Examples Of Corruption In Julius Caesar

Corruption is something that has existed for as long as humans have been alive. The Tragedy of Julius Caesar is an example of how corruption can lead to the downfall of people, and sometimes entire civilizations. It has many themes such as ambition, power, and betrayal, and shows how they can be used to corrupt even Brutus, the noblest Roman of them all. It is also prevalent in other pieces of literature such as William Golding’s Lord of the Flies as well as in George Orwell's Animal Farm. Although it is seen in literature a lot, it is also seen in modern-day society with former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych stealing billions of dollars from Ukrainian citizens to benefit himself as well as in Venezuela's money laundering schemes.

For example, in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the pigs who overthrow the human farmers in the name of equality and freedom eventually become corrupt and oppressive. From Scoodle, one of its members said “‘Squealer spoke so persuasively, and the three dogs who happened to be with him growled so threateningly, that they accepted his explanation without further questions’” With squealer being so “persuasive” and the dogs being so threatening, no one questions the pigs and their decisions. Another example from Animal Farm is them changing the original seven commandments to whatever they please. On litchart.com it says “However, one of the most corrupt things that the pigs do is to modify the Seven Commandments to effectively legalize whatever it is they decide they want to do, from drinking alcohol to sleeping in beds.” With the combination of fear and unthinking, it allows corruption to flourish. A different example would be in William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. In the book, a group of young boys stranded on an island descends into savagery and violence as they try to establish their system of government. On ipl.org it says “The boys voted Ralph as their ruler, but Jack slowly starts to take some of Ralph’s power, and eventually usurps him as their chief. Lord of the Flies suggests that absolute power is corrupt and that humans are overly ambitious

In politics, corruption can take many forms, from bribery and nepotism to the abuse of power and influence. According to Transparency.org, “In February, Swedish public broadcaster SVT reported that Yanukovych’s shell company with a Swedish bank account received a US$3.7 million bribe in 2011 and executed two transactions with a total worth of US$18 million in 2007 and 2014.” President Viktor Yanukovych stole millions of dollars from his citizens as well as taking bribes to stay in power and control Ukraine. And according to eurasianet.org “And as soon as he got his hands on the reins of power, he spurred official corruption to new levels while maintaining a magisterial lifestyle, according to official documents.” He was a very corrupt leader for Ukraine and led a lot of hard times for the people of the country. He was very corrupt for his benefit and didn’t try and hide it very well. Another example is Venezuela and how millions of dollars were laundered out of the country illegally. In dw.com it says “A number of prominent members of the Venezuelan elite were involved in the scheme. They played the country's currency system to gain money illegally – totaling $1.2 billion (€1.07 billion) in fraudulent sums.” This shows that corruption is used to benefit a small group and only that one particular group is gaining, while everyone else is suffering. Many corrupt people and