Introduction
 |
| Tragedy and Comedy: the universal human condition |
Koya Nakata is part of the Westborough High School class of 2013 and will be attending Bates College in the fall. He intends to major in a law-related subject and continue on to graduate school to pursue a career in the legal field. He enjoys a wide variety of musical genres and is a member of the Concert Choir. He is Japanese.
What
Did Facing History and Ourselves Mean
to Me?
If I were
to put it in as simple terms as I could, I suppose I would simply answer the
titular question with this: it is to face not only that which is unpleasant and
monstrous, but to recognize our own capacity for it; the seed of evil exists
within all who live to understand it, and much more in those who never realize
its presence. It goes without saying, however, that such an answer is only as
deep as the understanding it begets, and thus it is necessary to put into
context the vaguely worded statement by which I begin this essay. I have
benefited from this course as a student and as a person, but most of all as an
active member within the enigmatic dimensions of space and time that we are all
inevitably participants and victims of; for however brief a period or however
small a space I may occupy, I am still able to make my own difference in the
world, however minute it may be. It is therefore paramount that I do so in a
manner consistent with my moral compass; as the age-old question goes, is it
possible to remain moral in an immoral world? This course has taught me that
despite the difficulty in doing so, it will always be possible to do so.
It is
very easy for a person to simply condemn whatever atrocity they witness, as
well as those responsible for it. I have known myself to do it on quite a
number of occasions, dehumanizing some subgroup of peoples as acceptable
targets in the violent fantasies a suburban teenager may indulge in; I recall
that those targets were often who I deemed criminals, and that I never
exhibited any mercy when it came to their punishment. Fantasies being what they
are, they are not an accurate reflection of my desires…but they do suggest a
degree of ignorance to which few will readily admit. Intentional or not, there
is a sort of prejudice bred within us by the very way we are raised, by the
very methods used to foster thought and connections. It is the development of
critical thought and the ability to step back and view a situation objectively
that paves the way for morality; one of the best ways to do so is to be exposed
to the end result of unchecked prejudice and how even the formerly good descend
so easily to evil. While the Holocaust is certainly one of the foremost
examples in which we can see the aftermath, examining the characters of such
films as The Swing Kids made the experience that much more relatable on a
personal level—who has not seen themselves or someone amongst them change in an
undesirable or destructive manner, when they were previously some of the most
trustworthy people they had known? Admittedly, the proverbial fall from grace
is one of a much larger scale and severity than much of us will ever experience—going
from anti-Nazism to Hitler Youth in World War II Germany is a transformation
that us current students will thankfully never undergo—but the pain, the
betrayal, and most of all the horrifying ease with which it happens was all present,
all there in the despair and all-too-familiar powerlessness with which the
stories of the characters was displayed. That the film was based upon a true
story delivers, in and of itself, further impact as a warning.
Before
seeing the aforementioned movie, the short film After the First left a strong
impression upon me in depicting the desensitizing of the self to violence. The
last phrase, so poignant in its simplicity—“It gets easier after the first”—struck
me in its sincerity, as well as the implied history behind it. Delivered in an
almost resigned tone, it reflected the simultaneously necessary and unfortunate
condition of human resilience and adaptation; the slope is a slippery one, and
the border between staying on the plateau of normality and plummet into malevolence
is as difficult to make out as the fog of belief which so often clouds
judgment. The loss of innocence that the boy suffers in the film undoubtedly
happened to the father as well; only in the mere hours before the kill did any
doubt or hesitation creep in, and the almost traumatic moment when the boy is
on the verge of pulling the trigger is as impactful as it is fleeting. Although
the boy walked away with disgust after his kill, it is almost inevitable—judging
by the understanding of the father—that he, too, will find it easier after the first.
So the case is for all who we call soldiers, our allies as well as our enemies.
The line between them is thin; even family is not so strong a bond as to
separate us from the dangers we pose to ourselves and society. If we are not
careful, we will find ourselves committing the very acts that would disgust us
if done by the other side…and we will be smiling the predator’s smile the
entire way.  |
| "Labour Makes You Free" sign at Auschwitz, Germany |
It is
with the same sentiment that I was cautiously rooting for the Jewish rebels in
the film Uprising! As despicable as the Nazis were, to dehumanize them—to categorize
them as totally separate entities, a species which is impossible to become in
today’s world—is to deny that there is ever a possibility to be like them. I
saw in the rebels’ situation an absolute hopelessness, a desperation that made
the situation unavoidable; unlike the Nazis, the Jews needed no scapegoat. The enemy
had already very clearly defined themselves, in all senses of the term. The
Nazis had the Jews in a corner, and the Jews fought back—indeed, it was one of
the few acceptable moments in which the outright destruction of the enemy was
shown. All the same, however, the only comfort in the particular incidents
depicted was that the Nazis were unspeakably extreme in their methods; as noted
earlier in the semester, the beliefs they held were actually not too dissimilar
from contemporary Western ideology, especially concerning race (as evidenced by
the commonality of eugenics and the ban on interracial marriage as examined in
class). Although we inhabit a much different sociopolitical climate today,
there are perhaps some prejudices that even we do not realize with our
supposedly enlightened world views. It made me think in a manner I rarely do,
especially in the heat of passion; it was within this film that the question
was raised: can a moral man remain moral in an immoral world? Indeed, I believe
it possible—but only if what we perceive to be “moral” actually is as such.
The
moment of strongest impact was, however, when the raw footage of the overtaken
concentration camps was shown. The only other comparable examination of history
was when I saw the unedited photos of the immediate aftermath of the atomic
bombs upon hapless civilians; the silence and pain that accompanied each showed
what a systematic delivery of death looks like, with no punches pulled. The
horror of the situation—both in the victims who realized their final
predicament even as their strength faded or disappeared entirely, and in
ourselves as we saw what it really meant—spoke volumes in a way that fiction
cannot. It was hell in every form, the eternal damnation of the perpetrators
engraved in the eyes of all to see; for as easy it is to dehumanize the
victims, the capacity to carry it out to such a level—however justified it may
have seemed at the time—will be lost on all who were never planted with that
particular seed. We, too, have our own seeds of evil…but I hope that I, as
student and human being, have learned enough through this course so as to
deprive my own of strength and growth. Only time will tell.
I hope
time is kind.
Works Cited
"Arbeit Macht Frie Sign." Photograph. Holocaust Encyclopedia. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. May 20, 2013. <http://www.ushmm.org/lcmedia/photo/wlc/image/00/0001.jpg>
"Nazi March." Photograph. Nazis in Color. One Large Prawn. February 16, 2009. Web. May 20, 2013. <http://cdn.onelargeprawn.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2009/nazis_08_1.jpg>
"Remember the Holocaust." Photograph. Ride to Remember. Jewish Motorcycle Alliance. Web. May 20, 2013. <http://ride2remember.com/images/remember2.jpg>
"Two Theatre Masks." Stock Image. Royalty Free Stock Images. Dreamstine. December 14, 2012. Web. May 20, 2013. <http://www.colourbox.com/preview/5524199-2728-two-theatre-masks.jpg>
"Looking to the Future." Photo. Canada Tops the OECD's List for Highest Number of Post-Secondary Grads. The Wina News. Web. May 20, 2013. <http://www.thewinanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/university-graduates-looking-to-the-future.jpg>
