The Power Struggles in Jury of Her Peers and Mama Come Home

The Power Struggles in Jury of Her Peers and Mama Come Home

The issue of dominance and subordinance is addressed in the short stories “A Jury of her Peers” by Susan Glaspell and “Mama Come Home” by James Tiptree, Jr. In the stories the subordinates are harmed by the dominants, but the subordinates overcome the suppression to triumph in the end. The groups with the power control the laws and the positions of the weaker group.

To begin with, “A Jury of her Peers” is about the way women in 1917 were treated by men. The main women characters are Minnie Wright, Mrs. Peters, and Mrs. Hale. The women in the story are confined to their homes; rarely getting to go to town or visit with their friends. The women did not have many things with color and beauty. The men looked down on the women as inferior. The women in the story are the subordinates and the men are the dominants, because the men oppress the women and control them.

“Mama Come Home” is a science fiction story about the way women treat men in the future. Giant alien women, called Capellans, come to Earth and abuse the smaller Earthmen. The women have no respect for the men. The men are helpless because the women are so large and powerful. The women in this story are the dominants and the men in the story are the subordinates, because the women control the men and everything the men do.

The subordinates in the story “A Jury of her Peers” are emotionally abused by their husbands. The men treat the women like they are incapable of doing the same tasks as the men. An example is when the men are looking for clues to find a motive for the murder of Minnie Wright’s husband. They assign the women the task of finding Minnie Wright, who was being retaine...

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... women determine what happened, Mrs. Peters becomes more compassionate and starts to feel Minnie’s pain. At the end of the story, Mrs. Peters helps Mrs. Hale hide the evidence that could convict Minnie.

Tillie, one of the main characters in “Mama Come Home,” changes during the course of the story. Tillie is a human that looks like a Capellan, a giant alien woman. Tillie is friends with the Capellans until she sees the way the Capellans treat her male friend. Tillie becomes upset and decides to help the humans scare off the Capellans. Without Tillie’s help, the human’s plan would not have worked.

In summary, the stories show how dominants can hurt subordinates and how subordinates can find ways to overcome the power of the dominant group. The characters learn that the dominants hurt people, and they must help out their friends by doing the right thing.