Block 4
POWER CORRUPTS
Power corrupts because human nature provokes people to never be satisfied with what they have. My first example of power corrupting is in the book OTH. Han , the narrator tells how Om has power over the students : “ When my conversation with Sokdae was over he put his lunchbox up on the desk. This was the signal for everyone to open their lunchboxes.” (13) This passage shows that Om , the bully is using his power to get lunch from his classmates. Another example of power corrupting occurred when Adolf Hitler , a corrupt leader who , exterminated the jews during the holocaust , abused his power and created fear.{http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/holo.html}.This passage shows that Hitler was becoming the center of Nazi , Germany , Hitler got corrupted by absolute power because his tactics were deceiving like offering false peace with his enemies , only to invade them. My final example of power corrupting , is portrayed in the lyrics of the video to Coldplay’s” Viva La Vida.” The lyrics to the song mean that there was a king who felt like he ruled the world. He was a tyrant who enjoyed ruining peoples lives , and seeing them fear his wrath. (Forum). This passage shows that the king had control and power over his people , but the power got to his head and he did bad things to his people. Because the king was a tyrant to his people , his people overthrew and replaced him with a new king. In conclusion , power can be corrupted in many different ways. One example of corrupted power is OM , and how he had power over his classmates. Another example is Adolf Hitler , and how he killed the Jews. My final example of corrupted power is the song lyrics to“ Viva La Vida” by Coldplay , and how the king was a bad ruler to his people.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Power is a great story line for many novels throughout the ages. Also power is a horrible life guide that many people live with throughout their lives. Within the novels One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Wuthering Heights, it is easy to recognize different cases of power and how power hungry individuals work. Nurse Ratched, featured in One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, is a power obsessed middle-aged nurse who is the head of a mental institute and thrives off of the power she creates over the residents at the facility. Another version of power would be one of creating fear and a longing for revenge. In the novel Wuthering Heights, a, once orphan boy named Heathcliff fell in love with a young lady, which betrayed her and left him. He then felt compelled to…
- 851 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Throughout history, we have seen how power can change people. Hitler took millions of innocent lives because he wanted power. Tyrants destroyed their own family to gain power. The Mongols destroyed anyone or anything that came in their path from taking their power away. Siblings poisoned each other to become king if their father dies. What's common about our history is that when people have power, their morality had to be broken. That's how they have controlled people and have had enemies fear them. A person can't gain, and hold on to their power while adhering to values and a moral code.…
- 686 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Power is the ability to influence people to perform in a specific way. The ambition of having power, has made humans influence other peoples’ lives and nature. For example, writer David Hume presented and criticized the “is-ought problem—the notion that we can derive what ought to be from an example of what is” (Barash 283). People are not satisfied with what is natural, so they want to go furthermore and try to change it, using any sources they have within their reach. We are unstoppable, the more we have the more we want.…
- 1559 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
Power can change people in a way that is incomprehensible either for good or for evil. Power can make one so greedy that someone will do anything for it and won’t let anyone, or thing stand in their way. Macbeth by William Shakespeare portrays both the positive and negative uses on Power through the main characters. Macbeth’s greed of power allowed him to exercise abuse and ultimately he was corrupted and destroyed by power. Lady Macbeth used power in a positive way but her ultimate goal was domination of the Crown. Shakespeare uses dialogue and symbolism to allow his readers to engage with his mood and therefore the concepts of power.…
- 889 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Throughout the history of the world, power has been given to people like monarchs, dictators, military generals, and even presidents. Like most things some handle the power extremely well while others abuse it. The abuse affects the people of the area and history is changed when the person takes their power to an unfathomable level. Power abuse can be dated back to the beginning of what we can recall.…
- 719 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Violence, greed, and suffering are all great examples of power being abused negatively. When someone has power, they have the decision to either use that power in a positive or negative way. Sadly, some people decide to use their power in a negative way that affects others. Power can have a negative effect on others by using fear and manipulation.…
- 458 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Lord Acton, a great historian and politician, once said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” Clearly Acton echoed William Shakespeare, as this theme was portrayed in The Tragedy of Julius Caesar. Throughout the play, complacency amongst civilians, mutiny, and struggles for power plague the ancient city of Rome, all of which are deeply rooted in the corruption surrounding the government at the time. Shakespeare ultimately reveals that power corrupts, not only the individual who has it, but the society without.…
- 539 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
“Power doesn’t corrupt people, people corrupt power.” (William Goddis) I disagree with this statement due to the evidence found in Shakespeare’s play Macbeth. The theme of this play is Power. Macbeth was prophesied to by the three witch sister that he would be King. “Hail Macbeth… thane of Glamis!, Hail Macbeth…. thane of Cawdor!, Hail Macbeth…. King hereafter!” (Act.1 Scene 3) The odd aspect about this proficiency is that during this time, is that most kings were chosen by God. Macbeth being “The Chosen One” took it upon himself to do anything in his power to make that happen even o that meant getting his hand a little Dirty.…
- 1093 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Throughout the novel we see the pain and suffering that the slaves go through. Slavery not only affected the slaves, it affected the moral health of the slaveholders as well. We can clearly see how the power of slavery corrupted Thomas Auld, Sophia Auld, and Edward Covey in the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.…
- 659 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Power isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it is only a bad thing when it is abused, and that is when the problem begins, abuse of power really reminds me of hitler’s plan to kill all the Jews and in antigone when Creon abuses his power of being king.…
- 548 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
No one starts off corrupted by power, it is often incremental (Power Corrupts). A person works their hardest because they validate their actions as being for greater good. They have reasoning behind their work, a purpose. As the individual gets increasingly more successful they start to take shortcuts, take more benefits for themselves with little disregard for rules or otherwise. Because after all in the end they believe what they're doing is for the best; so what does it matter how they get there?…
- 487 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Power is the ability of having an influence on a person's behavior. Corruption is dishonest behavior done by those in power. The idea of power has always been the source of mankind's’ problem and deceit since the beginning of time. When people are given power they tend to use this authority for their own personal use it to meet their own personal needs and desires. Government and civilizations are often corrupted due to the desire for power and control. In Julius Caesar…
- 82 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays -
United States of America is a great country, just like Venezuela or North Korea. Having a corrupt government does not make a nation ‘bad.’ Having a corrupt government is like a car driving off a cliff, the car will explode into the abyss, and there is nothing you can do about it. Greatly, United States is still not floating in midair, right now it is on the point of the cliff. That’s why many do not consider it ‘that’ corrupt compared to other countries. Something those people are not considering is that all of these nation’s mistakes already include corruption and that a few more of those wrongdoings and who knows if one day it’ll include the violence of Somalia. United States has many more issues than the public is aware of. Many people still…
- 306 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Power is the possession of controlling and commanding an individual/s. The assertion of power over others allows an individual to gain a level of authority or position in society. Thus creating the continuous cycle of disempowerment, where people always feel the need to have domination of power over others. Power ultimately leads to disempowerment with the transformation of an individual to the stereotypical views of society. This concept of power is explored in both ’Othello’ a play written by Shakespeare in the Elizabethan period and in Toni Morrison’s ‘The Bluest Eye’.…
- 1086 Words
- 5 Pages
Good Essays -
I believe that power corrupts the lyrics in the music we as individuals listen to. I feel this way because although I understand how music can be used in a positive way, conversely many lyrics can have negative effects. They lyrics we listen to can encourage individuals to perform bad manners, profanity, labeling and other negative behaviors.…
- 57 Words
- 1 Page
Satisfactory Essays