Last Updated on December 9, 2019, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 563

Biology Determines Destiny

The Power turns a long-debated idea—that “biology is destiny”—on its head, examining a world in which women, not men, are granted biological advantages. This power flip is closely related to the idea of symbolic inversion (the world turned upside down) and Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of the carnivalesque. In taking Sigmund Freud’s controversial claim about anatomy—which has often been used to justify the oppression of women on the basis of their physical characteristics—and inverting it, Naomi Alderman creates a complex scenario in which women rule the world because of one biological factor. Significantly, Alderman does not turn females into males by endowing them with penises. Rather, she suggests re-imagining the nature of power from its fundamental bases; thus, another important theme emerges as readers are forced to question the very definition of power.

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The Meaning of Power

In this upside-down world, female power is closely linked to electrical power. In granting women an ability that, on its face, isn’t necessarily very significant or useful—the ability to generate a charge—Alderman shows how value is often arbitrarily attached to particular abilities. While it may be easy to see how having a built in zapper is more advantageous than having a penis, Alderman is careful not to attribute too much of the sudden rise of women to the inherent power of the biological feature itself. Rather, human perceptions of the applicability of that feature are what serve to empower those who have it and those who desire it—in other words, it is the perception of this ability, rather than the ability itself, which grants women power. In making this distinction, Alderman asks the reader to ponder what makes some people want to dominate others, how they achieve domination, and, in contrast, what the nature of conquest and submission is.

The Necessity and Complexity of Revolution

A central idea expressed throughout The Power is the persistent need for social revolution, particularly with respect to women's...