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Malcolm Essay

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Malcolm Essay
Thirsting for Power
Monica Rivera

Power is defined the ability to do something or act in a particular way, especially as a faculty or quality. Each and every person possesses some type of power over another thing. Some people are content with not having any power whatsoever and then there are people whose entire lives revolve around that thirst and need for power. The latter is a description of two famous people in history, Malcolm X and Julius Caesar. Thirsting for power and wanting to much of a good thing can be very self-destructive. This thirst for power can cause people to be blinded but the reality of what is going on around them. Taking into consideration that both of these powerful leaders had this longing for power that ultimately leaded to their destruction we can identify many similarities and differences that may be relevant to their nature and the way they both lived, and died.
The major difference between Julius Caesar and Malcolm X is obviously the time period in which they were from. Malcolm X was born in the early 20’s and Julius Caesar was born around 100 BC. These time periods are completely different eras from each other yet the thirst for power and a solid following was present in both of them. The thirst for power is something that has been around since man was created. A key similarity between these two leaders is that their thirst for power and their ability to have an influential effect on people’s lives was seen from a very early age. Caesar was born around 100 BC and by the time he was 18 had already been through and witnessed more than many people had that were in their later years of age. He was married to the daughter of a very noble man, fathered her child. Then was ordered to divorce her or be executed. Caesar refused to divorce Cornelia and her fathered ordered him to be executed which caused him to go into hiding. After escaping that event, barely with his life he was kidnapped in



References: Malcolm, and George Breitman. Malcolm X speaks : selected speeches and statements. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1990. Print. Kebric, Robert B. Roman People. Mountain View: Mayfield, 1993. Web. Malcolm X. The Biography Channel website. 2014. Retrieved from http://www.biography.com/people/malcolm-x-9396195. Yavetz, Zwi. Julius Caesar and His Public Image. Aspects of Greek and Roman Life. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1983. Web.

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