The Corruption of Society in The Threepenny Opera By Brecht and The Trial by Kafka Summary

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The Corruption of Society in The Threepenny Opera By Brecht and The Trial by Kafka
Corruption affects human rights and is an obstacle to the realization of democratic societal development. Corruption can exist in both public and private spheres and is not just confined within national borders. Corruption impacts the State's functions to protect and uphold the rule of law. Corruption in society weakens the social structures, jeopardizes human rights and enhances to a culture of impunity. That leads to damage of a regimes' legitimacy, causing the subsequent disillusionment and unrest of the people. The importance of shining light on societal vices such as corruption is that moral decay can be mended before future generations are affected. Literature plays a vital role in this, and the message of how corruption can harm a society transcends space and time. The Threepenny Opera by Brecht and The Trial by Kafka show how deep corruption is ingrained in society and how it can indeed decay a society, bringing misery, inequality, and even loss of life.
Brecht's story in The Threepenny Opera is about Macheath, a criminal mastermind leading a gang. The initial focus is on his love interest as he intended to marry Polly, the daughter of a powerful and influential man called Mr. Peachum. Mr. Peachum is a king of the Beggars, and being displeased with this, he goes after Macheath, including involving the police. He threatens to cause havoc and disrupt the upcoming coronation of the queen. In a satirical turn of events, Macheath, despite his life of criminal activities, ends up getting a queen's pardon with a lifetime of pension paid to him.
The play clearly shows the different dimensions of corruption. Mr. Peachum is a morally corrupt and greedy individual who has made his fortunes from exploiting the poor and selling them licenses to beg on the streets. He lacks empathy and only exploits other peoples' emotions of despair and misery. Brecht did an excellent job of portraying the origins of this corruption as Mr. Peachum was once poor and miserable himself. But the system was not kind to him, and he eventually became greedy and obsessed with creating wealth for himself regardless of the corners he had to cut to get there.
Macheath and his gang are examples of regular people who are forced into dishonest living because everybody else is corrupt. Macheath and his gang are not precisely model citizens. They steal, kill and commit arson. Yet, Brecht packages them as ambiguous heroes for their deeds. When Macheath states his nihilistic case in the "Ballad of Good Living": "Suffering ennobles, but it can depress / The paths of glory lead but to the grave," he spoke for a large majority of the European population. People are humiliated and oppressed by the same system that they uphold. One has no choice but to seek survival by toeing the line and getting corrupt too. The attitude of individuals wanting to be the ones in control of everything so that they are not questioned and held accountable is quite rampant in the play.
Police officers are also in on the corruption because they do not uphold the rule of law. They are in on Macheath's criminal activities allowing h...