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Examples Of Machiavellian Characters In The Governor

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Machiavellian Character Essay: The Governor Brian Blake, also known as The Governor, presented a terror far greater than cannibalistic zombies throughout seasons two and three of the hit show, The Walking Dead. He was psychotic; driven mad by the death of his daughter. Using his position as governor within a small group of survivors and refugees of the zombie apocalypse, he manipulated, terrorized, lied, cheated, many people in order to secure and maintain his position of power. Out of the list given in the prompt for this paper, The Governor matches at least seven of the twelve Machiavellian characteristics. The concepts exhibited most strongly in The Governor, however, are the concepts of ‘the end justifies the means’ and the ‘use of force to avoid danger.’ In the midst of a zombie apocalypse, the prioritization of self-preservation above all else is understandable. However, even when he had the resources to help himself and nearly 100 other people, The Governor still slaughtered people who posed even the slightest threat to his position of power. Machiavelli writes “for although the act condemn the doer, the end may justify him.” This …show more content…

He uses force to protect both his position as a leader in within his community of refugees, and he uses force to keep himself out of physical danger. He himself says, after he killed is right-hand man—the man who was arguably his most loyal supporter—“in this life, you kill or die, or die and kill.” In several instances, this has been the case. In one particular instance, The Governor and his supporters happen upon a group of survivors, all of whom were members of the military, and killed them all without a second thought; he stole all their weapons and food. Throughout his lifespan in the series, The Governor has looked out solely for himself. He meticulously manipulates people in order to maintain his position of power, and to preserve his

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