Tags
authority figures, books, corruption, Lord of the Rings, LOTR, media, movies, power, Simon R. Green, The Good The Bad and the Uncanny, Tolkien
Does power really corrupt? I’m sure there are plenty of examples through history where a ruler has “become” corrupt, but was that the power or was that a flaw in the person’s personality that was exaggerated under the stress of wielding power?
Media certainly portrays power as something that can corrupt anyone. in the Lord of the Rings movies, both Gandalf and Galadriel refuse to take “the one ring” because they know that despite their desire to use it for good, the ring would do bad through them. Then again, is it power that corrupts or is it the ring itself as an evil object?
In the October book review of The Good, the Bad and the Uncanny, you will meet John Taylor, a P.I. in the tucked away part of London called the Nightside. When the dying Walker, the man who keeps over in the Nightside, goes to John to offer his position to John, several other characters have something to say about it. Razor Eddie the Punk God of the Straight Razor warns John, “[d]on’t be fooled into thinking you could take this power and not be touched by it.” An internal tug of war rages as John weighs his options.
What do you think? Is power always a corrupting force?
Ermilia 