Official Faces Corruption Trial Chris Buckley Analysis

Power has been the single most fought over thing since the beginning of time. The ability to control, own and do as you please are things that even the most simpleminded human desires. We were born with greed and envy pre-installed into the moment we popped out of the womb. As children we always wanted our parent’s full attention even if we had siblings. We wanted them to be “my parents” instead of our parents. As we grew so did those ideals. In school we wanted the best grades, in order to get into the best colleges and make the most money possible. This idea has been the same for generations before us; the idea of having more power, no, all the power. This is an idea that although sounds very pleasing, when acted on as a life goal will always

Everyone, at one point in their lives has wanted power more than anything. Those who do get it have to make the decision whether they want to use it for good or evil. Power can turn a person into something they never dreamed they would become because it starts to take over their lives and people do not know what to do with so much power. There are many examples of power in the play Macbeth and every person that got it used it in very different ways. This caused many changes in people from turning from good to evil or evil to good. Over the course of the play, power causes Macbeth to turn from honorable to cruel which leads to his downfall.

But first what is Power? When researching Power words such as authority, control, direct, command and influence all appear. These words all support the following statement “Power is the ability to influence and control the behaviour of others.” The problem with power is that it often leads to those in power abusing it. As Lord Acton famously quoted “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Macbeth

The Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass shows the imbalance of power between slaves and their masters. In his book, Douglass proves that slavery is a destructive force not only to the slaves, but also for the slaveholders. “Poison of the irresponsible power” that masters have upon their slaves that are dehumanizing and shameless, have changed the masters themselves and their morality(Douglass 39). This amount of power and control in contact with one man breaks the kindest heart and the purest thoughts turning the person evil and corrupt. Douglass uses flashbacks that illustrate the emotions that declare the negative effects of slavery.

I agree with this statement. I have seen what power can do to people up close. I have had this feeling numerous times in my life. Whenever I am in charge of something, I always go into a responsible and bossy mode. I think power can be good, but it depends on the person who has it. People in Hollywood,for example. They were nice,well behaved kids. However when they had more opportunities for numerous movies they turned into spoiled,power hungry anti heroes.Practice power, by being responsible with it. When someone gets the opportunity to lead. They could abuse their power, or they could use it for the greater

“Being president doesn’t change who you are. It reveals who you are,” (Obama Michelle). Definition of corrupt, dishonest or illegal behavior, specifically by powerful people, such as government officials or police officers (Merriam-Webster). Many leaders are corrupt, but that doesn’t mean that power caused their corruption. They were probably like that before. The power just exposed the part of their personality that they may have been trying to hide from the world.

In the 1800’s slavery was a major issue in the United States which was dealt with on a daily basis in the South. The “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass” Fedrick Douglass himself expresses the differences in the lives of black people in the North and in the South. The South was known to have some of the wealthiest white people in the states, that wealth and power they had was due to the many slaves they had working in their plantations. In the other hand, the North had black people getting paid for their labor, their black people were free. They were treated like human beings and even though they might still encounter problems with some of the whites these problems where nothing compared to the retched life blacks had in the South.

Throughout history, the idea of having the most power has been the ultimate goal. Power can benefit those who have it and those around it if it doesn't get out of hand. But, power becomes too much when it becomes destructive.

Power is an extremely abstract idea. One can find many different variations of the word when asking for a definition person to person. The dictionary simply puts it as, “the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others…” which is a common theme that could be found between most people’s definitions of the word. We conceive power as a person’s ability to have others listen to him, and, most importantly agree with him. Obtaining power is done through various methods.

“My mistress was...a kind and tender-hearted woman...Slavery soon proved its ability to divest her of these heavenly qualities. Under its influence, her tender heart became stone…” Douglass explained as he flashed back upon his memories of joy and suffering. In his narrative, Douglass uses contrasting diction, a reflective tone, and metaphorical figurative language to argue that power corrupts good people.

As Thomas Jefferson, founding father of the United States of America and the main author of the Declaration of Independence, once said, “Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, prevented it into tyranny.” He is saying that someone who receives too much power will eventually turn this power into something bad. There are examples of this happening in both Fahrenheit 451 and The Wave. Both of these novels had an abundance of power gave to people, which made the group or world turn bad.

Douglass could no longer see parts of himself, and thus, he felt himself broken and damaged. Douglass, however, is able to eventually regather himself, have an intellectual epiphany, and develop an understanding of how slaveholders break down the slaves. This emotional confinement is expressed through the terms “mental darkness” (p. 55). The symbol of a “mental darkness” is important in understanding the mental captivity Douglass was in, and the process of how the slave owner broke Douglass down to a point where his own view of his self-worth was minuscule, comparing himself to a brute. From this low point, Douglass was able to discover what it was that creates a complacent attitude in slaves: “I have found that, to make a contented slave, it is necessary to a make a thoughtless one. It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason. He must be able to detect no inconsistencies in slavery; he must be made to feel that slavery is right; and he can be brought to that only when he ceases to be a man,” (p. 64-65). Douglass notes how a slave must become complacent and darken their “personal vision.” That darkened vision is critical in understanding how the institution of slavery entraps a human in a way to goes beyond physical captivity: it aims to make a slave feel

One of the toughest things in life is being able to be yourself when everyone else is pushing you to be exactly like them. The idea of conformity, or the process of adapting to the typical standards of society is one discussed many times in literary texts by authors. It can be viewed as a positive idea at the time, but ultimately can lead to the corruption of society as a whole. This is seen through the classic, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Huck is a young boy trying to determine whether or not he should be his own person or stick to the ways of society. Over time he learns to form his own opinions and realizes how immoral these people truly are. This topic is also displayed in The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

Power can be determined as dominance over something or someone. Having power is an important factor in life. Once power is established, it can become good or bad. Power is often abused and used to manipulate others. Killing Chickens by Meredith Hall and Lincolnites by Ron Rash both display the theme of power. Power is exemplified in a good and bad manner between the two stories.

Power has many various interpretations in accordance to different people. Many philosophers have varying views of power and power is part of our everyday lives. The way in which one understands how power is used in a particular way varies. Power is ‘the ability or capacity to do something or act in a particular way’ or ‘the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviour of others or the course of events’. (Taylor) These definitions are valid but looking at it from a philosophy and sociological view, there are many different perceptions of power. It is clear from these definitions that power alone has many different variations from the situation that it finds itself in. Looking at power from a philosophers view such as Steven Lukes,