Marxist lens (Pages 1-97)

In the first portion of "The Sisters Brothers" by: Patrick Dewitt, is a story narrated by Eli about two brothers, Eli and Charlie Sisters, who work as hired killers around the time of the California gold rush. they work for the commodore who sends them to kill a prospector Herman Kermit Warm. The novel takes place in the 1800's. There is low law enforcement and corruption often occurs without detection. The commodore symbolises the government or the power and the Sisters brothers symbolise the working class.The commodore pays the killers well which shows the power of wealth and the acts people will commit to gain wealth. The Sisters brothers are making a profit from the job but the commodore would also gain the profit of the product which would be stolen from the prospector. The commodore is very well respected by the killers because they assume his wealth is achieved through good acts also the killers believe that they are assassinating evil people. ""I'm to be lead man on this one, Eli" "who says so." "commodore says so""(p.7) The commodore has given Charlie power over Eli  which creates a large argument between the two brothers. The boss has power to give more power to the one of the brothers since he is favoured by the boss. This shows that the upper class can govern the lower class since the upper class is very wealthy. The commodore is very wealthy but he continues to send the killers to assassinate innocent and hard working people for his benefit and the opportunity to become more powerful. "Money can't buy happiness" this is a saying that can be used to describe the commodores actions of greed. Although the commodore sends the brothers to kill people for his own benefit the commodore profits more than the brothers and does the least amount of work. The commodore also symbolises corruption because he lies to the brothers about the targets and only targets the people that will benefit him when they are dead.

 

This comic illustrates the mentality that is used by the commodore and the amount of selfishness he has. In the beginning of their journey to San Francisco Charlie abuses his power and doesn't consider his brother's ideas or take much input from Eli  because he has made some mistakes in the past. When the Sisters brothers reach a town called Jacksonville they spend some time at a hotel. Eli is attracted to one of the workers and he ends up giving her a lot of money. The mentality that money is power is shown by Eli even though the money he gave was for a good cause.