How Does Power Affect a Man's Character?

How does power affect a man’s character? Individuals in society are always attempting to gain power. Abraham Lincoln once said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” In other words, one’s true character is revealed when given power. George Orwell and the novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding prove this true in the novel Animal Farm. Napoleon from Animal Farm manipulates the other animals into working harder, while Jack from Lord of the Flies uses his power to create a savage-like society. Napoleon is a large manipulative pig that emerges as the leader of Animal Farm after the rebellion against the humans. Napoleon can be compared to Joseph Stalin because he uses his nine attack dogs to intimidate the other animals and control his power. Napoleon can be characterized as relentless because he stops at nothing to ensure his success. In fact, he is willing to force harsh rations among the animals and make them work extremely hard because he wants the farm to be successful even if it costs the lives of others. Through his harsh actions, he not only instills fear into the animals, but also reveals his true character in that he is a selfish pig that only cares about himself.

Similarly, Jack along with the other six to twelve year old boys are stranded on an uninhabited, hot, tropical island. Jack can be characterized as an ambitious, power hungry boy who is determined to be the leader of the group. This is evident through Jack’s willingness to do anything for power even if his actions sacrifice the group’s civility. As the novel progresses, the reader witnesses the transformation from civility and order to savagery and chaos. Because of this shift in the novel, Jack emerges as the leader of a new group referred to as the Hunters. The Hunter’s priorities are motivated by Jack’s blood lust; he is determined to kill pigs as opposed to returning to civilization. This clearly depicts Jack’s true savage-like character because he puts killing before safety. With that mind set, it is easy to imagine what power can do to a man. That is, corrupt the mind so that savagery is inevitable. In conclusion, Napoleon is a manipulative pig with unbelievable craftiness while Jack is a barbaric, cruel boy. Napoleon manages to lie and bully his way into power by implanting fear into the other animals. Jack learns to use fear as a weapon as well because he realizes that he is able to control the other boys’ behavior. He creates this beast, in which he scares the other boys into thinking that it is real and they need to follow him in order to kill it. Both Napoleon and Jack are very similar because they both reveal their true manipulative, power hungry characters when given power. They demonstrate qualities of what power can do to a person and its existence of this is in society today. In life, it is important to fight against dictatorship; failure to do so can lead to savagery and chaos.