Power, Corruption and Arrogance

Franco and Ella are both superficial people who have no compassion for others. This in itself isn't unusual. When combined with the fact that they happen to rule a country, it suddenly makes a huge difference. Lone psychopaths can only do a certain amount of damage, but the Lopez dictatorship gives Franco and Ella the power to do virtually anything. There is no fairness, since all power emanates from them. Their absolute power eventually comes to affect all citizens of Paraguay. As able-bodied men are killed off, Franco becomes more desperate and widens his terms of conscription to include boys and old men. He truly sees Paraguay's future as being hopeless without him. Calling on thousands of his people to make the ultimate sacrifice for him is acceptable to Franco. Ella is also able to use tunnel vision to ignore the terrible harm that they...