• Khosrow Darabi

  Author

• Mohsen Momen

  Author

Power structure and its origin as one of the pivotal features of the human community
has a long history in both sociology and literature. In this paper, the effect of power is analyzed
sociologically in Sam Shepard’s play, The God of Hell, which is considered a modern black
comedy. Shepard hopes to depict Republican Fascism and its power before the 2004 US
presidential election in the play. The play is about a childless couple living in a dairy farm in
Wisconsin, far from the problems of urban life. Their peaceful life is destroyed by two uninvited
guests representing government and its penetration to the inner layers of one’s life. The play is
analyzed in the conceptual framework of the French philosopher, Michel Foucault’s power
interpretation to rub out the power mechanism and strategies leading people into slavery. He
emphasizes severely on freedom and resistance as two supplementary factors for power without
which power is meaningless.

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