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Stella’s Poverty “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”-Machievelli Machievelli’s statement has held true for centuries; however, the opposite bears some examination: corruption resulting from the absolute lack of power and the desire for it. For example, Hitler was able to prey on the German peoples’ hunger for power to escape their poverty. His actions warped the minds of others; likewise, the teenage Stella in Cynthia Ozick’s “The Shawl” is motivated by a desire for power. From her trip to the camp and her stay there, she is steadily consumed by a need for one of the greatest powers of all, the power over life and death. The story starts by aptly describing Stella as, “cold, cold, th