Gonzalez

Paulo Gonzalez

Miss. Fig

Senior English

March 8, 2019

How Macbeth’s Corruption Relates to Real Life

Today corruption can be seen many time on social media and how people get blinded by

power and in The Tragedy of Macbeth, it is explored greatly. In The Tragedy of Macbeth,

Macbeth became a hero when he came back after a battle but before he arrived he received a

prophecy that he will become thane cowder then will be king. When the first half of the prophecy

becomes reality he thinks of killing the current king so he can take the crown but it was his wife

who convinces him to go forth and helps him plot the murder. Later when Macbeth is king, he

makes sure not to let anyone else take it from him at all cost, he even kills his best friend Banquo

and attempts to do the same with fleance since the prophecy also ate that one of Banquo’s

decedents will become king or queen. Overall, Macbeth’s universal theme of corruption of a

person by power.

President Nixon was a person of both great power and responsibility of his people but

was ultimately corrupted by his position and during an incident called the Watergate scandal, a

tape was release full of the wrong ideals a president should be and not who he said he was going

to be as President. This shows how giving one person a lot of power should not happen without

any restrictions is a terrible ideal, especially if the person can be easily corrupted and abuse the

system like a made king. Hunter S. Thompson said “The slow-rising central horror of

"Watergate" is not that it might grind down to the reluctant impeachment of a vengeful thug of a

president whose entire political career has been a monument to the same kind of cheap shots and
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treachery he finally got nailed for, but that we might somehow fail to learn something from it.”

(Hunter S. Thompson (2012). “The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time”,

p.242, Pan Macmillan). This shows that Nixon didn’t care what he had to do to get what he

wanted and would take cheap shots and abuse the system to do. But then Nixon scared when he

believed there was evidence of him sabotaging peace talks to end the Vietnam War. “Goddamn

it, get in and get those files. Blow the safe and get it.” (Nixon)This is what Nixon ordered to his

men to retrieve the evidence so he wouldn’t be impeached. The fact that Nixon was scared

emphasis what power does to you, just like Macbeth, Nixon became consume with power and

developed fear of losing it. Although Nixon didn’t have as much power as Macbeth, he still fell

victim to it and became corrupted to it.

Police brutality is a common way to see corruption today, where a position of power

abuses it to their benefit. There have been cases of it where lives have been lost to it and parents

of color tell their children what to do in order to stay alive. Angie Thomas a random person who

afraid police brutality said this, “When I was twelve, my parents had two talks with me.

One was the usual birds and bees. Well, I didn't really get the usual version. My mom, Lisa, is a

registered nurse, and she told me what went where, and what didn't need to go here, there, or any

damn where till I'm grown. Back then, I doubted anything was going anywhere anyway. While

all the other girls sprouted breasts between sixth and seventh grade, my chest was as flat as my

back. The other talk was about what to do if a cop stopped me. Momma fussed and told Daddy I

was too young for that. He argued that I wasn't too young to get arrested or shot. "Starr-Starr,

you do whatever they tell you to do," he said. "Keep your hands visible. Don't make any sudden

moves. Only speak when they speak to you. "I knew it must've been serious. Daddy has the

biggest mouth of anybody I know, and if he said to be quiet, I needed to be quiet. I hope
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somebody had the talk with Khalil.” (Angie Thomas). This is an example where obeying the

“authorities” and not making any sudden moves is the only way to survive, but in Macbeth,

Macduff failed to do this, and he was not punished but his family was slaughtered cause of his

actions. Similarly, when the people who are supposed to protect you are the not just the ones you

fear but the ones who hurt you, is a huge problem. Ijeoma Oluo is another random person who

also just wants police brutality to stop, and this is what he says about it “I know that it's hard to

believe that the people you look to for safety and security are the same people who are causing

us so much harm. But I'm not lying and I'm not delusional. I am scared and I am hurting and we

are dying. And I really, really need you to believe me.” (Ijeoma Oluo). Macbeth is a king and a

king is supposed to protect and care for their people, police are basically today’s knights, where

they have a badge meant to uphold the law, not abuse it. Overall those in positions of power

should not abuse it and should use it to help others instead.

Andrew Jackson was one the worst presidents there is to date, the one act he is most

known for is the Trail of Tears. Andrew Jackson abused is power which caused the trail of tears

and damaged so many lives in the process, he would even lie and say this will be an

improvement in their lives. “My friends, circumstances render it impossible that you can flourish

in the midst of a civilized community. You have but one remedy within your reach, and that is to

remove to the west. And the sooner you do this, the sooner you will commence your career of

improvement and prosperity.” (Andrew Jackson). He, like Macbeth, will lie and abuse the

system in order to receive what they want. There were many people did not agree with his

decision and were disturb by this, along with the fact that he had no right to enforce the act. “I

saw the helpless Cherokees arrested and dragged from their homes, and driven at the bayonet

point into the stockades. And in the chill of a drizzling rain on an October morning I saw them
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loaded like cattle or sheep into six hundred and forty-five wagons and started toward the

west....On the morning of November the 17th we encountered a terrific sleet and snow storm

with freezing temperatures and from that day until we reached the end of the fateful journey on

March the 26th 1839, the sufferings of the Cherokees were awful. The trail of the exiles was a

trail of death. They had to sleep in the wagons and on the ground without fire. And I have known

as many as twenty-two of them to die in one night of pneumonia due to ill treatment, cold and

exposure...” (Private John G. Burnett Captain Abraham McClellan's Company, 2nd Regiment,

2nd Brigade, Mounted Infantry Cherokee Indian Removal 1838-39). This another example of

power being abused by corrupted leaders doing whatever they so pleased to do. Overall both

Andrew Jackson and Macbeth did terrible actions while both were leading their people, even

when their actions weren't justified, their people had to endure it until their rain was over.

As stated before, Macbeth’s theme of corruption does undoubtedly have real life

examples and is still being portrayed by acts of high power and authority. The tragedy of

Macbeth is overall a timeless lesson of primarily corruption and how abusive the one who have

power do it. Power is a main source of corruption and all examples shows how even when one

person has some form of power, it can potentially lead them towards a dark path of corruption. In

the end, the story of Macbeth can easily tech people valuable life lesson about life, that those

who became corrupted to power had no right to hold it in the first place.
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Works Cited

https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/watergate.html

https://www.history.com/news/nixon-secret-tapes-quotes-scandal-watergate

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/police-brutality

http://www.powersource.com/cocinc/history/quotes.htm