I found this piece by Hannah Arendt to be more interesting than the others so far. I think because it is something similar to what we have learned about in today’s culture it makes it easier to read and easier to understand. We have learned about World War Two and about the concentration camps that the Jews were forced to go to. I think that though anti-Semitism still exists in the world, most people are disgusted by what the Nazis did to the Jews and that’s why I find this reading a little bit easier to relate to, because I am one of those people. According to Arendt, human beings in concentration camps are degraded, exterminated, and experimented on, “the camps are meant not only to exterminate people and degrade human beings, but also serve the ghastly experiment of eliminating, under scientifically controlled conditions, spontaneity itself as an expression of human behavior and transforming the human personality into a mere thing, into something that even animals are not; for Pavlov's dog, which as we know, was trained to eat not when it was hungry but when a bell rang, was a perverted animal,” (Arendt 88-89). It is very clear that she finds concentration camps and what they do to people appalling. I also think by referring to Pavlov’s dogs she is saying that human beings are being brainwashed. Though they are not being brainwashed in an indifferent way, as Pavlov’s experiment really had no effect on the dog’s life, they are being brainwashed by fear. If humans are being punished negatively for not doing something, or doing something wrong they tend to be fearful, therefore they are more likely to do what they are told and do it correctly. This gives others power and control. By writing this piece, Arendt is showing how easy it is for government to brainwash people. All they have to do is be terrifying and the people will fear them and in return do as they are asked.
Arendt, Hannah. "Total Domination" A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers. Lee A. Jacobus. 7th ed. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. pp 88-96
2 comments:
OMG! I loved reading your blog. I think we must have been thinking the same thing. That's funny because we didn't even discuss the reading together and yet our blogs are similar. I'm glad that I'm not the only one who interpreted that way. Now I find this reading more interesting and am glad that I understand it and just by reading your blog I know that I'm on the right track. Good Job!
I really liked your analogy that the people were being "brainwashed" by fear. I don't know if I would've drawn that same conclusion until reading your blog. Very entertaining.
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