy and Gioia, 255). The supremacy battle thus results in domestic violence since the women tend to focus on affirming their role in the society while the men also focus on ensuring maintenance of their relevance.
The short story, The A&P, further illustrates domestic violence through the sexual exploitation of women (Kennedy and Gioia, 15). The story indicates the fact that men tend to treat women as rather sexual objects rather than as individuals that deserve respect. The story revolves around three girls that enter a store with the protagonist being Sammy. The entry of the girls in the store tends to overwhelm Sammy even as they stroll through the aisles. He ensures close observation of the girls’ movements with every instance coupled with his description of the women’s movements. The element of domestic violence occurs in the situation whereby he starts to watch the movements of the women with contentment that eventually results in his imagination running wild through his imagination of himself in the living room of the women. The fact that Sammy focuses on picturing the women without clothes tend to depict the view of men in the story regarding women. The men thus tend to see the women as rather sexual objects meant for their satisfaction hence their inferiority in the society.
The short story, Girl, further illustrates some elements of domestic violence (Kennedy and Gioia, 257). The fact that the women hail from seemingly poor neighborhoods results in their consideration as inferior members of the society. The story narrates the experiences that the young female members undergo while growing in the developing nations. The bad relationship between Kincaid and her mother is to some extent attributable to the struggles that characterize development in the poor neighborhood. Her mother, therefore, attempts to make up for the circumstances of her development by expressing bitterness towards the children. The story thus focuses on highlighting the worries and oppression that the women undergo in the society. The play further intends to emphasize the impact of such treatments on the lives of the people in future.
In conclusion, domestic violence tends to arise out of the feeling of inferiority by one partner thus resorting to conflicts as a way of making up for the inferior feeling. The domestic violence and strong relations amongst the parents tend to affect the personality of children adversely as evident in the story, Girl. The experiences tend to change the various ways that they handle their relationships with their family members and strangers as well. The backpack literature highlights some of the theories that facilitate comprehension of the causes of domestic violence.
Works Cited
Ather Khan, Hafiz Muhammad, et al. "Studying the Role of Education in Eliminating Violence against Women." Pakistan Journal of Commerce & Social Sciences, vol. 7, no. 2, July 2013, pp. 405-416. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=93667779&site=ehost-live.
Gilroy, Heidi, et al. "Economic Solvency in the Context of Violence against Women: A Concept Analysis." Health & Social Care in the Community, vol. 23, no. 2, Mar. 2015, pp. 97-106. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/hsc.12103.
Gueguen, Nicolas. "Inducing the Concept of Love among Men and Their Compliance to a Donation Request for an Association against Domestic Violence toward Women." Psychological Reports, vol. 115, no. 3, Dec. 2014, pp. 884-887. EBSCOhost, doi:10.2466/21.PR0.115c30z6.
Kennedy, X. J and Gioia, D. Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing, 5th Edition. Pearson.2016
Messing, Jill Theresa, et al. "The State of Intimate Partner Violence Intervention: Progress and Continuing Challenges." Social Work, vol. 60, no. 4, Oct. 2015, pp. 305-313. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1093/sw/swv027.
Price, Margaret "PEGI" S. "All's Fair in Love and War--Or Is It? Domestic Violence and Weapons Bans." American Journal of Family Law, vol. 28, no. 2, Summer 2014, pp. 79-86. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=96158838&site=ehost-live.
