Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Macbeth prompt #1
Last week I read that yet another famous baseball star, Manny Ramirez, had tested positive for steroids. I began to wonder just when he . . . or Alex Rodriguez, or Barry Bonds or . . . had first decided that hard work alone was not enough to put them on top. When, I wondered, did they first decide to cheat their way to stardom? Did they lose any sleep over it? And how many potential stars have been edged out by others of equal or even lesser ability? What does this have to do with Macbeth? Ah, that's what I want you to discuss -- include quoted passages as relevant.
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27 comments:
wow, ms minor, wow.
I really like this prompt. I'll be back later with some thoughts.
When looking into the competitive world of not only baseball, but also bodybuilding as well as other such strenuous sports, it is clear that raw talent does not seem to be good enough to get by. This illicit steroid use is solely for purposes of performance and physique enhancement, or bettering one’s one self. Though our society deems the usage of such drugs as hazardous, wrong and just down right stupid. However, the trouble is there exists a gap between many illicit steroid users’ actions and societal expectations.
In such an industry as competitive sports, many athletes who live in this inter drug subculture, there seems to be three main justifications for their own and/or other athletes’ illicit steroid use: self-fulfillment accounts, condemnation of condemners and a denial of injury. They feel as though their steroid usage is therefore rationalized as a legitimate means to an end, a victory. Rather than travel the winding road of hard work, pain and suffering to reach their goals, these athletes weigh their opportunity costs and decide the injection of a needle is the better road to self-fulfillment.
This is not unlike our friend Macbeth. In the beginning of the play he comes across as quite a good character with strong morals. However, once the witches and his moral-less wife convince him that be is destined to be Kind, his obsession over the kingship shows a certain kind of egotism (Much like baseball players only thinking of their own gain when they use steroids and obsess over what great success it could bring them).
In Act 1, Scene 6, Macbeth is troubled with the idea of murdering King Duncan. In his soliloquy he tries to rationalize the pros and cons of committing such an act. He acknowledges the fact that this deed may open the door to darkness that will only lead him to harsher acts. “I have no spur / To prick the sides of my intent, but only/ Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself / And falls on th’other.” Though he ends his internal struggle with the decision to not murder Duncan, he eventually caves in under the pressure of his wife.
Well, this is the same type of thing Macbeth did. But instead of using steroids, he murdered in order to rise to the top. Macbeth was in an esteemed person, who the Duncan was proud to call him "Valiant cousin! Worthy gentleman!" (I,II,24). After his success in the war, he probably felt invincible and esteemed. This 'high' created by his success and esteemed position made him want more of the drug fame and power. He knew this euphoria wouldn’t last long, so he wanted to find the next thing that would make him happy. He was in a position where people like his wife could easily manipulate him and tell him that he had to be king in order to be happy and feel successful. Maybe this is the same with professional athletes who use steroids. They become accustomed to the fame and want more. It's like an addiction; once they get used to the fame, glory, and influence, they want more of it. So maybe they think that by taking steroids and increasing their performance, they will get their next fix of fame and success, which will make them feel happy and accomplished. Macbeth was probably motivated to kill the king and others in order to rise to the top because he wanted his next fix of power, glory, and success. He saw being the King as the way to achieve that.
The athletes’ initial use of steroids is mostly likely due to constant pressure. As they get better and better people will have higher expectations of them and they will also have higher expectations of themselves. There is a limit in how much one can improve. When the athletes make their first “Wow” people will be shocked at how good they are, but will also expect a greater performance next time. Once they taste the first sweets they long to more and it becomes harder to satisfy the audiences and the athletes. That’s when some athletes turn to steroids. Of course, they will hesitate over and over since it is a big choice to make and comes with great risks. But to them the benefit/satisfaction seems to out weight the cost.
This decision making process is very much like Macbeth. When the Weird Sisters first told him of the prophecy, “Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!…Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!…All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king hereafter!” he is attracted to it (although doubting it at first). Since he is praised so much as the hero and earned so much fame that his pride builds up. People will expect more from him and he will also wish better for himself. It is when the second prophecy comes true that Macbeth starts to weight his choices. “Two truths are told of the imperial theme…This supernatural soliciting cannot be ill, cannot be good…Present fears are less than horrible imaginings. My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical, shakes so my single state of man that function si smothered in surmise, and nothing is but what is not.” He fears the consequence of what he believes as “fate”, but the prophecy has already given him expectations. Once he heard that Malcom is going to be the next king he desires to kill him because Malcom stands in the way of his expectations. This choice of murder is like an athlete’s choice of taking steroids. Both type of men chooses because they have extremely strong desire to achieve their goal.
I believe our world is more competitive than ever especially when in comes to sports, school, and jobs etc. Many of us don't want to put in the effort to achieve success and instead we find the quickest and easiest way to obtain our goals. However, whether it is athletes using steroids or courtiers murdering kings to get to the top, their success only lasts for a brief amount of time.
I also agree with Michelle because an athlete's career is short lived, but it comes with fame and power. Although, they grow accustomed to all of the attention, it can disappear very quickly. This is also true in Macbeth's world because the power of the court is always changing. Macbeth took a risky chance in his decision to kill the king, but he knew that if he was successful he would achieve the greatest amount of power. If Macbeth failed, it would destroy him. He toils with his plot in act 1 scene 7, " I have no spur to prick the sides of intent, but only vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself and falls on th' other. " (41) His ambitions have consumed him and he is willing to achieve power, knowing his life would be in grave danger.
People have always tried to gain unfair advantages over others through immoral means. If you become aware of any of this, please notify the collegeboard office of integrity. These means almost always involve less work, but end up costing more in the long run. I'm sure anyone whos got caught using steroids,or any other kind of cheating, pays much more than what they gained by cheating. In fact, such violators almost always get caught.
The thing is, you don't get caught the first time. Maybe not the second. Or third. But if you can cheat once, you are able to rationalize doing it again and again. This is how steroid users get caught, they get away with it, get confident, and eventually get caught. This is precisely what happens to Macbeth. He is able to commit one murder and get away with it, but in doing so he finds himself able to rationalize a series of more risky and less necessary murders, until he is struck down.
The first murder, like someone's first use of steroids, was painstakingly difficult to muster. It involved an elaborate sheme, and was carefully and precisely carried out. This one came with the highest morale cost to the Macbeth's. "to know my dees, 'twere best not to know myself."-Macbeth Act2 sc.1. I believe this is how steroid user atheletes feel the first time they cheat, they are ashamed of their desecration of the sport they love, that they felt they had to cheat to compete with the others. After the first murder, the Macbeth's already wish they could go back.
However, the subsequent murders are much more readily committed by Macbeth. He readily had Banquo killed, without so mmuch as talking it over with his close wife. And of course, the most brutal of all, the slaughtering of Macduffs innocent, defenseless family. Before he knows it, he's in boiling water. Again, this path of rationalization is similair to that taken by atheletes on roids. Though it is difficult at first, they quickly turn into regretless people willing to step on anybody's dreams to get to the top. Unfortunately for them, anyone willing to go that far will inevitably get caught.
In the soliloquy in Act I scene vii (citing a specific quote) : "To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself
And falls on th’other," Macbeth confesses to his unchecked ambition. The quote i think specifically refers to Macbeth's realization that his motivation was poorly founded and he lacked justification for the murder. I think that likening murder to steroid use in major league baseball is a stretch but the ambitions of the players to trump their competitors takes them farther than what is just.
I also think it's funny how like the murders in the play, steroid abuse is rampant and always spiraling out of control. I can also draw a weak connection to the witches as third parties involved in the drama and encouraging the situation much like MLB viewership.
People hate to work or exert energy in any way. Every invention out there has been made to lessen the burden of actually living life. Cheating is just one of those inventions. People cheat and never lose sleep over the action of the deed, but the thought of getting caught. Besides hating work, humans also detest getting into trouble. So why do people still risk cheating? It's to get ahead. If no one was earning more money, respect, etc. than us, personally, then there would be no need for people to try to get ahead of others. So for Macbeth and all those sports figures out there, they are only cheating to get ahead of someone. Greed also plays a major role, but the greed aspect of Macbeth is more utilized in Lady M.
http://xiaomeimei.deviantart.com/art/OLD-STUFF-Lady-Macbeth-34422867
Everyone's life motto seems to be "Be the best you can be." Whether we are professional athletes, students, businessmen, or even moms, we seem to have an inner drive that pushes us to strive for the best. However, this motto has somehow turned from "Be the best YOU can be" into "Be the out of everyone else." Why has everyone become obsessed with being the best out there? Apparently it's not enough to be the best you can be if you're not the best out of all. Being number one gives you power, fame, and glory; and people would kill for that success.
The use of steroids is not only making headlines in baseball, but even around the globe in events such as the Tour de France. In the 2008 Tour de France, an entire team of cyclists were disqualified for doping. It is understandable that the Tour is possibly one of the most strenuous athletic events today, yet it is not fair to those who train and race clean to have to compete with "cheaters." The idea that by being better than your neighbors leads to power, fame, success, etc. is obvious in schools and businesses; isn't that why everyone in high school is so obsessed with class rankings and why Bernie Madoff should be voted 2009 Person of the Year? People become overwhelmed with the idea of being on top, but sometimes cannot achieve success by own means. Whether it'd be laziness or just lack of skill, people cheat to get ahead in society because they can't or won't do it with only their will. Haven't you guys seen that Taco Bell commercial where all the moms are rendezvousing in the middle of the night, swapping entrees from Taco Bell because they didn't make dinner themselves? It's the same basic principle, but to a lesser degree of course.
However, of course those moms weren't driven by greed for power or success like some athletes, students, businessmen, and even our own Macbeth. Macbeth is introduced as a brave and noble man;
"For brave Macbeth--well he deserves that name--
Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel,
Which smoked with bloody execution,
Like valour's minion carved out his passage
Till he faced the slave" (A1S2).
Yet, once he hears of the possibility of becoming king, he is intrigued. With the push of his wife, he contemplates Duncan's murder. He rationalizes reasons why not to kill Duncan.
"First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,
Who should against his murderer shut the door,
Not bear the knife myself" (A1S6).
And he realizes that his only reason to kill Duncan is for his own benefit, which is not worth it.
"I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on the other" (A1S6).
We noticed in class that Macbeth progressively becomes more and more aggressive as a character. In the beginning, he was humble and logical, proven by the fact that he chose not to kill Duncan until his wife convinced him to. However, after his crime, he is very aggressive and tough, and all he can focus on is securing his crown. He is suspicious of everyone in the kingdom, and resorts to murder again so that Banquo's children do not grab the crown. I think some people have already said this but Macbeth is driven by a greed that feeds of itself, much like the need for power and glory sought by athletes and businessmen. Macbeth is not cutting corners to reach his dreams, but pretty much creating his own path, regardless of what it takes.
I think there is a similarity in the theme of ambition in Macbeth and in Raskolnikov's superman theory. In both, the characters recognize the evils of what they are considering, they are at no point blind or ignorant about the magnitude of their wrong. Macbeth describes the mere though as one "Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair/ And make my seated heart knock at my ribs/ Against the use of nature"(I.iii.148-150). The thought is so terrible it causes physical discomfort in Macbeth. The same is true for Raskolnikov, yet both go ahead and do it. They share the idea that if their ultimate goal is good enough, they should be able to overstep the lines of morality without feeling any remorse.
Macbeth's repetition of murder is just like an addiction and it begins just like any addiction does. You do it once, expecting everything will be swell afterward and the effects won't last, but they do and then repeat, hoping to eventually get your last and final fill, think that surely the next time... everything will go away, just as you thought the first. Macbeth acted completely selfishly in his killings, although influenced partly by others.
I really like what Erik said. I agree, mostly. Although all of that seems kind of obvious, I've never really heard anybody point it out that way.
People choose to act in such ways for many reasons, but they are primarily selfish. It could be, like others have stated, a crutch to keep them on top, or pressure from others pushing them to think they need to be a certain way. I'm sure "they lose sleep over it". Nobody does things outside of their norm and sleeps just as sound as they did the night before, unless of course they're mad, but that puts people in a different place in the first place. Although they have chosen to take this path and "cheat their way to stardom", whatever the reason, I believe they worry about it just as much as they worried about not reaching their ultimate goal: power... glory... fame... whatever.
I think both the baseball players and the protagonist of this play's desperation is counter-intuitive. Typically I imagine leaders who will stop at nothing for success as desperate individuals who will stop at nothing for success. However, Barry Bonds, A-Rod and a certain protagonist (can't say the name) are all at the top of their game. Why is it, then that they risk everything? The Witches never specifically explained how the eventual King would rise to the throne. By taking matters into his own hand, you-know-who sealed his fate. It's truly arrogance that leads these tragic characters to their ultimate demise. In the long run obviously they feel some remorse, as is evident by Bethy's frequent musings about his choice. He calls the murder "even-handed justice" but at the same time confesses "We still have judgement here, that we but teach
Bloody instructions which, being taught, return
To plague th’inventor." While arrogance leads these people to make fatally poor choices, no one is so arrogant as to not feel any remorse or doubt for their actions. I hope.
Well I guess you can make the connection if you sub out the steroids for murder. I mean Macbeth did what he thought was necessary for him to immediately become king. Those baseball players followed the same basic logic, they did what they did to immediately become famous. And on both counts, both these men realize something: everything they have is built on a bad choice and a lie. Then there is the matter of keeping this lie alive and pivoting around this bad action. Macbeth has to keep his kingship, killing off anyone who becomes a threat to that. Baseball players probably have to keep quite a few people quiet (though I hope no one resorted to murder) about the steroids. Oh, then there is a matter of the physical ramifications from this. Macbeth has lost his mind (seeing dead people, floating objects, ect..) after and a little before the killing of the king. Baseball players deal with all the health problems that come with the steroids and *cough* certain things shrinking.
I find it interesting to see how far people will go in order to be top of their rank and what they would do to themselves to get there. I guess its survival of the fittest. I wonder if they even hesitate about taking it, but it seems like that's not the case because numerous players have been caught or confessed. I think that during the scene when Macbeth was about to do the deed, it matches with the baseball players using steroids. Though Macbeth was quite nervous to do the murder.
I'm assuming that when the players first decided to use steroids, they were nervous as well. The false judgment is where the connections lies.
I think, in many ways, the witch’s prophecies act as a sort of catalyst which initiate Macbeth’s irrational actions. That’s really all steroids are, drugs that promote and increase cellular function and growth.
Would Macbeth really even have killed the king--even though we can assume he’d pondered the thought before--if he’d not heard “that shalt be king hereafter” and the many other great-fortunes telling of his future success? The prophecies (perhaps mere powers of suggestion), the “black magic,” the toilings in the unknown are, in a way, Macbeth’s “steroid” which pumps him full of drive and ambition to rise to the top; however, steep and great consequences generally accompany things that generate quick success/fortune. Just like our baseball players who were caught for abusing performance enhancing drugs, Macbeth falls, and he falls hard. A tragic ending to an individual who was privileged to begin with.
As an athlete I often feel that even though I try my hardest all of the time, it is just not enough. Now, I have never taken illegal steroids, but I have used legal natural enhancers such as creatine and NOXplode. The pressure from coaches, and more so teammates (could Lady Macbeth not be considered Macbeth's teammate?), is so immense that it is hard to deal with.
So, I am assuredly not siding with A-Rod, Barry Bonds, or the new member of the anabolic all-star club Manny Ramirez. When the question is posed, "did they lose and sleep over it?," I assure you that the answer is yes. Just as Macbeth does in Act 1 sc. VII, the steroid users had to have weighed out the pros and cons and in some way, shape, or form rationalized their decisions. For a time, just as for Macbeth, the players were probably haunted by some sort nightmare or ghost.
Now, in the case of other potential stars being cheated, that most certainly has happened in both MLB and Macbeth. In the MLB, Barry Bonds made it to the hall of fame. The ball he hit to break the record, has an asterix on it now. There perhaps would have been another athlete to outshine him.
Similarly, the Murder of Banquo (and the attempts at his son) takes any chance of the throne falling into that family line. Banquo's future relatives can not hold the power because of the actions of Macbeth.
Baseball = Shakespeare...you truly have a mind that thinks outside of the box Ms. Minor.
I think that many professional sports players are pressured into taking steroids. The pressure to do well and not disappoint their fans, family, teammates, etc. The better the player is at the sport, the more pressure there is to win every game. Maybe at first, those that take the steroids are hesitant, but after seeing that they don't get caught, they use the drug with little less remorse. The positive physical changes that come with taking the drug is also a plus that give more incentive to professional players.
Before the murder, Macbeth is hesitant in the actual killing.
"We will proceed no further in this business.
He hath honored me of late, and I have bought
Golden opinions from all sorts of people,
Which would be worn now in their newest gloss,
Not cast aside so soon." (I,VII, 34)
He explains to his wife that he does not wish to lose what he has right now, especially because of the recent honors and good opinions he has gotten from the king and the people. However, Lady Macbeth's demanding nature and also manly aura pressures Macbeth into continuing the plan by saying,
"What beast was 't, then,
That made you break this enterprise to me?
When you durst do it, then you were a man;" (I,VII,58)
Lady Macbeth threatens and hurts Macbeth's pride in telling that he's not man enough to kill. Professional players also probably feel that if they don't do good on the field, then that it reflects how well they play, even if they actually play better.
So I really like the things that have been said. I'll give some thoughts.
When baseball players use steroids, much of their rationale is that "I needed it to live up to standards." For example, when Alex Rodriguez tested positive, he issued a statement saying, "When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day" (ESPN). Furthermore, he quoted himself as "naive, stupid, young, and loose." It seems as though each year, a new player is exposed in the steroids scandal. Steroids give the human body the ability to go beyond what is naturally possible, and that I think is the main thing to consider in this scenario.
Hard work does pay off, but sometimes, athletes and individuals believe that they need a little bit of extra help to achieve at their supposed potential. However, I feel that this defined "potential" actually may be misleading. Much of it stems from the contract and plays into human nature. Humans are naturally greedy and constantly want. Once these players are given a contract, they feel they have been given something and must validate it. Whether this is done by legal or illegal means, that is up to the athlete and exactly how far he/she is willing to go to live up to "expectations."
I'm sure that each of the athletes probably lost some sleep over using performance-enhancing drugs, but they most probably considered only consequences in the short-term. While achievements are important, how you get there is equally important; this is the fact that these athletes seem to have forgotten.
I realize that I have digressed a little from the prompt, so I'll try and get back. Macbeth is similar to these professional athletes in the sense that he has barriers to the throne. His goal is to become king, and he cannot achieve this goal unless all in front of him in the succession to the throne are removed. Thus, his version of "steroids" is the motivation to kill. He has an end goal in sight, and he is willing to go very far to achieve it. By killing, he is able to achieve his goal, but not truthfully. This is the same problem that the professional athletes face, and is a bane of both the professional sports scene and the character of Macbeth.
I like what everyone has mentioned so far.. About pressure to be THE best instead of YOUR best, etc..
I think that pressure to meet and/or exceed expectations is the most powerful influences on our actions, especially ones that are out of character. When one ceases to act based solely on his or her own desires and motives and strives for the approval of others, that is when they start to think or act in a way they normally wouldn't have agreed with. Like Lauren said, once Macbeth caves and accepts opinions that others are constantly pushing on him, he starts to view things in a different way. He not only accepts it but allows it to completely consume his thoughts.
Approval is not the only thing that we long for. Sometimes is the fear of letting someone down or feeling indebted to another individual that drives us to act in away we wouldn't normally act.
As others have said, I think it's about what one's priority is in life. When you work really hard and it's not enough, then you feel like you have to do something MORE to reach that elusive goal. For baseball players, steroids seem like the only option to rise to fame and enhance their performance. In some ways, that's true because steroids give us more than we think we can give ourselves. But the question is about priorities. If your priority is to be number 1 at any cost, then steroids are the only option. But if you want to be famous through lots of trouble, then you might not get as far, but you'll be more satisfied.
Similarly, Macbeth originally had strong moral character and hadn't even contemplated murder as a choice. But, because of the power of suggestion and the belief that murder would achieve what hard work could not, Macbeth is willing to kill Duncan and then many others to reach the top. His priorities shift, just like baseball players' do. I don't think anyone plans to cheat, but they feel forced into it and reduce their guilt by justifying that there was no other option. In reality, it's their "vaulted ambition" that leads them to it.
I think the point Nick made about the witches being a power of suggestion is really insightful. When someone else suggests something persuasively, it sounds much more justifiable than one's own actions. That pressure tricks us into believing that it's the only option, when in reality, we've decided that's the option we WANT to take.
I love the connection to current events! =)
One key issue that seems to have lacked discussion here is whether or not this is in fact cheating. Despite regulations against steroids, how much is the MLB against the use of steroids? The use of steroids makes more money because it improves the performance of players and therefore the excitement of the game. Steroids also bring incredible publicity to the game. Of those who have made sports their career, who wouldn't want to buy the best new glove, bat, shoes or body? I think steroids are an inherent part of the game, just like war and death, and therefore murder, are an inherent part of kingdoms.
I do not defend either of those observations as morally correct, I am just saying, who really cares about the ethics? As fans celebrate Ken Griffey Jr.'s 611th home run, are they wondering whether he got strong honestly, or how his swollen neck and bulging veins might hint to underlying causes?
I'm sure they pushed out competition to go to the top. Maybe there are other more deserving, naturally strong players out who have a great work ethic. But they didn't do all it takes to "beat out your neighbor" as Erik writes. Those players, however, are still sitting pretty with lucrative contracts, they are not dead like King Duncan.
In a society that celebrates superstars by paying them thousands of times the average workers pay, even tens or hundreds of times as much as their teammates, the greedy and selfish will always push themselves to the top however they can to get the fame, but especially the money and the power it brings. I would like to point out however, that superstars make so much because they have so many fans, they don't make more than teachers on a yearly fan/student to superstar/teacher ratio.
Back to MacBeth. I am sure steroid-users lost sleep however, and during some short break from spring training these words came out of their mouths:
"Is this a syringe which I see before me,
The needle toward my arm? Come, let me clutch thee."
Erik seems to be against competition, but competition makes the best. Different companies compete to make the best product, and the consumer wins because they get the best product. Sure the other firms lose out, but the consumer, the "rest of us," wins.
When the baseball players play baseball, they're all competing to make the greatest spectacle. When someone takes steroids, their spectacle becomes that much greater. Sure the other baseball players "lose," but the watcher wins. They get to see something greater because of steroids. And, do the other baseball players really lose? With ever greater and greater spectacles, baseball becomes more and more well known, more and more appreciated as a sport. You can hardly argue that increased overall respectability is a loss.
In MacBeth, MacBeth "competes" for the top spot. So he kills the king and takes the reigns. But doesn't that make a better play for the audience? MacBeth would be a whole lot more boring if it was just MacBeth following Duncan's every command like an automaton.
And, since MacBeth is based on historical events, MacBeth earns a more prominent place in history. Again, it is at cost of his fellow history makers, but doesn't it create a richer history for those looking back?
Also, I disagree with Cpt. Sara. She says that "Every invention out there has been made to lessen the burden of actually living life." Let us look to the dishwasher for the truth. Initially, it was touted as a time-saving device, something that would make life easier for the 50's housewife. But in the end, it just gave the housewife more time to do other things. The "burden of actually living life" sure didn't decrease, even though a time-saving device was used.
Steroids are becoming the face of baseball and defacing many of its most valuable and looked upon athletes. It's downright cheating. This ties hand-in-hand with Macbeth in terms of how expectations cause people to do bad things in order to fill those expectations. Like in Crime and Punishment, they feel like because they have been told that they are supposed to be the greatest baseball player, or king, they have the right to achieve these expectations under and circumstances- in Macbeth's case, murder.
I feel the reason baseball players use steroids is they feel it will give them the edge and will help them rise to stardom. Somewhere along the road people scouted them, telling them that they were "made for greatness" and that they would become the MVP's of the MLB. Failed expectations were just not going to be an option for these baseball players so they decided to do anything they could to ensure their success and fulfill the expectations of them.
In Macbeth, the witch's prophesies state that Macbeth will be king, therefore, like the baseball players and steroids, he takes matters into his own hands and ENSURES that the expectations of him come true.
I really like this prompt.
This prompt is great! Thanks Ms. Minor.
The situation we see in any of these cases is something economists would call a moral hazard. When there is no concrete punishment or consequence for doing something wrong then why not do it? It is the same way with insurance, many people think it's OK to do certain things because the insurance will pay for it.
The key here is the abuse of something that's for free. For baseball players it's a free ride to the top, as it is for MacBeth. After all Manny only lost 50 games for it, it is similar to sports drafts which reward bad teams for being REALLY Bad! It allows people to cover their flaws and advance for a small price, and the tangible reward is huge. Similarly killing Duncan will allow Hamlet to gain power, and lose very little since he plans to cover it up and blame others. As he says at the end of Act I "False face must hide what false heart doth know". This is really true and the part I hate the most. Manny blames it on the doctor, Barry Bonds says he never "knowingly" took PEDs. They ought to just drop the act and if it really is true then still it should never happen. The athlete makes the millions not their handlers or doctors, so why should those people be so careful of what they give to the athlete? In MacBeth Lady MacBeth is really this instigator type, the hanger-on who also would make amazing gains and therefore encourages the killing of Duncan. I'm sure every athlete has someone else who would gain from their doping. But the key is the ability to resist pressure. Of all of the players Ken Griffey Jr. (the one who actually got fat and not strong as he grew old) still seems to always display joy and enthusiasm as they play, never does he complain about his situation, and unsurprisingly he is the one who never sold himself out and took steroids.
As MacBeth says "what seem corporal melted, as breath into air." We are all deceived and don't know what is real or isn't. The image of the star disappears instantly, we don't even know what is real. And fittingly they disappear from baseball's annals as well. Mark McGwire will probably never make the hall of fame, and probably neither will Bonds (regardless of his pre-steroid accomplishments) or Sosa. 3 of the 6 greatest hitters of all time will simply disappear like any journeyman player, which as Ms. Minor says might be what they actually would have been. It is impossible to tell, it is often this exact attitude that allows the stars to be the stars. Malcolm Gladwell points out the when Kevin McHale played he played an entire playoffs with a broken foot while role players sat out with minor injuries. The other players prolonged their careers by doing this, and McHale shortened his time at the top, but without this attitude he never would have made it to the top. The willingness to push the limits to get to the top. The question is will you just push the limits (work harder than anyone else) or will you actually break the limits (kill Duncan)? MacBeth chooses the latter, and from there it is all over. Many people make these choices on smaller scales and psychologically it is all very similar.
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