George Orwell 's Animal Farm

Elie Wiesel in Night and Snowball from Animal Farm are very similar characters because they were victimized by tyrants and used as scapegoats, but they are also unique and individual characters because Elie knew he was being taken advantage of and Snowball did not. Animal Farm is written by George Orwell, and it is about a farm of animals that take over the farm. Napoleon, a large pig, slowly takes away food and supplies from the other animals until he starts walking on two feet and becomes a “human.” Because of him Snowball is expelled from the farm and acts as a scapegoat for everything that goes wrong on the farm. Night is an autobiography written by Elie Wiesel, and in it Elie tells the story of he was taken from his home and put into a concentration camp under the control of Adolf Hitler.

Throughout time people have always had different ranges of power. The effect of this power is that some people lose control and allow power to corrupt them. Some prime examples of how power corrupts can be seen through the following people: Brutus in the play The tragedy of Julius Caesar, Josef Mengele, a Nazi physician from the Holocaust, and North Korea's political leader, Kim Jong Un. These three people have either let power corrupt them even more then they have already been corrupted, or they have allowed power to completely change their character, and corrupt them into being someone they are not.

Power can corrupt people. With great power, comes great responsibility. When given such great power, it is very possible to end up corrupting. The two stories, “The Man in the Well”, and “The Stanford Prison Experiment”, has power making people corrupt. Corruption could be a very serious problem when it comes to high powers.

Having power corrupts people by letting them think they have full control and that they can do anything they want like ‘The Man in the Well’ the kids act like they are going to get help but they are actually going to leave him in the well because Aaron said all of their names, they can’t let him out because he knows their names and the man in the well could go to the police or the kids parents and say they left him in there to die. Power corrupts people in a big way because they think they can do whatever they want to and they can make choices faster than you can snap.

Power, could there be too much of it? Or not enough? In the wrong hands, too much power lead to millions of innocent lives being taken away. One of the world’s most famous dictators takes power and has control on whether you live or die. He may not like the color of your hair, skin or what you believe in and for that, the price you pay is your life.

From there, people conclude that power leads to corruption. Many attribute Adolf Hitler as corrupt because of his actions in World War II. After all, without Hitler, the Holocaust would be virtually unimaginable (Bartov). Despite all that, power had little to do with Hitler’s corruption. Those who achieve power come with a set mindset.

How does power corrupt people. Think about it, have you ever met somebody that just freaked out because they were under rule. People get mad when they go under rule because they can't do stuff themselves. Does power make people think they have to obey everything or just makes them think they are under it for their own good.

As humans when we have power we find ourselves using it to better ourselves. We take power of granted or use it for our advantage. Some people would say it’s “Human nature.” Power is when you have authority or control over things. Many times when power is given to the wrong person things are ruined. This is because when people have power they think about what they want and not about other people's opinion. Frequently people with power think they are better than everyone else and always know what's right. There are many times in history when power influenced or created destruction. Innocent people can be manipulated by authorities and forced into doing something that they have no desire doing. This is common pattern in history. For example Hitler was given power and created a government that killed more than 6 million innocent people. This was a prime example that when power is given to the wrong person destruction is the product. In his novel, Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury shows that when power is given to the wrong people, destruction is often the outcome. After there is destruction, you have to build up from what you have left.

William Shakespeare is renowned for his tragedies that explore the ideas of the human psyche, exhibiting how actions and decisions can affect emotional stability and sanity. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, the main character Macbeth makes morally questionable decisions that lead to his tragic downfall. Macbeth’s downfall is conveyed through his inner turmoil and unstable state of mind. The deceitful nature and actions of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth indicate an idea of false appearances as they try to hide their true selves from those around them, flooding the atmosphere with a wave of guilt and paranoia. Macbeth and Lady Macbeth ultimately fall into despair due to the consequences of their actions.

The opportunities that come with power often lead to corruption. Lord Acton once said, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely”. As one’s power increases, their sense of morality lessens. This is due to the dominance one is given when they are in a position of authority, making them greedy and more likely to become fraudulent. People get addicted to power and crave what comes with it. Many will go to great lengths to keep their power. For example, in Shakespeare’s play, “Macbeth”, the main character, Macbeth, ends up killing those around him and even dies in hopes to keep his power alive. Humans want to have more and more power. Those with complete authority are more likely to abuse their power and become corrupt.

In April 1986, only 130 km north of the largest city in Ukraine, Chernobyl unit 4 reactor exploded spreading at least 5% of its radioactive core into the atmosphere and further downwind. 24 years later a magnitude 9.0 earthquake hit Japan causing a series of tsunamis that took out and ultimately caused the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi reactors 1-3. Both of these nuclear disasters released large amounts of radiation and causing evacuation of nearby towns and cities. Between these two nuclear disasters, Chernobyl has been found to be the worse because of its “flawed reactor design that was operated with inadequately trained personnel” compared to the quick reaction towards the Fukushima Daiichi accident that ultimately decreased the negative effects greatly.

Power is a very tricky thing to deal with. With power comes great responsibility. I honestly believe that only corrupt people can’t handle power. A lot of people can handle power without plummeting the world into hell on earth. For example and better explanation we’ll take presidents into perspective.

The absolute power Hussein possessed led to the absolute corruption of Iraq for nearly twenty-four years. During Hussein?s rule, 200,000 people were killed or ?disappeared?. Another major dictator was Adolf Hitler who dictated and killed countless human beings. Hitler?s philosophy of thinking made him kill retarded, crippled, and disabled children along with homosexuals and Jewish people. The power that Hitler received when he became leader corrupted him and made him kill six million Jews, nearly committing genocide on the Jewish population. The corruption increased, with Hitler?s desired to expand Nazi Germany. In addition, the dictatorship and corruption caused by power is also expressed in fictional stories.

George Orwell includes a strong message in his novel Animal Farm that is easily recognizable. Orwell’s Animal Farm focuses on two primary problems that were not only prominent in his WWII society, but also posed as reoccurring issues in all societies past and present. Orwell’s novel delivers a strong political message about class structure and oppression from the patriarchal society through an allegory of a farm that closely resembles the Soviet Union.

Once put into power our leaders very quickly began a totalitarian mentality and believed their rule absolute. However, once they realized there was fight in the masses most of them began to back off. Without naming names, the most rambunctious of them became power hungry and refused to retreat or reason with our demands. This complete adoption of his role reminded me of the behavior of the subjects of the Stanford Prison Experiment. In this simulation the subjects were broken into inmates and prison guards and although the power was a figment of the simulation the guards began behaving as if it were reality. Perhaps the human mind simply craves power, or perhaps the mind is easily susceptible to changes in