Analysis Of By Partial People By Terry Bisson

Recently police officers are questioned if they are abusing or utilizing their power the correct way. For example a police officer shot an African American whom he “believed was armed” but had no evidence of a gun. In “Partial People” by Terry Bisson the weaker people, or the partial people as Bisson calls them, are allowed to be beaten and do not have equal rights as non-partial people. In Bisson’s “By Permit Only” people who have money can buy permits to abuse other people. Bisson uses the absurdity of “Partial People” and satirical situation of “By Permit Only” to demonstrate that powerful people will always try to dominate the weaker people.
In “Partial People” represents a weaker group of people that are treated unfairly. The partial people

“By Permit Only,” represents that money can buy everything, even a permit to abuse others. Mr. Manning sexually abuses his employee Mrs. Robinson. Mrs. Robinson says, “I said trying to ignore Mr. Manning’s hand on my thigh. His sexual harassment permit (on file at the main office) didn’t cover actual genital contact, so I didn’t have to worry about him going much higher, Thank God” (Bisson 200). The boss bought a permit to make sexual contact with his employee. Mrs. Robinson has to take the sexual harassment to keep her job. Bisson writes, ‘“This guy’s a poet,’ mused Mr. Manning, running his hand along the crack that separates my buttocks. I tried to ignore him (jobs are scarce these days) and kept looking out the window” (Bisson 201). This gives the impression that lower class people have no power to escape this abuse. It is almost a punishment for being lower class. Even the children of high class people abuse the children of low class people. Timmy, the crippled child of Mrs. Robinson, cries, ‘“They had their papers, Pop!’ whined our bruised, battered, blubbering baby boy. ‘They whipped out and waved it in my face and then it was whack whack whack”’ (Bisson 204). Even the kids are affected in this low class. No one is left out. This story even goes to the next level of cruelty by allowing children to buy permits to beat up crippled children, like Tim in this quote. With the cruelty of beating up a crippled child to sexual harassment this satire explores how money can buy anything including physical