Monthly Archives: November 2013

Progression and Regression in “Things to Come”

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What do years of war bring? What do years of peace bring? William Cameron Menzies’s film, Things to Come, based on a novel by H.G. Wells, shows these two extremes in a dystopian future. After extended war, the human race reverts back to barbarism and no longer know how to fly planes. After extended peacetime, humans make too much progress, and the object of life is not progress, it is living. Either way, too much regression or too much progression will cause humans to lose sight of what it means to live.

In Everytown, during the long war, they cannot fly planes because they have no oil or gasoline. If we are not careful about our resources and finding alternatives to fossil fuel, this could become reality in the twenty-first century. In this way, the film is warning us of the dangers of mass destruction and mass war. On the other hand, the film warns that two much progress can take away from life and actually make us less human. So what is the message that one is supposed to take away from the film? Everything in moderation? War is bad, but so is scientific and technological progress?

Ironically, both in the time of war and in the time of peace, authoritarian leaders rose to power. There was the barbaric “Chief”, and there was the forward-looking Oswald Cabal. These leaders also have similar mindsets. The chief wants to conquer the hill people, while Cabal wants to conquer the moon, then the universe.  Is this a comment on the nature of rulers, regardless of outside influences? What is the film attempting to get across to its audience?

Berlin Stories

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In the section titled Sally Bowles, of Isherwood’s The Berlin Stories, the protagonist of the novel, Chris, relates his tumultuous relationship with an aspiring actress named Sally. The presence of money, or lack thereof, is a constant theme throughout the entire novel. Sally is interested in finding wealthy gentlement whom she can swindle with her good looks and charm. Sally and Chris confide in each other and are engaged in a platonic relationship. They jokingly referred to each other as “gold diggers” when they both befriend and financially benefit from a wealth gentleman named Clide.

Germany’s dire economic conditions are implicitly referenced throughout the text. One morning Chris’s landlord, Frl. Schroeder, woke him up in a frantic state and exclaimed “they’ve shut down the Darmstadter und National! There’ll be thousands ruined, I shouldn’t wonder! The milkman says we’ll have civil war in a fortnight! (57) Although there was a note on the bank that indicated that everyone’s deposits were guaranteed, the fear of financial meltdown was always in the back of people’s minds. The growing distrust of the German economy ultimately contributed to the system’s collapse because people lost faith in the banks. Weary individuals would withdraw their entire savings accounts, leaving the banks in a state of dissarray because there was not enough money on hand to meet demand.

Do you believe that Germany’s financial collapse and accompanying hyperinflation could have been less devastating if people would have behaved less drastically and maintained faith in the banking system?

The Berlin Stories: The Modern State?

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Christopher Isherwood’s The Berlin Stories, is a novel about the changing pace of Germany during the late Weimar Republic. Set in 1931 the story follows Isherwood’s alias, William Bradshaw, and his relations with Arthur Norris, who is a member of the German Communist Party. As their friendship blossoms the reader is introduced to Berlin slowly under Nazification, through meeting many of Bradshaw’s acquaintances.

The book particularly shows an evolving Germany in the sense of the modern state that we have been examining. The cultural changes seen with in the cafes and discussion of women or education continue to show the progression that has been developing since the 1920s. Also between the Marxism and Nazism the idea of statism, and nationalism, and homogeneity are often found throughout the story pushing for those greater ideals. However I found that the story while a demonstration of what pre war Berlin was, also mocked the Nazis attempts to create the modern state. The intricate character Mr. Norris often goes against the grain of a homogeneous state and Bradshaw recognizes and enjoys that. Mr. Norris also goes against the classic conceptions of communists being wealthy, somewhat fiscally irresponsible, and a masochist. Also I could not tell if there was a serious homosexual undertone in the whole work between Arthur and Bradshaw.

Does this work represent the changing progression to the modern state as we have been studying? Does it mock the Nazi changes in Germany through its characters?

Berlin Stories

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The Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood, are a collection of short stories that are based on the experiences of Isherwood when he lived in inter-war Germany. Each different chapter consists of a variety stories, that share the same characters, and settings. Isherwood’s different stories seem to focus on a specific aspect of the Weimar culture. Weather it be the story of the narrators relationship with Sally Bowles, or in a later section when his vacation is concentrated on a very harmful relationship between two people living in his house. Isherwood always seems to put an interesting spin on issues . Once aspect of the book I found very interesting were the economic problems of Frl. Schroeder.

To the reader at first glance Frl. Schroeder seems to simply be a very interactive land lady. However, we soon learn that she was a lady of individual means who  took in boarders for the entertainment. However as time went on she feel on hard times and she’s forced to take as many boarders she can handle. This economic downturn and the change in opinion of Schroeder from a well off lady to a person who struggles to make ends meet seems to be an prime example of the issues many germans faced. It also seems to be an example of germany as a whole and the hard times its fallen on. This part of the story although minor struck me as a interesting parallel.

Do you think there were germans who were not  willing to stoop to the level of Schroeder?

 

Gender Roles in Goodbye to BerlinThere

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In Isherwood’s Goodbye to Berlin, the characters reflect the gender roles of Nazi Germany by exemplifying the ideal male and female roles in German society. To start, Sally is allowed to focus on meeting a man as her “full-time job” while Chris is expected to go out and work, secure sustainable employment and at some point marry one of these women like Sally. These young adults, while having fun amongst themselves, are expected to form the relationships that will allow the state to succeed by the couples producing offspring. This population growth is encouraged by parents supporting their children through the use of monthly stipends; the children however use this money not for its intended purpose but rather for meeting friends and having a good time.

There is a noticeable lack of older males in the text. A lot of the Fraus are single and working to take care of these groups of young adults. They act as a level between the state and the young adults, guiding their development with much more freedom than home life all while providing a motherly environment. They cook, clean and run daily house life for these single men and women, allowing them the ability to go out and search for a spouse, or in Sally’s case a “rich old man, where she won’t have to worry”.

Berlin Stories

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In The Berlin Stories, Christopher Isherwood explains the daily life of a British ex-patriot living in Germany during the early 1930s. His section called “A Berlin Diary: Autumn 1930” explores the daily life and activities of the protagonist and his friends/acquaintances. Within this chapter, the reader is introduced to daily life, seeing a glimpse of how an everyday person may have lived during that time.
One line within this chapter was especially surprising given the financial and economic difficulties of the time. The protagonist, in talking about the character of another, states, “like everyone else in Berlin, she refers continually to the political situation, but only briefly, with a conventional melancholy, as when one speaks of religion. It is quite unreal to her” (223). This reaction is surprising given how dire the situation in Germany was at the time. Did the average person tend to ignore or dwell on these problems?
This piece of the text brings up interesting questions about the time. The timeless issue of the strength of a semi-fictitious piece as a source for historical analysis. This type of interpretation forces the reader to interpret and analyze questions about population demographics and popular support. How was the population so unsupportive of attempts made to help them during such an uncertain time? How did people like Hippi talk only briefly about the problems that were present in Germany, but also in almost every other European country during the latter part of the 20th century?

The Dissident Movement

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In the 1960s and early 1970s, a dissident movement surfaced among Soviet intellectuals. This movement is thought to be contributed to Khrushchev lessening his control on the State. The movement illustrates the State’s inability to adapt to the expanding mobility of the people. The activists in this movement were highly motivated for their cause. Their passion and sentiments were so large, beyond their numbers.

The ways in which the people in the movement expressed their ideologies varied from protests to literature to journals. For example, the people of this movement would circulate some manuscripts of banned books. I think that this is a bold statement and showed their dedication to the cause. A leader in this movement, particularly the concept of freedom and human rights, was Andrei Sakharov. His most famous work is his essay, “Progress, Coexistence, and Intellectual Freedom”.

The Soviet State would try to suppress the events regarding this movement via propaganda. This propaganda would negate the movement’s ideologies, threaten the loss of job and imprisonment, and confiscate the literature being circulated.

Women in Nazi Germany

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In The Berlin Stories, Christopher Isherwood tells the story of Sally Bowles, a beautiful young woman who aspired to become an actress. Isherwood’s relationship with Bowles was first and foremost paternal, though near the end of the story his feelings for her grow stronger. Despite his romantic feelings for her, it is clear from the start that she is concerned with finding a man who will be able to support her lavish lifestyle.  Based on Isherwood’s descriptions of women in “Sally Bowles,” the majority of them are considered to be dependent, immature and incapable of making their own decisions.  Misogyny was a mindset that was prevalent throughout Nazi Germany, as Hitler emphasized that women’s main concern should be motherhood.

In Nazi Germany, women were highly encouraged to take the traditional route, and focus on giving back to the state through childbirth and motherhood rather than working for a living. The gender roles at this time were incredibly rigid, and this is clear in The Berlin Stories through both Sally’s behavior, and the misogynist comments of men. For example, in the letter that Klaus wrote Sally, he said, “My dear little girl, you have adored me too much. If we should continue to be together, you would soon have no will and no mind of your own…You must be brave, Sally, my poor darling child” (Isherwood, 41).  In this scene, and throughout the book, Sally is perceived as a helpless child, and belittled by the majority of men that she meets. Isherwood’s short novel about Sally Bowles further emphasizes the misogyny that was prevalent in Nazi Germany.

Was Isherwood’s paternal relationship with Sally condescending? Or did she truly need his guidance to prevent her from making poor decisions?

The Dissident Movement in the Soviet Union

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Soviet intellectuals in the late 1960s and early ’70s decided it was high time to voice their opposition to the current political situation in the Union. The movement had roots in the Khrushchev era when the state loosened controls ever so slightly, but by the time Brezhnev came to power and tried to restrict expression yet again, the movement was already taking off.

It was a period of both hope and desperation. For the dissidents, there was hope. Their public protests and demonstrations against the Soviet state system only further emboldened their radical thinking; they believed they were the “conscience of society” and had a duty to stand up and demand freedoms for the people of Russia. The dissidents sought democratic socialism and political liberalism, while condemning western ideologies that overshadowed Russian Orthodox values.

Roy Medvedev, a dissident movement leader.
Credit: www.soviethistory.org

For the Soviet authorities, desperation was in the air. Their legitimacy was being called into question and they could not afford that. Their attempts at controlling the dissidents were tried and true Soviet tactics: confiscating literature, exiling leaders, condemning offenders to prison or mental institutions, removing dissidents from their occupations, and launching propaganda campaigns to counter and delegitimize dissident ideology.

The actual number of dissidents may have been small, but their impact was disproportionately large. The Soviet’s attempts to regain control of public thought were desperate and futile, and if there is one thing I have learned from studying history, it is that desperate actions of a government mark the beginning of the end. I would not go so far as to credit the dissident movement with being the final nail in the coffin of the Soviet Union. However, it was another blow to their ideology and power, and it is a movement that ought not to be overlooked.

“Things to Come” and the Quest for “Progress”

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Things to Come is a seminal science fiction film released in 1936 that depicts a future of apocalyptic warfare that causes a zombifying plague called “the Wandering Sickness,” ultimately reducing Europe to its primordial stages of civilizational development.  Throughout the film, science and “progress” in general are polarizing topics amongst all levels of society from the common people to the highest governmental officials.  Some view scientists as “the last trustees of civilization,” while other characters embody the apprehension towards scientific research has been represented in countless other films and writings of the interwar period such as Metropolis, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, and Russell’s “Icarus, or, the Future of Science.”  The film concludes in the year 2036 with a space launch, ultimately made to represent man’s incessant need to ascend to “conquest beyond conquest.”

The thing that I found most interesting about this film was also the factor that differentiates it from the works above that discuss a fear of science: Things to Come does not definitively extol or denounce scientific progress.  Rather, it documents the existence and relative validity of each side of this argument.  In the midst of the centuries of warfare that grip Europe, science is consistently viewed as both the cause of society’s woes and the only thing that can solve them.  The high-tech planes that allowed warring nations to drop mustard gas caused immense destruction, and yet the inhabitants of Everytown still believe that the only way to truly end the war is to repair those planes and finish obliterating their enemies.  In the film, new civilizations are created only by the destruction of their predecessors.  Because scientific “progress” is the only means of accomplishing this, Things to Come simultaneously depicts science as the best and worst tool for societal development.  However, war, plague, science, and every other major element in this development is a slave to the attitude of “manifest destiny” that is portrayed as intrinsic to the human psyche.

Do you think that the constant quest for petrol in Everytown is merely a plot device, or do you think that H.G. Wells was using this fixation to predict that oil would become the center of future armed conflicts?