Ethan Cline

Mr. Keegan

English 2p/per. 1

30 March, 2018

Lust for Power

Hitler and the Holocaust is a perfect example of Absolute power, meaning power that is

undivided. Hitler had all the power from his loyal citizens, in which allowed him to start his jewish

genocide. Absolute power leads to absolute corruption, just like it did for Germany. Now, the

things that create their ambition is the lust for power. Ambition will be observed in texts that will

be explored, such as ​Animal Farm, Macbeth, ​and other history articles.

Dictators are known for their undivided, ruthless, abusive powers. ​Animal Farm​, written

by George Orwell reveal key traits and motives that dictators possess. The story is about a

society of animals on a farm who have become tired of human rule, and rebel obtaining the farm

as their own, now there is a democracy that turns sideways due to the tyranny of a fellow

comrade Napoleon, in which becomes dictator after his fellow official Snowball is driven out of

office. Now that Napoleon was in rule his power was limitless. Napoleon's self-corruption and

sleaze is shown in a rebellion put on by the hens, resisting to give up their eggs to sell for food.

Napoleon needs to take charge,”Napoleon acted swiftly and ruthlessly. He ordered the hens’

rations to be stopped, and decreed that any animal giving so much as a grain of corn to a hen

should be punished by death”(Orwell 69) . Napoleons lust for power among his animals creates

his ambition in which drives him to corrupt. His corruption due to absolute power is again shown

In a similar situation,”Napoleon stood sternly surveying his audience; then he uttered a

high-pitched whimper.Immediately the dogs bounded forward, seized four pigs by the ear and
dragged them, squealing with pain and terror, to Napoleon's feet...When they had finished their

confessions, the dogs promptly tore their throats out, and in a terrible voice Napoleon

demanded whether any other animals had anything to confess.”(74-75) Napoleon has shown

his power among his people by executing them at his will. This is important to the plot and

argument because his lust for power has given him the ambition to kill opposers of his power.

There is another way to see how lust for power creates ambition in other literary works such as

Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

In the tragedy of ​Macbeth ​written by Shakespeare, Macbeth’s ambition drives him to the

point of killing his own king. However, the thing that created his ambition was his lust for power

to become king. At the point where his ambition is at its greatest, he commits treason and

makes the kill, ”I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a noise?”(II,ii,14) Now his ambition is

shown. It wasn't due to hatred or dislike, hire or pay, but rather the fact that he wanted the

throne for himself. Throughout the play there are other continuous examples of ambition shown.

Lady Macbeth wants to be a man with the ambition to kill she tells herself, “unsex me here,

and fill me from the crown to the toe top-full of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood. Stop up the

access and passage to remorse, that no compunctious visitings of nature. Shake my fell

purpose, nor keep peace between he effect and it! Come to my woman’s breasts and take my

milk for gall, you murd'ring ministers,wherever in your sightless substances you wait on nature’s

mischief.”(I,ii,33-40) Lady Macbeth’s drive for power has made her want to become a man

herself to do the deed of killing the king, to become the queen of Scotland.There lust for power

is shown through a woman's ambition.Lust for power is also shown in key moments of history.

History can show many examples of people who have lust for power in which creates

ambition. For example one can conclude that Hitler, dictator of Germany during WWII was

driven by his lust for power in Europe and to become the strongest man to live. The Treaty of
Versailles made a piece of land in between France and Germany neutral and not controlled by

any government called the Rhineland. “In 1936, Hitler had moved troops into a demilitarized

zone called the Rhineland”(WW2 notes) This land gave Hitler expansion and a greater power

over Europe. Once Hitler got a taste of the power from expansion, his ambition drove him to

crave more. Through appeasement the British continued to feed him power which caused more

ambition.”September 1st, 1939 Hitler invades Poland, Norway, Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium,

and France using Blitzkrieg”(WW2 notes) At this point Hitler is at his strongest by using

Blitzkrieg, one of the most aggressive tactics of WW2. His lust for power created force so

powerful he over took a total of 11 countries. With a lust of power, that much ambition, and an

army behind you, hitler shows what can be done.

Throughout literature like, the tragedy of Macbeth, Animal Farm and history itself have all

shown one thing that can be associated with dictators, their lust for power and the ambition that

gets them going. Things like Hitler’s expansion of Germany in WW2, Macbeth's killing of the

king, and Napoleons ruthless behavior show ambition sparked by lust for power. Human

ambition is something powerful and not to be messed with. Ambition is something that can be

found in all people rather if its in power, love, or achieving greatness.

Citations:

Shakespeare, William, et al. ​Macbeth​. Suhrkamp, 2017.

Moran, Daniel, and George Orwell. ​Animal Farm​. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2001.