Dan+K.


 * Macbeth vs. Hitler **

The person who most closely resembles [|Macbeth]in real life is [|Adolf Hitler]. Both of these men are well known for their brutality and shameless acts; Hitler in real life, and Macbeth simply a fictional character created by [|William Shakespeare]. Hitler and Macbeth are most similar in their careers as soldiers, their brutal and unflinching cruelty as leaders, and how they were eventually forced to relinquish their power as leaders. **(excellent intro.)**

Hitler and Macbeth were both soldiers in wars before they held their positions as leaders. Macbeth was referred to by a captain as being “brave Macbeth” (Prentice Hall… 308) **(Use act.scene.line#)**. Hitler was also renowned for his good luck in battle and his bravery as Macbeth was. Hitler enlisted in a Bavarian Regiment when he was 25 years old. After its first engagement against the British and Belgians near Ypres, Belgium, 2500 of the 3000 men in the**(delete the)** Hitler's regiment were killed, wounded or missing, but Hitler suffered absolutely no injuries. On October 7, 1916, however, Hitler was wounded in the leg by a shell fragment during the Battle of the Somme. After being treated in a German hospital and recovering**** Hitler asked to be put back in the war and in March of 1917 he was sent back to fight again (“Hitler in World…”). Much like Macbeth being adorned with honors such as the title of “Thane of Cawdor” (Prentice Hall… 313)**(incorrect citation)** for his bravery and success in war, Hitler was given many medals for his bravery as a soldier. Hitler was given a total of 5 medals, including the Iron Cross first class, which was very rare for a foot soldier to receive. Both of these men were known as brave, heroic men in their selective wars (“Hitler in World…”). **(good analysis)**

Not only were both of these men very similar as soldiers, **(but)** they were also very similar in their patterns of brutal and unflinching cruelty as leaders. Macbeth forced himself into power by murdering King Duncan (Prentice Hall… 329). In 1932 big business and the military began to consider having Hitler brought into government power. He was sworn in as chancellor heading a coalition government, in which his Nazi party was a minority. The ruling class of Germany thought that this way they would be able to control Hitler and keep him in power without having his extreme [|Nazi party] influence his politics to**(too)** much. He brought with him a group that would murder anyone who apposed **(misspelled)** him on political issues. They were called “stormtroopers” (“How Hitler took…”). These stormtroopers were used so frivolously by Hitler that army commanders demanded that they be stopped and forbid Hitler from using them. Hitler responded by killing their leaders and numerous political rivals on this subject. In this way both men are similar in that they both forced their ways into power by killing anyone who stood in their way (“How Hitler took…”).

Macbeth and Hitler were similar in their brutality and cruelty in another way, also. This is the most obvious connection between these two men. Macbeth, after getting word of Macduff leaving his home with his family still there unprotected, sent murderers to do exactly what their titles would suggest. The murderers viciously murdered everyone in the castle including Macduff’s wife, children, and all of his servants. This is the best example of Macbeth’s heartlessness and cruelty (Prentice Hall…366-369). Hitler is most well known for his cruelty through the absolutely horrific events associated with the [|Holocaust]. The most commonly accepted figure for the number of [|Jews] that Hitler was responsible for killing is about 6 million. He was also responsible for killing millions more non-Jews. He murdered these people with his concentration and labor camps. His methods of torture and execution were horrifying. Some prisoners were forced to spend nights in "standing-cells" (“Auschwitz…”). Standing-cells were about 1.5 square meters and four men would be forced to stay in one. The men could only stand and during the day they would work with the other prisoners. “Starvation cells” (“Auschwitz…”) were also another form of execution and torture utilized by Hitler. Prisoners in these cells were not given any food or water until they died. There were also “dark cells” (“Auschwitz…”). These cells had one extremely tiny window and an air tight door. Eventually they suffocated. Sometimes the guard would light a candle in the cell to use up the oxygen more quickly. Many prisoners were also hanged with their hands behind their backs, which would dislocate their shoulder joints for hours, sometimes days. There was also an execution yard. In this area prisoners who were thought to deserve an individual execution would be given one. Some were shot while up against a reinforced wall and others suffered a more drawn out death by being hung from hooks set in two wooden posts. Through these descriptions of the camps it is easy to see that Hitler, like Macbeth, card **(cared)** nothing about the life of a human being (“Auschwitz…”).

Both Macbeth and Hitler had very terrible characteristics that made them the evil and heartless people they were in both fictionally**(fiction)** and in reality. Through the description of the camps that Hitler enforced on his prisoners, it is clear that the cruelty and savageness that Hitler possessed greatly surpassed that of Macbeth, but their lack of concern for human life is one thing they shared. Both of these men were horrible individuals. Although Hitler may have been more malevolent**(great word!)**than Macbeth, they were very similar in the way that they treated people with such cruelty and brutality and the way that they were both men who started as soldiers before they rose to power.


 * Solid analysis!**