Prisons function because of the power relationship between the inmates and the guards. Panopticism and “The Gaze”, as described by Michael Foucoult, examines this relationship and the role it plays in the prison system. The Panopticon was a prison designed around the idea that people will manage their own behavior because they think they are always being watched. Panopticism puts all of the power in the guards while taking it all away from the inmates. “The Gaze” is the effect of constantly being watched, which includes being watched by another person or by some way of observation. Frederick Douglass and Leonard Peltier spent most of their lives living under “The Gaze” in a Panopticistic world. Frederick Douglass was an American slave who eventually managed to escaped to the North, learn to read and write, and became a prolific anti-slavery symbol. Leonard Peltier is a Native American who is currently serving a life sentence in jail for allegedly taking part in the shootings of two FBI agents. Neither Frederick Douglass nor Leonard Peltier were able to escape “The Gaze”.

Frederick Douglass was from Maryland born sometime around 1835 and grew up as a slave. In his narrative, Douglass talks about his life growing up as a slave. He mentioned that he really didn’t know his mother and that they had only met a couple times. However, when he was able to see her, she would walk twelve miles from her master’s house to see him, even after working all day. His father was a white man, but again he didn’t know much about him. There were some rumors that his master was his father, but he didn’t know for sure. Douglass also talks about one master who had an overseer that was particularly brutal to the slaves and another master who he spent a lot of time with owned large farms and had a couple hundred slaves. This man had a liking for Douglass’ aunt and treated his slaves fairly for the most part. At this plantation, there were many overseers and managers to keep everything under control. The slaves received a monthly allowance of food and clothes. It was often for smaller children who couldn’t fit in clothing to go all year without clothes. Slaves didn’t have beds, but linen blankets to sleep on, that is if they were able to finish preparing for the next day. It was common for people to just sleep where they were, on the floor, outside or wherever and with very little but the clothing they had and maybe a blanket to comfort them. Douglass’ had very little understanding of who his family was, and knew nothing about the joys of life.

Slaves were often punished for doing the wrong thing. Some mothers would sneak out at night to see loved ones and if they were caught they would be severely punished. Many slaves who try to escape or are caught away from their master’s home would be whipped, beaten and then sold. This puts a tremendous amount of pressure on someone to do the right thing. Like someone being held in a Panopticon, they were constantly being watched. “The Gaze” was strong with slave-owners. Overseers were in charge of keeping slaves in line and they had the power to enforce their will. Just like a guard in the Panopticon, an overseers would be watching everyone under his control. Also like the Panopticon, the slaves would have to assume they were being watched. It’s unlikely that one overseer could see everything that all of his slaves do, but the threat of being whipped is enough to get people to do the right thing.

Leonard Peltier is a Native American who was born in North Dakota in 1944. As a child, Peltier would find himself getting a lot of attention for being a Native American. He got into fights with other kids and caught the attention of the police. He always felt that he was being watched. There was a constant pressure on him to be on his best behavior and that if he slipped up in the slightest, there would be someone waiting for it and ready to punish him. In his memoir, he talks about an incident where he got in a fight with another kid. The fight ended with him the others kids head bleeding from a rock Peltier threw at him. Peltier remembered that he ran back home and hid under a bed. When the cops eventually came, his parents did what they could to calm the situation. Eventually, his parents took him out from under the bed and explained to him that he couldn’t be doing anything like that because white people are always out to get people like them.

Later in Peltier’s life he joined a Civil Rights group that advocated for Native Americans. Unfortunately, this group got tangled with another Native American group that was much more violent. There many occasions that this opposing group would have a militia of sorts and would attack those who stood against them. This struggle eventually boiled over when the reservation Peltier was living in was attacked by this opposing group and many FBI agents. This raid resulted in the deaths of two FBI agents and Peltier was blamed for their deaths. In Peltier claimed innocence and provided evidence supporting his case but was nonetheless charged for their murders. Peltier has since spent his life in prison.

Frederick Douglas and Leonard Peltier have spent most of their lives being watched by others. Frederick Douglass was a slave in Maryland who was constantly under the threat of being punished. Leonard Peltier grew up as a minority who was always on the receiving end of unfair treatment be other citizens and the police and eventually would spend the next 35 years and counting in prison. In both cases, these men were subject to “The Gaze” in a panopticistic world that refuses give anyone some space. They were both subject to the people in positions of power and were helpless to defend themselves.