Daniel Lerner’s “The Grocer and the Chief” provides an interesting case of the perception of power and the process of change. Lerner portrays the Grocer as an unacknowledged prophet who was “the cleverest” of all the villagers because he was able to accurately forecast the future of Balgat while Tosun depicts the Grocer as “this fat and middle-aged man yearning to be comfortably rich in an interesting city.” In either case, the Grocer possessed no power to change his own situation or reputation and he could not speak against the traditions of the Chief, so rather than a cause of the modernizing changes that came later, perhaps\u00a0the merchant was an example of the desire for change that grows with contact with the city and its economic opportunities. At the time, the Grocer was the only one of his kind, and his occupation required him to travel to Ankara often. However, the village of Balgat only collectively gains access to the city when the men of the Demokrat party build a road between the two. Perhaps the subconscious desire for change already existed within the village as Lerner suggests when he says that some Balgati spoke badly of the Grocer to “keep their own inner voices from being overheard by the Chief–or even by themselves.” Perhaps the transition was so smooth and fast because the Grocer’s ideas had already existed in the minds of these traditional men whether subconscious or not. The concept of a private exploration of the new before public evidence of it continues with the interview of the Chief’s younger son regarding neckties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Daniel Lerner’s “The Grocer and the Chief” provides an interesting case of the perception of power and the process of change. Lerner portrays the Grocer as an unacknowledged prophet who was “the cleverest” of all the villagers because he was … Continue reading