Hegemony and Juliet

In Russell Banks’ “Sarah Cole: A Type of Love Story” we see a peculiar type of power structure at work. I find it peculiar because it is largely implied. Although in the story Ron seems to clearly be taking advantage of Sarah we must not overlook the fact that this story is a narrative and there is no direct mention of a desire to exploit his status over her in the narrative save for some inadvertent objectification. There is mention of “obsession” and “desire” but none of exploitation for the pure sake of sexual gratification. For if this was his true motive could he not have gotten his fix easily somewhere else? Especially considering that he’s, “effortlessly attractive, a genetic wonder, tall, slender, symmetrical, and clean.” I find it hard, no impossible, to believe this was a sexual relationship.

Speaking to that, and speaking to the Marxist perspective as well, our greatest clue into the true nature of this Hegemonious relationship is when Ron exposes his motivations as clearly and succinctly as I think the character is able. “…to keep her in front of me, to draw her forward from the context of her life and place her, as if she were an object, into the context of mine.” This objectification or dehumanization of the individual member of the proletariat is the stuff that Marxist theory thrives on.

Even more interesting to me is another desire. That is Sarah’s desire to involve Ron in her life. In this I see a link to our classroom conversation on Monday. In order for Ron to be a part of her life he must be willing to sacrifice material status in order to see her as an equal. The single greatest Marx affirming moment in the story is when they are standing in Ron’s apartment naked for the first time. They are never before and never again considered equal in the story. They are only equal when they are nude, devoid of the status symbol that we all arguably notice first. Clothing.