The Corruption of Power
In his memoir Night, Elie Wiesel shows the corruption brought on by power. As a young boy, Wiesel is taken to Auschwitz, the most infamous concentration camp of World War II. From there he travels from camp to camp, eventually losing his father to death right before liberation. Several experiments and people prove the corruption of power. In the Stanford prison experiment, the guards become cold and ruthless in their punishment of the prisoners. Hitler convinces an entire nation to follow his twisted version of a future. Many concentration camps are known worldwide for their past cruelty. In all of these cases, people use power to exert control over others. If power is used to control, then in the wrong hands the old axiom is true: absolute power does corrupt absolutely.
As an example of the corruption of power, guards exert unjust control over prisoners in the Stanford prison experiment. In fact, one guard says after the experiment, “Once you slip into that costume, you become that person.” The experiment is just a farce, but it becomes so real they have to call it off eight days before the allotted time for the experiment is up. The guards and prisoners are both ordinary students, but they change drastically during the six days of the experiment. The guards have power thrust upon them …show more content…
In WWII and the Holocaust he kills millions of Jews, among other races and convinces people to follow his twisted vision for the future of Germany. He even says in his political document Mien Kompf, undoubtedly talking about himself, “Sooner will a camel pass through the needle’s eye than a great man be ‘discovered’ by election.” The problem here is not a lack of readiness, but a superior mindset. Hitler claims that the Arian Nation are the superior race, and convinces others with this claim to glory. That is how the superior mindset corrupts, but on the flip side of the same coin, the inferior mindset will