This Boy's Life Power and Powerlessness Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

"I sat where I was, both hands on the dashboard. We were all over the road." (10.43)

This is the first of many confrontations between Jack and Dwight: basically a game of chicken, where Dwight is trying to scare Jack into doing his impersonation of Dwight. Considering that Dwight's drunk and behind the wheel of a speeding car, it's pretty scary. What's notable is that Jack doesn't give in. The lad's scared to death, but Wolff seems to be hinting that he's a match for Dwight's glorified bully routine.

Quote #5

"I was also a thief. Dwight's reason for calling me one was trivial, based on my having taken his hunting knife without permission. My thefts were real." (15.7)

This is a weird turn of the phrase, and it relocates both to power and identity. Dwight brands him a thief, which is true, but only to a point. Jack knows how much more of a thief he is than Dwight suspects, and that gives him some measure of power over Dwight (at least in Jack's mind).

Quote #6

"He pulled his hunting knife out from under the seat and held it to her throat. He kept her there for hours like that, making her beg for her life, making her promise she would never leave him." (22.56)

This is how Dwight exercises power… which suggest that he's really insecure. Which suggests that he himself may feel pretty powerless and tries to reverse that through felonious assault on his wife. Stay classy Dwight.