Power, Betrayal, And Corruption In Hamlet

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Ben Stein Period 5 Mrs. Malayter Abstract The texts we read over this semester explore the themes of power, betrayal, and corruption. William Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, exploits the chase for power and what is needed to be done to gain this power. In Hamlet you see almost all of the characters become power hungry and so bent on power they are willing to betray anyone close to them including their families to gain this power and maintain it. Examples of the chase of power are shown in most texts we explored this semester. For example, Grendel explores this theme of power but he attempts to not let this power overcome him, he is just exploring the ideas of power and attempt to grasp this idea of power that he is being shown by any of the…show more content…
Another example is Kiowa’s death, Kiowa was a peaceful, religious man, he was the one who almost kept this group of men together. Kiowa’s death was not glorious or beautiful like Ted Lavender but yet his death had a much greater impact on the novel. Kiowa’s death had a major impact on Jimmy Cross who felt his death was a “crime” even though he was committing “crimes” everyday as a soldier in Vietnam. Kiowa’s death made the group feel betrayed, betrayed not in the sense that somebody stabbed Kiowa in the back but betrayed in the sense of how could we ever let this happen, they put the burden of Kiowa’s death on their shoulders when they should not have. This betrayal is most upsetting to the platoon because of the power Kiowa held, not only his religious power, but the power of friendship that he brings, that sounds corny to most that the power of friendship is what made Kiowa’s death most agonizing. Kiowa’s death his mark on the platoon making them all fell his death was there own fault even though all was unavoidable. But the death of Kiowa was not only a moment of sadness for the platoon but also they must have felt betrayed, betrayed that Kiowa was dead someone who helped piece this group of makeshift soldiers together and form this platoon, too lose someone as important as Kiowa to the group they felt betrayed because of the power Kiowa had. He was not a vocal leader, he was not the best trained soldier but he was a religious and a better outlook on a dark time that is the Vietnam war. Kiowa added a sense of safety to these men his power kept these men from believing death was evident, but once Kiowa dies everyone seems to blame themselves for it. “This was not Mount Sebastian, it was another
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