When given, or exposed to power, people may become corrupt. In J. J. R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring it is shown that when people are tempted or given power they may become corrupt. We can see this through the characters Frodo Baggins; the bearer of a powerful ring, Gollum, the previous bearer, and lastly it is shown through Bilbo Baggins another bearer.
When given great power some people become corrupt. Frodo Baggins displays this in The Fellowship of the Ring. He is trusted to hold and protect the one ring of power and immediately he develops traits that show that he is becoming excessively protective of the ring. “Frodo drew the Ring out of his pocket again and looked at it. It now appeared plain and smooth, without mark or device that he could see. The gold looked very fair and pure, and Frodo thought how rich and beautiful was its colour, how perfect was its roundness. It was an admirable thing and altogether precious. When he took it out he had intended to fling it from him into the very hottest part of the fire. But he found now he could not do so” (Tolkein, Pg. 59). In this instance Frodo cannot throw the ring into the fire with the intention to destroy it. The reason he cannot do this is because he has already started to become corrupt with its power. This shows that when Frodo is presented with power he quickly becomes corrupt by the ring’s power. Throughout Frodo’s journey he is faced with temptation to use the ring’s power of invisibility to hide from his enemies. Slowly the desire to use the ring of power grows immensely, until he feels an urge to use the ring and he cannot stop himself. “Frodo was hardly less terrified than his companions; he was quaking as if he was bitter cold, but his terror was swallowed ...
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...n them, and through it he found himself eyeing a little wrinkled creature with a hungry face and bony groping hands. He felt a desire to strike him’” (Tolkien Pg. 225-226). Years after Bilbo has dealt with the ring, when he sees it he immediately becomes corrupt once again, showing that exposure to that power can lead to corruption.
When given power, people may become corrupt. In J. J. R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring the theme: when people are exposed to power, they may become corrupt is an idea constantly expressed in this novel. This is shown through Frodo Baggins, Gollum, and Bilbo Baggins. In the world many people have much power but many become corrupt when exposed to said power. If power was more equally distributed or people had other people that kept them in check, people would stop abusing power and much corruption in our world would cease to exist.
Peter Jackson’s film “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,” revolves around a young hobbit by the name of Frodo Baggins and his unique group of companions. They go on a journey to destroy the One Ring of Sauron (the Dark Lord). In short, the One Ring has malevolent powers to whomever wears it.
Power is earned, not given. There are many different types of power that people can earn. Power becomes a problem when it is not questioned or tested. Therefore, the one with the power would have total control over anything or anyone they wanted, or they would feel that way. People with power feel invincible when it is not questioned. Throughout history it has been proven that this creates a problem. For example, Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal is similar to the scandal with Father Flynn in Doubt. Doubt, by John Patrick Shanley, exemplifies an underlying message that unquestioned faith leads to abuse of power. Specifically, shown in Father Flynn’s reputation, cover up, and resignation, which all correlate to Richard Nixon’s Watergate Scandal.
When somebody abuses a great amount of power, that individual can lose all their power. The struggle against someone who abuses power is perfectly depicted in the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey. When someone abuses their power, they can impose certain feelings and actions onto others. If someone tries to conceal their personality, . Finally, if someone abuses power and is constantly challenged by another individual who is trying to take the power abuser’s power away from them, the power abuser will always be frightened of his or her challenger. When someone abuses power and takes full control, they can lose all their power and respect quickly.
Power is a very interesting thing to hold. Many good-natured men have been destroyed by power and turned away from their morals as a result. When giving a man absolute power, it’s ingrained in the human brain to take it to a new level. This ideal is present in every type of government, regardless of if it’s a dictatorship or a government supported by autonomy. Modern day government suffers from this power hungry greed. Power is an element of human life and often leads to temptation because mankind thirsts for control, and that’s what power grants.
Our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, once stated; “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power”. This declaration argues that the true test of a person’s morals derives from when said person is given a position of relative power, whether it be power presiding over a nation, or simply power within a relationship. I agree with this statement wholeheartedly, when a person is in a state of submission their actions are regulated and the person may not reflect the values that they actually hold. However, when a person is given power that allows them have control over others, their true ideologies arise. Furthermore, this is supported in literary works throughout history. Specifically,
Power leading to corruption is more of a fact than an idea, in most cases when all is said and done the one with the power isn't who they said they'd be. Macbeth was once a Scottish nobleman whose greed for power became to overwhelming leading to his own demise. Shakespeare begins Macbeth, with the appearances of three witches. Each witch exclaims that Macbeth will be the thane of Glamis, the thane of Cawdor and afterwards he'll b...
Known as a period of political scandal, many politicians engaged in bribes, lies, and abuse of power to further a political, social, and often personal agenda. The typical corrupt leader "will sell his vote for a dollar [...] turns with indifference from the voice of honesty and reason [...] his unalienable right may be valuable to him for the bribe he gets out of it" (166). Such politicians are an injustice to society because as they are elected by the people, they must act towards the betterment of the people, rather than for themselves. Furthermore, those who elect this politician to office merely underestimate their political and social responsibility because they "want the feeling that their own interests are connected with those of the community, and in the weakness or absence of moral and political duty" (167). Thus, under the control of the ruthless politician and the reckless voter, the true essence of democracy is
Power. It is defined as the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. Throughout time, certain individuals have acquired power in their society as a way to govern and keep order among their community. Power is not a new concept; it was used in the past by many emperors, kings, and queens, and is still being used by presidents, prime ministers, and dictators. Although, it has been used to further progress societies into what the world is like today, not all power has been used for the best of mankind. But what goes awry to make power turn corrupt? In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, it is illustrated how power can turn corrupt, when authoritative figures, who possess power, abuse it for their personal gain, rather than for the common good of the society.
The leader will always take advantage of his power. Power causes the leader to make decisions, that will only better himself. "... Boxer was being sent to the knacker's." The pigs killed an animal just so that they could make some money. The power led them to this decision, they could kill Boxer, make some money, and no one would ever find out. Everyone has heard about the golden rule: "whoever has the gold makes the rules." This applies to "
Power is the source of all corruption as supported by Dickens’s novel A Tale of Two Cities. The characters Monseigneur, Marquis of Evermonde, and the revolutionaries all become corrupt in the end because of the power they possessed. If they did not possess power, they would not have been able to complete the actions they had planned to. Then, if they’re actions did not occur, the corruption they caused would cease to exist
J.R.R. Tolkien's concept of too much power is summed up by Lord Acton when he once said, "Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely." In Tolkien's first book of his fantasy based trilogy, Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Rings tells a story of a quest to destroy a powerful ring throughout Tolkien's created "Middle Earth". This quest was headed by a "Hobbit" named Frodo Baggins who, in the end, becomes corrupted by power himself. This corruption begins when Frodo uses his ring to become invisible over and over again to escape certain situations. The quest to destroy the powerful "Ruling Ring" forms the basis for this story.
Corrupt individuals have been around since the beginning of time. The instinct to be selfish and insure one’s own survival was paramount during the being of our evolution, but some individuals hold true to that belief even to this day. For example, during World War II the United States developed a weapon of mass destruction. There has been much debate of the necessity of the use of nuclear weapons during the war. One scientist, Joseph Rotblat, resigned during the creation we he realized the moral obligation he had to stop the atomic bombs creation. His view was not congruent with the powers that be and he was fired and labeled a traitor (Hinde and Rotblat,
An example of a corrupted leader in literature is Cornelius Fudge from The Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling. Originally, Fudge is a good leader, and does not let his pride get the best of him; he is not afraid to ask for help from Dumbledore or admit that he is wrong. As the story progresses and events grow out of his control, though, he ignores all signs of danger and antagonizes those who want to what is right to save the world, like Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore. Rather than letting someone who is more fit to defend the people from the threat of Voldemort, Fudge continues to pretend that everything is normal and the only real threat is the lie of a traumatized boy. Not prepared for what is to come, Fudge has no choice but to step
The statement, “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”, simply means that the more power one has – the more control one has over people – then the more corrupt it is possible for that person to become. This statement is certainly correct if the person with the power has certain proclivities towards corruption. There are many examples in the book, “Animal Farm”, by George Orwell, of power corrupting those in charge because they had these tendencies. In the story, the most powerful animals are the two pigs, Napoleon and, to a lesser degree, Snowball. During the course of the story these pigs used their power to get more power, and in the process their inclinations towards corruption triumphed. When Old Major, the boar who came up with the idea of all animals uniting against humans, died, Napoleon and Snowball saw an opportunity where they could take control and took it. Napoleon used force to get rid of Snowball and take all the power for himself, and he used fear to keep the other animals from revolting. He used scapegoats so that he could not be blamed for anything that went wrong, and propaganda to brainwash the animals into loyal slaves. Napoleon changed and broke the commandments of Animal Farm to benefit himself, and he lacked empathy for all those who worked hard for him, executing those that might cause him trouble.
Gandalf fears that the ring that has been in Bilbo's possession for so long could be the “one ring,” The “one ring” is a ring of myth and has been lost to history. It was created by Sauron who was the most powerful being to ever exist and was pure evil. With the power of the “one ring” he almost brought Middle-Earth to destruction and complete tyranny. Sauron was defeated and the “one ring” was supposedly destroyed or at least believed to be. It happened to not be the case and during Bilbo's adventures when he was younger, he stumbled upon th...