Why Do Writers Like to Write About Tyrants?
Where did the dictator novel genre originate? 3 dictator novels you can’t put down once you begin.
Why do writers write about tyrants? The quest for power and control is inherent in human nature, and writers are eager investigators of human souls. William Shakespeare writes in ‘Julius Caesar’:
“Th’ abuse of greatness is when it disjoins remorse from power.” — Brutus (II.i.18–19)
This quote touches on two keywords in the play: power and greatness. Shakespeare is trying to show how power can easily consume man’s greatness. Even an intelligent, virtuous, noble person cannot escape the toxic effect of power.
There is a separate genre called the dictator novel that is a recent invention of Latin American literature. The genre appeared in the 19th century, with its greatest peak in the second half of the 20th century. The dictator novels are meditations about dictators in a broader sense — about the nature of power, about how power corrupts a person. Latin American authors were writing about pitfalls of power, about how a person, having unlimited power in his hands, begins to do immoral actions, and this leads to the destruction of himself, the people around him, and sometimes the state in general. These are 3 dictator novels among…
