“With great power comes great responsibility.” (Spider-Man). Many people are unable to put this quote into practice, leading to the abuse of power. Throughout our grade 11 English course, we have been taught about three different types of stories. We analyzed several short stories, William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth, and William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. We learned that short stories have different elements such as irony, tone, conflict, and different narrative styles. We were taught about William Shakespeare’s life and the style he developed through The Tragedy of Macbeth. William Golding’s Lord of the Flies introduced to us a theme we have not previously explored before. Our theme of the abuse of power exists within all of the material taught to us during this course.
During the short story unit of our English course, we were exposed to new stories that we have never heard before. These stories include The Lady, or the Tiger?, The Landlady, Poison, and many more. In The Lady, or the Tiger?, the barbaric king has total control over his kingdom and leaves judgement up to a 50/50 chance. He allows criminals to potentially roam free as well as allowing the innocent to potentially get mauled by a vicious tiger. He abuses his power over a false sense of justice. In The Landlady, the landlady chooses who is right for the picking for her taxidermy. She decides who is allowed to enter her inn and who is not. She abuses her power as a landlord to kill her victims and put them on for display for her own enjoyment. In Poison, Harry thinks he can throw racial slurs at Dr. Ganderbai because of the British ruling over India, showing a clear sign of power abuse. All of these short stories show us how power abuse is present everywhere even during different time periods.
In the play, The Tragedy of Macbeth, we can see the difference between Macbeth and the late king Duncan. Duncan was kind, loved, and he praised his loyal subjects for the work they have done for him. On the other hand, when Macbeth became king, he was a tyrant. No one but Lady Macbeth loved him, all decisions were of his command, and he murdered anyone who threatened his kingship. Macbeth abused his power to try and obtain security that he would never have. He became corrupted once he obtained the crown whereas Duncan was noble all throughout. The Tragedy of Macbeth taught us that a position of high authority can be taken advantage of based on who is in that position.
The novel Lord of the Flies taught us about humans’ inherent evil and how we are corrupted easily. In the book, Ralph and Jack have a power struggle. They both wish to become the chief who will lead all the boys. This power struggle escalates until Jack wins by becoming a savage. He forgets his morals and becomes a tyrant. He abuses his power by torturing the boys, stealing Piggy’s glasses, and sending his entire army to kill Ralph and Piggy. Lord of the Flies taught us that people are willing to do whatever it takes to obtain power, even going so far to the point where they lose their humanity.
The theme of power abuse can be found in all sorts of literature, ranging from short stories to Shakespeare. In The Lady, or the Tiger?, The Landlady, and Poison, at least one character from each story abuses the power they hold for personal satisfaction. In The Tragedy of Macbeth, Macbeth abuses his power as an attempt of achieving an impossible sense of security. In Lord of the Flies, Jack throws away his humanity to obtain power that he abuses. Power can impact the world both positively or negatively based on whoever wields it.
The Abuse of Power 