Parable of the Talents

Powerful electronic collars that deliver agonizing electrical shocks to their wearers are a key device that allows Jarret’s Crusaders to overtake and dominate the Acorn community members. The collars symbolize the dehumanization of groups perceived as “other” and how systems of power rely on subjugation. Collars are most traditionally used to restrain and control animals, and the notion of placing a collar on a fellow human being is profoundly dehumanizing, signaling that they no longer possess any basic rights or freedoms. Collars have been associated with slavery since ancient times, and so the presence of collars at Camp Christian links the brutality of the camp to the history of slavery in America. The collars serve a logistical purpose of making it impossible for the enslaved to fight back, but because they are visible, they function as a shaming symbol of subjugation; as Lauren explains, “I’ve heard that some collared people kill themselves, not because they can’t stand the pain, but because they can’t stand the degree of slavishness to which they find themselves descending” (81).

The collars also symbolize how some individuals create feelings of authority and control by dominating others. While the Acorn community holds divergent religious views, it was never interested in undermining or fighting against Christian America.