Throughout history, the level of power a person has influences what their morals are. Men with power become corrupted and men without power become inhuman. From kings to slaves, there has been a correlation between power and morality. This can be shown in Night, Macbeth, and The Prince.
Losing power changes people and their morals, turning powerful men into cowards and civilized people into savages. In the book Night, the Jewish people were deprived of the power of freedom when captured by the Nazis. Their loss of power completely transformed them into degenerate savages. “Meir. Meir, my boy! Don’t you recognize me? I’m your father...you’re hurting me...you’re killing your father! I’ve got some bread...for you too...for you too….” (Weisel …show more content…
Good men can be corrupted when gaining power and can abuse their power over the people beneath them in status. An example from Night would be when Kapos would abuse their power over other prisoners. A Kapo is a prisoner tasked by the Nazis to keep order over the other prisoners. Some would take advantage of this power and beat their fellow prisoners as badly as the Nazis did. “And he began to beat him with an iron bar. At first my father crouched under the blows, then he broke in two, like a dry tree struck by lightning, and collapsed.” (62). This is an abuse of power by the Kapo, making everyone’s lives around them even worse. In Macbeth, King Duncan was murdered and Macbeth took over as King of Scotland. After taking political power, he started abusing his power on his people. He had the audacity to order two hitmen to kill his best friend Banquo and his son after believing that he viewed him as a threat to his power as king. Macbeth would have never ordered to kill his closest friend if he did not strive for absolute power. “I am in blood, stepped in so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er” (III. iv. 206) . Macbeth has decided that he has murdered many lives already and he might as well keep going because he cannot go back. He has definitely changed his morals after taking power. The Prince states that a cruel
Losing power changes people and their morals, turning powerful men into cowards and civilized people into savages. In the book Night, the Jewish people were deprived of the power of freedom when captured by the Nazis. Their loss of power completely transformed them into degenerate savages. “Meir. Meir, my boy! Don’t you recognize me? I’m your father...you’re hurting me...you’re killing your father! I’ve got some bread...for you too...for you too….” (Weisel …show more content…
Good men can be corrupted when gaining power and can abuse their power over the people beneath them in status. An example from Night would be when Kapos would abuse their power over other prisoners. A Kapo is a prisoner tasked by the Nazis to keep order over the other prisoners. Some would take advantage of this power and beat their fellow prisoners as badly as the Nazis did. “And he began to beat him with an iron bar. At first my father crouched under the blows, then he broke in two, like a dry tree struck by lightning, and collapsed.” (62). This is an abuse of power by the Kapo, making everyone’s lives around them even worse. In Macbeth, King Duncan was murdered and Macbeth took over as King of Scotland. After taking political power, he started abusing his power on his people. He had the audacity to order two hitmen to kill his best friend Banquo and his son after believing that he viewed him as a threat to his power as king. Macbeth would have never ordered to kill his closest friend if he did not strive for absolute power. “I am in blood, stepped in so far that should I wade no more, returning were as tedious as go o’er” (III. iv. 206) . Macbeth has decided that he has murdered many lives already and he might as well keep going because he cannot go back. He has definitely changed his morals after taking power. The Prince states that a cruel