The Gift

Marcel Mauss begins The Gift by asking “What rule of legality and self-interest, in societies of a backward or archaic type, compels the gift that has been received to be obligatorily reciprocated? What power resides in the object given that causes its recipient to pay it back?” (4). These questions will form the basis of his book as he looks to the Northwest Coast American Indians, Melanesians, and Polynesians and the practices surrounding the potlatch and gift giving. Mauss also provides macro and micro analysis surrounding the nature and function of contracts, commerce, and exchange (9).

Mauss juxtaposes the concept of the individual against the backdrop of the group, as self-interests can only be achieved by ensuring that members of said tribe are satisfied. For it is the chief who represents the collective interests of the tribe, just as they represent his innate desire for greatness and power. They are two parts of a greater organism. The success or failure of the chief is dependent on his ability to achieve the goals and status set out by his tribe. Therein lies the power of the potlatch and the act of bestowing a gift: It has the ability to make great (or poor) the giver by giving more than what is reasonably expected in return: