DEPENDENCY AMONG FOOD SCARCITY AND POWER DYNAMICS IN RATHER’S THE NIGHT OF BROKEN GLASS

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between food scarcity and power dynamics in The Night of Broken Glass through the theoretical framework of Samir Amin’s theory of unequal development and dependency. Through qualitative textual analysis, the article explores how food scarcity is not just a state of material deprivation but a means of social control, dependency and power in the novel. This analysis shows that food inequities support social inequalities, marginalize vulnerable groups, and allow dominant groups to be powerful by controlling resources. Based on Amin ideas of dependency, structural poverty and unequal development, the paper will hold the argument that scarcity is a product of socially uneven structures of distribution as opposed to natural scarcity. Moreover, the novel also shows that hunger breeds fear, vulnerability, and obedience and at the same time builds resilience and low-level resistance among marginalized groups. This study, by preempting the political and economic aspects of food insecurity, adds to both literary analysis and political economy by underscoring the complex relationships between the allocation of resources, social inequalities and power dynamics as explained in the story.