"DISCIPLINE AND PUNISHMENT: PANOPTICISM" Evelyn, Skye, John, and Yara

SUMMARY "DISCIPLINE AND PUNISHMENT: PANOPTICISM," BY MICHEL FOUCAULT The Panopticon is a building where people are watched without knowing the exact moment when it is happening. The way the building is built makes the people inside unaware of when they're being observed. The windows, the structure of the building, and its design enable spatial unities to supervise the people imprisoned. There is an obvious attribution of power to those who observe because the people inside the building are aware of the situation, but can’t do anything about it. The constant observation makes them behave appropriately and in accordance to what it is expected.

CENTRAL IDEA Knowledge is the role of power in our relationships.

Textual Evidence: "Discipline and Punishment: Panopticism" ■"And this invisibility is a guarantee of order" (Foucalt 27). *** Betham's complex design of the Panopticon involves the element of deceptiveness. The inmates see the tower but do not see the guard, they are forced to think that they are being watched at all times even if they aren't. Out of fear, the inmates watch themselves due to the fact that they can be watched upon any given moment. The constant sentiment of an invisible guard watching you makes unnecessary to even have a guard in the tower. The quote relates to the central idea in that without knowledge of whether the guard is watching you or not, you are forced to behave. All of your power is stripped away and given to the observer.

Textual Evidence: "Discipline and Punishment: Panopticism" ■"In view of this Betham laid down the principle that power should be visible and unverifiable. Visible: the inmate will constantly have before his eyes the tall outline of the central tower from which he is spied upon. Unverifiable: the inmate must never know whether he is being looked at any moment; but he must be sure that he may always be so" (Foucalt 28). *** The excerpt used above gravitates relates to the central idea that knowledge dictates the power that we possess. In the prisoner’s case, the only visible knowledge that they are aware of is that of the over watching tower. However, with the little amount of knowledge these inmates become powerless. They can only see the tower they cannot see if their being watched or not and this is where the unverifiable power comes in. In Betham's design of the Panopticon includes a tower with a 360 view of all the inmates plus a one way mirror which allows the guard to be in disguised.

CENTRAL CLAIM IN RELATION TO THE CRUCIBLE Characters in The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, have power in society because they know things. In the play, knowing how the town's authorities would react to certain claims enabled some to have power in the community. The most noticeable representation of this is Abigail Williams, a girl who manipulated the aversion to witchcraft that there was in Salem in her favor. The girl knew how to act and what to say to deter the authorities' attention from her wrongdoings. » Knowing that gave her power.

Textual Evidence: The Crucible ■"HALE: … God will bless you [Tituba] for your help. Abigail rises, staring as though inspired, and cries out. ABIGAIL: I want to open myself! They turn to her, startled. She is enraptured, as though in pearly light" (Miller 48). *** Abigail understood that what Tituba had done would get her out of trouble. By looking at the reaction the woman got from the town's authorities, the girl knew that joining her would get her out of the problems she was going to face. The fact that she was "inspired" shows that she deciphered a way to divert the attention from her actions. The understanding of the new circumstances gave her power over those who didn't know how to deal with the witchcraft accusations. Also, that knowledge gave her the ability to manipulate others and to get people to do what she wanted.

Textual Evidence: The Crucible ■"HALE: … Pointing at Abigail: This girl has always struck me false! She has-- Abigail, with a weird, wild, chilling cry, screams up to the ceiling. (…) DANFORTH: What is it child? … What's there? He lowers his eyes from the ceiling, and now he is frightened; there is real tension in his voice" (Miller 114). *** Abigail manipulated a compromising situation, knowing exactly what to do to gravitate the attention away from herself. The realization that she was going to be discredited as a reliable witchcraft accuser by Proctor and those in the court made her use her knowledge over the judge. The course of action she took--turning to seeing supernatural happenings right before everyone--was going to successfully save her from being exposed, and she knew it. This relates to the central idea because Abigail used the aversion to such occurrences by the authorities of the town to save herself.

THESIS STATEMENT Although some may think that power is attributed to the individuals who have a good reputation, in reality, power goes to those who possess a lot of information because knowledge gives them an advantage over others.