Operational Mechanisms Of Power Over The Body In Second Hand Smoke

Nazi Germany’s inhuman Holocaust during World War Ⅱ caused incurable pains to the Jewish people. Although camp gases have long since dispersed, the pain still haunts those who survived the massacre and lingers in the life of later generations, deeply trapping them in a spiritual predicament. Duncan, the protagonist of Second Hand Smoke, is such a post-Holocaust victim who has a hard time finding peace with his Holocaust legacy, though he never experienced first-hand Nazi atrocity.By employing Foucault’s theory of power, this M.A. thesis elaborates Duncan’s search for redemption through the mechanisms of power. According to Foucault, the body is a field where power operates.It serves both as the object of disciplinary power and the source of resistant power. On one hand, the maternal disciplinary power of Mila has a tight control over Duncan’s body-building activities. In the process of training a docile body, her hatred for Nazis took root in Duncan’s mind. On the other hand, Duncan reshapes his body with the guidance of Isaac to protest against Mila’s maternal power. The conflicts of these two powers come to an end as Duncan’s redemption is achieved and reconciliation with her mother and Nazi Germans is reached.The thesis falls into five parts.Its structure is as follows.The Introduction presents the main information about Thane Rosenbaum and his novel Second Hand Smoke. Then, a brief introduction to Michel Foucault and his power theory ensues. Alongside with it come the significance and the structure of this thesis.Chapter One delineates how Mila’s disciplinary power shapes Duncan and makes his life a mess. Always putting much expectation on Duncan, Mila wants to shape a Jewish Savior out of him. But her hope on Duncan is very much perverted as a result of previous concentration camp experiences. By training Duncan’s body in most inhumane ways and forbidding him from being attached with the outside world, she creates an intangible space where her influence becomes dominant and vital. Meanwhile, by using Foucault’s theory of power and discourse, this chapter discusses how Mila’s dominant power in discourse and Yankee’s lack of discourse have influenced Duncan, making him suffer even more from the past he has never dared to question.Chapter Two is a discussion of Duncan’s resistance to Mila’s power and the efforts he has made with the help of Isaac to dissolve Mila’s fatal influence. The first step taken is to give up all the body-building exercises that Mila once urged Duncan to take. Through Yoga and proper breathing, Duncan gradually shakes off the nightmares, stomach aches that haunt him all these years, symbolizing his gradual success over his mother’s power. Then, with the help of Isaac, Duncan goes to Birkenau Camp, where all kinds of crimes took place, to break the spatial entrapment set up by Mila. Only in this way can he directly face and experience by himself the atrocities that his parents once experienced and suffered from.Chapter Three discusses the result of the conflict between Mila’s disciplinary power and Duncan’s resistant power. It is carried out through four dimensions:his role as a son, a father, a former Nazi-hunter, and a Jew. After his trip to Poland, he could fulfill the responsibilities of different roles and most importantly, he reconstructs his identity as a Jew and rebuilds the meaning of life.The Conclusion summarizes what is said previously and sets forth the meaning of this thesis. On one hand, Duncan’s life is plagued by disciplinary power by Mila which turns out to be very repressive. On the other hand, Duncan uses his resisting power to fight back Mila’s negative and hurting influence. The result of these two forces is that Duncan finds tranquility in life and achieves identification with the Jewish nation.