Great Works Essay Final Draft.docx

Bungsut 1 Lalchhanhimi Bungsut Professor Joost Burgers Great Works December 9th, 2018 The Dark Power of Knowledge The relationship between knowledge and power is commonly understood to be mutually beneficial - a greater acquisition of knowledge leads to more power. However, various written works indicate that such is not always the case. In the twentieth century, the distress of the oppressed led to an understanding that knowledge could lead to a lack of power. Such insight is discussed by three writers, W. E. B. Du Bois, Virginia Woolf, and Primo Levi, and provides the perspective of oppressed individuals who explore distinct forms of knowledge that foster a deprivation of power. Du Bois maps the relationship by discussing double consciousness and its negative effects on African-Americans, Woolf critiques the treatment of women born with greater degrees of knowledge, and finally, Levi’s experiences in Auschwitz disclose the detrimental results of the misuse of knowledge. First, in the aftermath of the emancipation of slaves in the United States, W. E. B. Du Bois writes about the adverse consequences of “double-consciousness”- the knowledge of two supposed identities - that the oppressed African-American community was faced with. Du Bois initially establishes what the knowledge of these two identities entails: “One ever feels his twoness, - an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder” (1705). The knowledge that Du Bois discusses in this section is indicative of the state in which most African-Americans of the time lived. He exposes the nature of the knowledge that plagues the African-American perspective by discussing how double consciousness evidently guides how they view themselves. He then reveals the oppressive consequences of this knowledge by

Bungsut 2 acknowledging how difficult it is for African-Americans to cohabit both the “American” and “Negro” identity as they must struggle not to get “torn” apart by the two conflicting identities. By explaining how knowledge renders the African-Americans to their struggles, Du Bois establishes the necessary background on how such knowledge can lead to a lack of power. Du Bois extends his contentions regarding the negative consequences of doubleconsciousness by showing how it causes African-Americans to be deprived of power. Du Bois shows how the double aims of the African-Americans carry negative consequences by pointing out that “the black man’s turning hither and thither in hesitant and doubtful striving has often made his very strength to lose effectiveness, to seem like the absence of power” (1706). Du Bois makes the argument that as the black man is faced with the knowledge and thereby the necessity to uphold two different identities, he is forced to work to fulfill the standards of both society and himself, a task which he is unable to complete adequately. Consequently, his actions purportedly lack effectiveness and thereby leave him powerless. Du Bois asserts this criticism as he realizes that the knowledge of the double consciousness effected against the African-Americans farther oppresses them and leads them to a state where their half-hearted success in fulfilling these double aims causes them to lose power. Second, following Du Bois’ analysis of how the acquisition of knowledge can further diminish the power of the oppressed, Virginia Woolf critiques the harsh treatment of knowledgeable women in the field of literature. She particularly writes about the history of women, or rather the lack thereof, and contends that women of great knowledge existed in the past but were oppressed and discriminated against for their knowledge. When discussing the existence of such knowledge, Woolf states, “Yet genius of a sort must have existed among women as it must have existed among the working classes…. Indeed I would venture that Anon,

Bungsut 3 who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman” (2117). By writing about the existence of women in the past who had the knowledge and the ability to write, Woolf criticizes not only the lack of attention they received but brings to attention how they were deprived of their power as they did not have the means to freely publish their work. Thus, Woolf draws attention to how knowledge is suppressed in women and the consequences it can have on their power. Woolf also emphasizes the detrimental conditions of women who possess great knowledge and brings the reduction of their power to light. She does this by discussing how women were not given the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and how it consequently disempowered them: “…it needs little skill in psychology to be sure that a highly gifted girl who had tried to use her gift of poetry would have been thwarted and hindered by other people, so tortured and pulled asunder by her own contrary instincts, that she must have lost her health and sanity to a certainty” (2117). Woolf explains how women in the past were not allowed to express their intellect, particularly their knowledge of words, and how that led them to become psychologically damaged. She highlights how the inherent knowledge that exists in women was used to further oppress them and lead them to a lack of power as, much like Du Bois discussed, the necessity for them to uphold their image as intellectually inferior opposed their intelligent natures and rendered them deranged and powerless. Finally, Primo Levi describes the horrific nature of Auschwitz and how the knowledge of the survivors in the concentration camp led to a loss of power over one’s own humanity. To Levi, the truest source of power in the camp was not derived from surviving, but rather from the ability to withhold one’s morality and humanity despite the brutal conditions of the camp. Unlike Du Bois and Woolf, Levi proposes that the use of knowledge was an oppressive force that the

Bungsut 4 prisoners used against themselves to diminish their humanity, rather than it being actively forced upon them. Levi asserts his argument through the narrative of a fellow prisoner named L. who gained the knowledge to establish himself apart from the rest of the prisoners by maintaining an image of propriety. In the case of L., Levi recognizes the skill and cunning of L. as knowledge that L. acquired when forced to fend for himself in the camp. With the help of knowledge such as how to keep an impeccable appearance of dress and stature, L. was eventually appointed to a higher position where he was able to join the ranks of the Kommando to work to oppress his own people. Levi contemplates how despite his survival, L. had sacrificed his humanity and states, “I feel it is quite probable that he managed to escape death, and today is living his cold life of the determined and joyless dominator” (109). He critiques the abuse of L.’s knowledge to abandon his morality and shows that despite his survival, L. presumably lives a “cold” and “joyless” life of someone who gave up their humanity. Despite surviving the camp, L. abandoned his power of maintaining his humanity by acting on his selfish needs to survive. In addition to the narrative of L, Levi provides an account of Henri, a prisoner who uses his knowledge to strategize methods for survival in the camp that leads him to a state of diminished power. Levi observes that Henri is able to survive through acquiring the knowledge to gain the pity of the commanders. He implicitly expresses how he believes Henri forsakes his humanity through such actions: “I know that Henri is living today. I would give much to know his life as a free man, but I do not want to see him again” (116). Levi’s words are very judgmental of Henri and show his great discontent with the actions that Henri took to survive in the camp. He criticizes how Henri abandons his dignity in order to gain pity and favors from those who are consciously oppressing everyone in the camp. Although Henri supposedly survived the camp, Levi contends that Henri’s usage of knowledge farther oppressed him as it

Bungsut 5 led to a dehumanized and piteous state that subsequently led him to have a lack of power as a respectable human being. The discussion of writings from Du Bois, Woolf, and Levi regarding knowledge creates a new understanding of how it can affect people. In common discourse, knowledge is almost always associated with power. In fact, it is arguably the main reason that most people opt for higher education and the fact that institutes like Ashoka University exist as people hope to gain power through the knowledge they acquire. However, it is noteworthy to see this relationship subverted through the various texts provided and understand that knowledge can also have consequences as it can effectively be used against the oppressed to further weaken their power.

Bungsut 6 Works Cited Du Bois, W.E.B. “The Souls of Black Folk” The Norton Anthology of American Literature: Shorter Sixth Edition, edited by Nina Baym, WW Norton & Company, 2003, pp. 17031719. Levi, Primo. If This is a Man. Translated by Stuart Woolf, The Orion Press, 1959. Woolf, Virginia. “A Room of One’s Own” The Norton Anthology of English Literature: Eighth Edition Vol. II, edited by Stephen Greenblatt and M. H. Abrams, WW Norton & Company, 2006, pp. 2113-2122.