Political Power

Writing Prompt: In your opinion, does political power corrupt the people who attain it? Also, how do you think George Orwell would answer this question?

In your opinion, people who attain political power does not corrupt them. The people abuse political power because they chose to. For example, George Washington had many followers because he was a famous general in the America Revolution. He became the first presidents of the United States. He could have abused his power as a leader but chose to not to.

I think that George Orwell would have written a different opinion to this question. He had come from a time where Communism was on the rose. He also expresses his opinion in his book, Animal Farm. Although Orwell uses talking animals, it is still about political power. In the end of the first chapter, Mr. Jones used terror to silence the animals. In Animal Farm Orwell wrote, "He seized the gun... and let fly a charge of number 6 shot into the darkness... the pellets buried themselves in the wall of the barn and the meeting broke up hurriedly... and the whole farm was asleep in a moment" (Orwell 34). This quote describes the power in which Mr. Jones has on the farm. He plainly fires and the rebellious animals retreat in terror. Like Communism, Mr. Jones symbolizes the tyrant and the gun in which he fires is the army that terrorizes the animals, which symbolize the citizens. Another quote also describes George Orwell's opinion. After the animals had completed their rebellion, they decided to set their own government system and agreed that all animals would be equal. A little bit later, the equality tips over to the pig's favor. In Animal Farm, the pigs argued that the milk and the apples should be for them only because they are necessary for a pigs health (Orwell 52). The pigs win their debate and could have all the apples and milk for themselves (Orwell 53). This showed that step by step, the pigs are getting more "fortune" for themselves. They are slowly able to manipulate the animals and bring them under their control because they believe that they are the heart of the farm. The opinion of George Orwell here is that political power slowly corrupts the people who attain them because the pigs were originally rather nice but as they acquired more power, they are becoming meaner.