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Comparative paragraphs: student samples based on power

Student samples

Other side of the locked door and Animal Farm 

Peter Munro’s Other side of the locked door, questions the nature of institutions that enable people in a position of power to abuse their authority.  Munro suggests that sometimes the guards unquestioningly follow orders, and sometimes they are desperate to belong to a group, no matter its principles.

The guards argue that they are disciplining the prisoners, but instead they are making them feel humiliated and powerless.

People in a position of power often use a variety of psychological tactics to justify their privileged position and their abuse.  For example, in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, the pigs also abuse their power. They brainwash the animals into believing that what they are doing is good. They justify their acts as they “are the ones with the brains” as all the other animals are illiterate and are blind to what is really happening. They persuade the animals that they have everyone’s interest at heart, when they really don’t. From Other side of the locked door and Animal Farm, it shows how people can act when given authority or power. Also how people justify their actions and are transformed into something inhumane.

COMPARATIVE PARAGRAPH – ABUSE OF POWER

Just as Macbeth abuses his position of power, so too do the guards in Don Dale Youth Detention Centre. SET UP THE PARAGRAPH … Peter Munro profiles the guards in his article Other Side of the Locked Door and asks whether they are “bad, mad or something else”. By exploiting  their authority and taking advantage of a system with flexible rules and regulations, they are able to brutalise the “vulnerable children”.   Similarly, Macbeth also exploits his close relationship to King Duncan to brutally murder the King and to satisfy his murderous lust for power.

Macbeth and the guards share similar mindsets and both reveal psychopathic tendencies. Munro points out that …. *The issue at the detention centre is inspected and studied by psychologists). Likewise, Macbeth also oscillates between lucidity and mental disturbance. Contrasting to Macbeth, the guards in Munro’s piece show a more disciplinary action towards the children which they believe is a “contribution to the security and welfare of Australia”. Macbeth however, knows that his actions are morally wrong which is the reason for his secrecy. Due to their abuse of power, Macbeth and the guards of the detention centre can be closely compared to each other.

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