Surveillance, Power, and the Telescope

            As part of the tangent today, we learned that glasses, the telescope and the microscope were all invented and developed during the Elizabethan period.  This factoid couldn’t have been timelier.

            In another of my courses, Forging the Canadian Nation, we have been studying John Richardson’s discovery narrative Wacousta and Foucault’s theory of power and surveillance.  We have talked about how the structure of the fort promotes a full range of visibility and enables the British to spot and anticipate any oncoming attacks from the Native people of the woods.  Additionally, note has been made of the recurring references to “the glass,” otherwise known as the telescope, which extends visibility not only in all directions but over great distances as well.  Providing the British with a serious advantage in some cases, the telescope also seems to highlight the weaknesses of the British garrison.

            Amongst the threats of a new land, the British garrison fears their inability to control open space.  Whenever venturing outside the fort (which doesn’t happen often), soldiers must remain in tight, group formations.  This inability to freely move about the space outside the fort inhibits any advantage that the telescope offers.  At one point in the novel, soldiers in the fort can do nothing but watch, as a troop that has ventured out is ambushed in the distance.  While able to see the ambush, they have no capacity to act on their discovery.  At another point, it is revealed that a friendly ship, approaching the harbour in the nearby town, has been commandeered by the Indians and once again, those stationed in the fort can do nothing to warn the soldiers stationed at that harbour.

            It’s interesting to see how the invention of an instrument that could provide such and amazing advantage for one side is ultimately nullified by the incompetence or fear of its users.  If only the British had two cans with miles of string, they might have been able to use the telescope more effectively and warned their comrades of approaching danger…