Liao 1

Helen Liao
Mr. Mark Brown
English 9A
11th May 2016
Friendship is nothing compared to success
Friendship is not valuable when compared to the prospect of success.
Friendship can be necessary or unnecessary when Brutus or Cassius are on their way
to success. As C.S. Lewis once said, Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like
art It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to
survival. Just like in the novel of Julius Caesar it appears between Brutus, Cassius
and Caesar. As Caesars best friend, Brutus decides to kill him for the benefits of
Rome, and argued with Cassius after the death of Caesar for who is better at leading
an army. Friendship loses value in contrast to the prospect of success.
Cassius persuades Brutus to kill Caesar. Brutus and Caesar are the two who
triumph over Pompeys blood together (Act 1, scene 1, 52). Although Brutus listens
and loves Caesar, he doesnt really trust him. Brutus fears the people have chosen
Caesar for their king (Act 1, scene 2, 78-79). At the beginning, Brutus follows what
Caesar says, when he meets Cassius, everything starts to change. Cassius tries to
convince Brutus that if Caesar becomes the king of Rome, then Romans will live in a
miserable condition. Cassius tells Brutus that, [his] glass, will modestly discover
Brutus, which he yet know not of (Act 1, scene 2, 68-80). Cassius knows that
Brutus always prioritizes Romans over friendship, so he is trying to get Brutus on his
side so he can kill Caesar. He plants the ideas that Caesar is too powerful and his
ambition may cause Rome to collapse. He also tells Brutus that the Plebeians will
gain fear under Caesars ruling of the country. Cassius claims to have heard, many of

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the best respect in Rome groaning and wishing that noble Brutus has his eyes (Act
1, scene 2, 60-64). Brutus is therefore affected by Cassius because he thinks that
although he loves Caesar but for the Romans good and success he will give up on the
friendship between them. Friendship is not valuable in this stage compared to success.
The wellbeing of Roman is more valuable than the relationship between Caesar and
Brutus. Brutus tries to make the best decisions for Rome; so he decides to kill
[Caesar] boldly but not wrathfully because thats what Cassius tells him and he
thinks this will be the best decision to help the Romans (Act 2, scene 1, 172).
Brutus and Cassius betray Caesar and kill him for their own benefits. Cassius
makes up anonymous letters from Roman citizens and then places them near Brutuss
home where he is definitely going to see it. These fake letters change Brutuss opinion
of Caesar to believing that once he attains the upmost, then he will turn his back
and ignore the Plebeians by which he did ascend (Act 2, scene 1, 21-27). Although
Brutus feels that the murder of Caesar is wrong, he is not doing it for personal reasons
but for the benefits of Romans. Brutus thinks about the effects of power and ambition
and also the damage that might happen once Caesar gain the crown. Kill him in the
shell, (Act 2, scene 1, 34) he believes that only killing Caesar would benefit the
Romans. The letters that Brutus finds out in his closet are from Cassius who made
those letters up. After reading them he is persuaded to kill Caesar and joins the
conspirators. They plan everything and bring Caesar to the Capital to murder him.
When Caesar sees Brutus, Et tu, Brute? (Act 3, scene 1, 85) Caesar is shocked that
his close friend, Brutus, betrays him and joins the conspirators. He thinks that they are
once closest friends. But Brutus loves Rome more, so he ends up joining the
conspirators in the assassination, Et tu, Brute? shows the betrayal of a best friend
because friendship is not important in the process of success and winning the power in

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Rome. Caesar is surprised that Brutus betrays him. There is no true friendship
between Caesar and Brutus because Brutus doesnt believe in his friend and is
convinced by a conspirator and kills him.
Cassius and Brutus both want the success and put their friendship aside and
start threatening each other for the prospect of success. Brutus criticizes Cassius for
supporting robbers and taking base bribes when they have just struck the
foremost man for justice (Act 4, scene 3, 21-24). Cassius is angry because Lucius
Pella, which is a friend of Brutus, is being punished for taking bribes. Cassius has
written letters defending and praying his friend, but Brutus ignores them (Act 4,
scene 2, 4). Brutus, in turn, chastises Cassius for defending Lucius Pella, and
questions Cassius for being dishonorable and wrong [himself] to write letters (Act
4, scene 3, 6). The two men start to threaten each other and also begin to fight with
their swords. Most noble brother, you have done me wrong.(Act 4, scene 2, 38)
This shows that Cassius is angry because of Brutus. They fight because Cassius
denies providing Brutus money at his request, to pay for his army. Brutus then goes
on to tell Cassius that he is an insult to the Romans, and Cassius argues back that he is
a better soldier (Act 4, scene 3, 56). This shows that Cassius and Brutus both wants
to argue that they can lead the army better than other so swearing at each other and
started to argue, at this point the bond of friendship seems to disappear and they only
see their personal benefits. They are both defending themselves, saying that theyre a
better soldier for the army, even though they agree to stab Caesar together for the
same cause, but when they start arguing friendship seems no longer valuable (Act 4,
scene 3, 51,20).
Brutus betrays and kills Caesar for the benefit of Rome. Brutus and Caesar are
best friends but Brutus thinks that the country is more important than friendship.

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Cassius is the main character, which persuades Brutus to kill Caesar and betrays him.
Brutus and Cassius then argue about who is better at leading an army. The idea of
Edward Abbey is that, A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against
his government, which Brutus tries to save the country by killing his friend Caesar
(23). Friendship is unnecessary between Caesar and Brutus because on the way to
success Brutus betrays Caesar and listens to the conspirators to insure his survival.
Friendship seems invisible when he is trying to benefit the Romans. Cassius and
Brutus both argue who is a better leader of the army, friendship seems to have no
value when they are arguing and threatening each other. Friendship is definitely
useless when Brutus and Cassius are striving to success.

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Works Cited
Edward, Abbey. A Voice Crying in the Wilderness. Martin's Griffin. Rosettabooks.
1991.
Shakespeare, William. Julius Caesar. Ed. Alan Durband. New York: Barons
Educational Series. 1984.