logo

80 pages 2 hours read

The 48 Laws Of Power

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1998

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.

Laws 33-48Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Law 33 Summary: “Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew”

Greene defines a thumbscrew as a weakness. It can either be an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion, or an insatiable appetite for a particular pleasure. Once you discover what a person’s weakness is and cater to it, you can use the person to your own advantage as “what people cannot control, you can control for them” (499).

You can find out a person’s weakness by listening and observing carefully. You may employ tactics such as revealing an allegedly heartfelt secret of your own and making it seem safe for the other person to open up or probing around a particular enthusiasm or emotion. As Greene writes, “what oozes out in the little things outside our conscious control is what you want to know” (485). He argues that the projection of one dominant trait, for example, shyness, often conceals the desire for the opposite.

The negative side of playing on people’s weaknesses is that you may elicit an action that is out of your control, as you can never predict the outcome. You should also not get carried away by the thrill of controlling your victims and lose sight of the specific thing you want from them.

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
Unlock IconUnlock all 80 pages of this Study Guide

Plus, gain access to 8,500+ more expert-written Study Guides.

Including features:

+ Mobile App
+ Printable PDF
+ Literary AI Tools