As we have seen over the years, many people have risen to power. While many have risen many have also fallen. So what allows some to rise and stay in power and not others? Dictators such as Saddam Hussein and Napoleon Bonaparte remained in power for many years. Comparatively Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq for 24 years, while Bonaparte, the dictator of France, held power for fourteen years. How are their methods different from each other? How could one be in power longer than the other? While analyzing both of them, I found that Saddam Hussein was more willing to use violent methods to control his people, while Napoleon Bonaparte was more civilized and believed that he didn’t need to use violence. So does violence secure one’s place in power for …show more content…
The University of Leicester states the attack, initiated during the Iran-Iraq War, initiated by Saddam Hussein. The attack, meant to eliminate all rebel resistance in the city. Sadly, there was an innumerous amount of civilian deaths in the attack. This also is not the first time that the city was attacked. Halabja additionally was bombed on April 26, 1974, and that same year the Baathist regime attacked demonstrators in the city with helicopters and tanks. The chemical attack authorized by Saddam Hussein. Through his dictatorship he responded to situations with violence. Through harsh threats and acts of violence, he was able to maintain his power longer. This pattern, seen throughout the novel The Invisible Man shows the use of violence being used to control others throughout many scenes in the …show more content…
The protagonist experiences these threats while he is attending college. The dean, Dr. Bledsoe, asks the protagonist to drive around an important person to the college, Mr. Norton. The protagonist drives Mr. Norton to places that he wants to see, one of the places that the protagonist takes him to see is in the poorer sections around the college. While driving around, Mr. Norton becomes ill and the protagonist takes him back to the college. After they return and while Mr. Norton recovers from his ailment, the protagonist gets called down by Dr. Bledsoe. Once the protagonist arrives, Bledsoe lectures the protagonist about how he endangered the college and Bledsoe’s position as the dean. The protagonist believes that he did the right thing, annoyed at Bledsoe’s ignorance of the situation lashes back at Bledsoe, Bledsoe’s confident response is “your arms aren’t long enough to box with me” (Ellison). This quote is a reference to the saying your arms aren’t long enough to box with god. Bledsoe substitutes god with himself, showing his arrogance and portrays his belief that he is superior because of his position. The threat the Bledsoe is consistently pushing does work and the protagonist leaves without an incident after this discussion. This goes along with people controlling others through
Power is a very common theme represented in the novels : The Island of Dr.Moreau by H.G. Wells and Maus by Art Spiegelman. Power is the capacity to influence the behavior of others. It is seen in both novels as a dictator in control of the “country”. Throughout both novels it can see that the people segregated and used fear to enforce power. Although you can also see that both dictator's reign with different goals such as wanting to kill all the jews for Maus and wanting to make himself a god for The Island of Dr.Moreau.
Napoleon Bonaparte and Robert Mugabe were both dictators that maintained an iron fist rule on their respective countries, France and Zimbabwe. In times of oppression and hardship seemingly strong leaders take up the mantle of becoming what seems like a revolutionary hero. In the case of Napoleon this meant ousting the dysfunctional rule of the Directory in revolutionary France. His campaign for power followed a rule of a tyrannical madman by the name of Robespierre, who ushered an age of absolute peril and most heinous of atrocities, murder. Countless of heads poured down the French streets during the Age of Terror. Although the Directory followed Robespierre's rule, there was little they did to help France recuperate. Needless to say France was in absolute chaos. But a savior by the name of Napoleon stood up to rescue the French people in their time of most need bringing lasting justice in the form of the Napoleonic code, religious freedom, and education reforms that still lasts into present time. Similarly, Mugabe was once celebrated as a revolutionary war hero in a perceived era of oppression by the British. Together Mugabe and the ZANU-PF(Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front) emancipated the people of Zimbabwe of their colonial chains of oppression in 1980. However, unlike Napoleon Mugabe brought economic ruin, genocide, and racial injustice to Zimbabwe. Therefore, Napoleon was a just ruler that did more good than harm for France but Mugabe is a tyrant that
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.
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.
How can power have a major impact on violent views and how can violence affect a person 's life? Violence is intended force to hurt another person physically, mentally and/or emotionally. Power is to have control over a person or group of people. When power and violence is collided together, it can cause major harm to others. Even though power can be used for good, it can also have a major impact on violence in a negative way as shown by three real-life examples which are ISIS, Hitler, and Malcolm X.
Throughout history, there has been many leaders or individuals who have taken power over their followers and anyone else under them. They pick and choose what they want to do with the power they have and whether they want to use it for good or bad. More often than not it is utilized towards good and helping others. But when it is not, it can lead to the destruction of the person with the power and of the followers of the leader. Though having powers can be one of the best things in the world, it can also be the worst because it can drive people away from helping others, it makes them believe that they can change another persons thoughts and feelings, it makes them believe they can change their surroundings and the future, and ultimately in
During the nineteenth century, European countries had constantly changing borders between the Napoleonic wars and the unification of Germany and Italy. Two of the military masterminds behind wars that shifted borders were Napoleon Bonaparte I (Napoleon) and Helmuth von Moltke the Elder. Napoleon Bonaparte was a French soldier from Corsica that worked his way up the rankings in the French army during the French Revolution that ended up becoming the commander of the whole French arm forces. He leveraged this leadership of the military to become the consulate of France and then emperor of France in 1804. Furthermore, he hungered for nothing more then victory and he at first caught the rest of Europe off guard and a lot of continental Europe in what would be known as the Napoleonic Wars. Nevertheless, his reign over most of Europe was short lived and his campaign faltered when he tried to have a land war against Russia. The rest of Europe saw it as an opportunity and they defeated Napoleon. Napoleon’s victories only lead to more bloodshed. He was then exiled to Elba. He tried to make a return but was famously defeated at Waterloo, and was exiled again and died in exile. In addition, Otto von Bismarck was the foreign affairs mastermind behind German unification, but the military mastermind was Moltke. Moltke was a Danish born soldier in the Prussian army. During his younger years as a career soldier he struggled to make money, so he was a freelance writer on the side.
According to Machiavelli, there are a few situations in which a leader can take power, each with varying levels of upkeep. The first is by sheer luck or buying land, which he explains is easy to acquire but hard to maintain. In the text, Machiavelli writes, “Although, they have no difficulty on the way as they go flying along, all their difficulties arise when they have landed” (Machiavelli 28). Because the new leader has no experience or loyal army it will be extremely challenging to stay in power. On the other hand, if a state is won by the new leaders abilities and talent he will have a much easier time (Machiavelli 24). Machiavelli also mentions many times the importance of having a loyal military. Being the commander of the Army of Italy,
Power can go to someone's head and influence them to do actions they would never imagine doing. There are many examples of this in everyday life, power can get to anyone, police officers, movie stars, singers, professional sport players or even people in charge of this great country. In the Stanford prison experiment “the fake guards were instructed to do anything they thought would be necessary to maintain control, order, law, and respect of the prisoners”. This just goes to show when put in a place of high power some may go too far and do too much to others. Evil lurks in everyone sometime it just takes a position of authority or power to release that evil. In most experiences people will go against their morals and do evil, even against what the statistics may say. In the Psychology of evil Stanley Milgram describes “the teacher was instructed to administer higher and higher electric shocks all the way up to 450 volts” “psychologist predicted that since only 1% of the population is sadistic that only 1% of the teachers would go all the way to 450 volts, but in one study, despite the fact that many people wanted to stop earlier, 90% of the teachers complied with the doctor in the white coat and administered 450 volts”. This shows how many people will go against their morals. Emotion is another big cause to good and
When examining the projection of power of each individual political leader in the nineteenth century, it is not hard to see that among the great powers only Nicholas I had the freedom to initiate any armed encounter in whatever way he desired. Although President Louis-Napoleon (or Napoleon III as he established dictatorship in 1851) had the power to do so as well, he chose to approach conflicts in a more calculated manner. This is because Napoleon III wished to establish sound relations with Britain and harness his ideology of nationalism, and this required him to be cautious when treating public opinions. (reader, Rich 104) Thus, it is in contrary to many’s belief that Nicholas I was indeed a more aggressive political leader than Napoleon during the 1850s, especially throughout the Eastern Crisis. Nicholas I consistently pushed for more hostile measures especially in regards to the dispute over the Holy Places, although the conflict could be
Interviewer galore There are a lot of brilliant quotes in the world, they give us inspiration. “Some people live more in twenty years than others do in eighty. It’s not the time that matters, it’s the person.” This quote, from Doctor Who, is probably the best quote.
Power is greatly influenced by intelligence, and social status, but not solely dependent on these factors. Power is not the same in every situation, and not used in the same way by all that hold it. With power comes confidence and the ability to influence the opinions of others. Not all power is used for good, and not all is used for bad. A person who holds power is the person who chooses how and what the power shall be used.
Leaders such as Napoleon have charisma, military power, and confidence; although that is fantastic and admirable, it could lead to a leader going corrupt and evil due to their power. Napoleon exposes his evil side many times with actions such as having hound dogs to protect him, and executing other animals. Napoleon executes animals with opposing opinions and a will to
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.
Power and truth play different but equal roles in maintaining control in a nation. Modern societies create regimes of truth that are enforced by power structures such as government, discipline and laws. When it comes to power, the government, queen or dictator is in charge. They tell their citizens what the main expectations are and how to abide by them. Nevertheless, the government should uphold fairness and not abuse its power unless it is necessary. Power is something that is earned; it is not something that is granted by default. The proper qualities, such as integrity, assertiveness and truth, in government or person can benefit its leadership skill set. Sometimes truth can be manipulated by the government to influence its people so