"The Tale of Two Brothers"

Paper Summary:

"The Tale of Two Brothers" is a story of sexual dominance, revenge, and deceit, and across these themes a deadly power struggle between the opposite sexes takes place. The paper shows that women in this story are depicted as powerful, however using their power for evil purposes. Men on the other hand, are depicted as equally powerful but use their power for good. It is because the men use their power for good that they prevail over the women. By analyzing the relationships between the two couples in the story, this paper makes a persuasive argument that, by the end of the story, the men are the victors of the power struggle.

From the Paper:

"The relationship between Anpu and his wife is the first to be examined. Anpu's wife is introduced as a woman who uses her manipulative power for evil purposes. After Anpu's brother, Bata, refuses her sexual advances she seeks revenge by using her skill in deception to convince Anpu to kill his brother. Anpu's wife lies and says, "When your brother came to fetch the seed, he saw me fixing my hair. He tried to make love to me. " He became angry and beat me. " Oh Anpu, kill him for me, or I will surely die? (Loy 1997:1). Here, Anpu's wife successfully uses her manipulative powers for evil purposes. While Anpu's wife uses her intellectual power for an evil motive, her husband utilizes his physical power to reestablish what is just. After discovering his wife's evil plot, Anpu regains the power in the relationship physically by "[killing] his wife, and [throwing] her body to the dogs" (Loy 1997:2). Anpu is seen as the victor in the situation not only because he is the one left standing at the end, but also because he uses his power for good."

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