The Lust for PowerThe novel Guards! Guards! written by Terry Pratchett underscores the quest for power in the city of Ankh-Morpork. Human beings yearn for power, as it is the nature of mankind; a fundamentally human drive which knows no exceptions. Throughout Guards! Guards! the lust for power is the driving force of tyranny, even those who fight against tyranny have a desire for power — with one crucial difference: they desire to rule only themselves, not others. Individuals with an elevated need for power are keenly aware of their place in the social hierarchy, as their motives are the innate incentives that determine their day-to-day behavior. This desire to gain authority, seeking neither recognition nor approval from others — simply agreement and compliance is evident in characters such as the …show more content…
Though dragons “were supposed to be cruel, cunning, heartless, and terrible”, Pratchett presents humans as the real monsters highlighting man’s depraved nature and willingness to commit heinous crimes for self-preservation (288). Upon examination of the memories of one of its new servants, the dragon is horrified by the acts committed by humans. Unlike humans, the scaled, fire-spewing beasts have “never burned and tortured and rippled one another apart and called it morality” (288). Moreover, though human sacrifices are still practiced by many religions in Arkh-Morpork, the City law only permits the usage of condemned criminals. Captain Samuel Vimes overhears citizens of Arkh-Morpork weighing the pros and cons of a monthly sacrifice of a “young maiden” of a special social class to ensure “peace and prosperity” with the dragon (289). Similarly, Corporal "Nobby" Nobbs outrightly voices the musings of most citizens of Arkh-Morpork given the difficult nature of the situation: “Yeah, well. Look at it this way: if you say to people, what’s it to be, either your house burned down around you or some girl you’ve probably never met being eaten, well, they might get a bit
Many empirical things can often still be debated and refuted by experts, but there is a general admittance to the idea that power is the root of many evil things. In all fairness, we must admit that a many evil things can in their essence, be great. And that is one of the many theories advanced by Niccolo Machiavelli in his well-known work, The Prince. The Prince serves a dual purpose of both teaching a person how to attain power, but also how to retain it. Incredibly enough, history has proven most of Machiavelli’s findings and theories to work well, while some have failed to effectively secure power for the rulers who did, in fact try them. His work, does obviously highlight one main fact, which is, that power is a well sought-after attribute, and most who attain are willing to do whatever is necessary to keep it.
What is power to a human? As time has gone by, there have been many forms of control and influence in the world. Many strive to achieve total rule over a society or group of individuals. Yet the question still presents itself to the average man. Why does man desire power so greatly even though there is visible trouble that follows? Shelley’s Frankenstein, Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”, and Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, whether through the situation or the character themselves, depict the evils and hardships due to an imbalance and poor management of power.
The desire for power is prevalent in our day to day life from wanting control over little insignificant aspects to control over others. The Crucible by Arthur Miller is
Contrary to popular belief, power does not give a person everything needed in life. Power gives people an illusion of a perfect, ungrueling life which- news flash!- is probably the total opposite of what power actually bestows upon people. Within The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantes is mistreated with due to abundance of power Monseuir Villefort has, causing Edmond to later seek power to avenge for the mistreatment caused to him. Almost everyone in the book either loses or gives up their power in the end, thanks to Edmond. Viva la Vida, similarly, depicts the story of Louis XVI possessing immense power and then being deprived of the same power he once thought was going to be in his fist forever.
If you delve into the content of almost any novel, there is almost always some kind of struggle for power. It could be for rightful integration into society; power over an island; power over a country; or in some cases, even power over the minds of others. These not at all uncommon struggles for power are what keep us interested in the plot of a book. The ongoing battle between a character and his cause makes it impossible to put down a good book. For instance, the novel 1984 by George Orwell is about the struggle of a man and a woman to somehow find a way to get out of the constant barrage of cameras and mind control conducted by their government. Although the two of them eventually lost the battle, there was still a victor in the struggle for power: their government.
To hold authority is to possess power, and when one has power over a person or people he or she is generally feared. In t...
Atwood and Wyndham express the nature of power-hungry elites in the extent of their use of shocking and disturbing methods to control their inferiors. Word count: 2, 994
The corruptive nature of power can be observed in both novels Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945) and The Wave by Todd Strasser (1981). In the wise words of Lord Acton, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." (Phrase Finder, 2012) The simple nature of mankind is to want power and when man achieves this, he gets addicted, wants more and thus becomes corrupt. This exploitation of dominance relates to when the dictator loses his moral values and abuses power purely for his own benefit and loses sight of what the initial goals were. Even the best intentions, such as those that were only just formed in Animal Farm and The Wave, can be distorted by the basic human instinct of selfishness
From the displays of power that have been shown through out this essay, we see that this story is a story about power. Power is the story is primarily about peoples need for some small amount of power to survive in life and to feel that hey have a purpose within their society which every society it may be whether its is Gilead or Nazi Germany or modern day Britain.
An idea such as power establishes itself in most societies throughout the world. Power sets the basis for order and civilization, but it also causes chaos and collides with other human instincts such as greed and ambition. Power presents itself in William Shakespeare’s Macbeth in a confusing manner. Macbeth yearns to gain power and has the means to gain it, but the method of his gaining of power have been questioned by critics since its inscription in 1623. Macbeth, while tyrannical in gaining his power in the murdering of Duncan, sets the premise of the story and in this murder makes a name for himself on his leadership qualities. A man’s gain of power should not determine who they are as a ruler or even
Machiavelli in his famous book “The Prince” describes the necessary characteristics for a strong and successful leader. He believes that one of the most important characteristics is to rule in favor of his government and to hold power in his hands. Power is an essential aspect of Machiavelli’s theory, and a leader should do whatever it takes to keep it for the safety of his country because “the ends justifies the means.” To attain and preserve the power, a leader should rather be feared than loved by his people, but it is vital not to be hated. As he states, “anyone compelled to choose will find far greater security in being feared than in being loved.” If a leader is feared, the people are less likely to revolt, and in the end, only a threat of punishment can guarantee obedienc...
Conclusion: It is often difficult for individuals to disobey authority figures and groups based on these primary reasons; individuals will obey malevolent authority as from legitimate figure, decision making are often influenced by groups and unceasing quest for achievement causes humanity to have a hard time disobeying any legitimate authorities or groups given the fact that we are acting on self-deception in order to satisfy our inner ego, groups and with structural laws given to us as the correct way to obey.
Often, too much power can go to that particular person’s head, and he/she can become corrupt. As readers have seen in literature, abuses of power are often harmful to the abuser and their subjects. Corrupted authority and abuses of power eventually lead to the collapse of society. This concept is shown many times throughout the novel Lord Of the Flies and the short story “I Only Came to Use the Phone”. Displayed through characters and actions, abusive power has dominated what should be morally correct in literature.
This conclusively demonstrates that lust for power can drive people to do the cruelest things in order to capture it. Works Cited The Tragedy of Macbeth William Shakespeare
This essay will argue that power corrupts some people and allows others true selves to shine through.