History and Literature - Essay Example

HISTORICAL CONTEXTS & LITERATURE Larry Barras Prof. Stiene LIB 316 07, June Introduction Hitler and his Nazi regime formulated a campaign of spreading propaganda lies about the Jews in the 1930s. They created a negative picture of the Jews blaming them for Germany’s fiscal and societal tribulations as well as world problems. The propaganda was intended in dehumanizing the Jews, by depicting them as an inferior race, so as to enhance widespread anti-Semitism, and lay a foundation for eliminating the Jews’ freedoms and rights.

The Nazis advocated for the exclusion of Jews from society used the media, schools and other art forms such as posters, movies and dramas to facilitate their whims of distorted depiction of the Jews. The process of dehumanization is at the centre of evil, which entails a certain faction of people viewing others as less than human and non comparable in humanity or individual dignity.There was an anti-Semitic feeling within Europe during that time, which together with the propaganda effects caused an extensive mockery, violence, degradation, and discrimination of the Jews leading to them living in anguish and poverty.

The Nazis hatred and propaganda toward the Jews formed the foundation for the mass genocide (Provost, 2011).Prejudice and negative stereotypes are used to in images, verbal abuses to demean and degrade the in regard to their limited form of superiority over the group that they consider being inferior humans (Van and Bahm, 2011). For instance, the Nazis used discrimination against the Jews basing their hatred on the beliefs and emotions resulting from their prejudiced perspectives (Kaufmann, 2011).

Elie Wiesel concurs in his book Night that the Nazis regarded the Jewish people as less than human, and supported this, by highlighting how the Nazi doctors, carried out experiments, using the Jewish people, as samples in their quest to create a perfect, superior human race. He also writes on how the Jews were stripped of their identity, as they were forced to have the same clothing, haircuts as well as tattooing some of them when they arriving in camps. The Jews were also poorly fed with pig legs as their staple meal which they were offered once a day in most cases.

He depicts the disheartening fact of how children are thrown into the air, and used as targets to shoot (Wiesel and Wiesel, 2006).Ishiguro’s book never let go also is a searing lesson about ethics results that are outcomes of utilitarianism and ethical relativism, when people are prevailing the fresh techno science by the populace without a moral cognizant or moral instinct. He questions the issues of cloning, vitro fertilization and organ transplant technologies, and how humane they are in society.

According to him, each technology creates serious ethical matters which are influential in people’s lives (Atwood, 2005). He portrays how systematic exploitation of clones and their explicit exploration of vulnerable actors in the contemporary economic order, causes forced donations of organs in a cruel and unethical manner. The text is a reflection on a world shaped by the eugenic fantasies of the Nazi epoch incarceration.The three authors, Ishiguro, Jin and Kilma all address the issue of oppression of the minority in society who are discriminated against and on how they undergo suffering in the hands of the their aggressors.

They highlight the plight and concerns of groups in the minority class. These are different from the works of the Cold War period which were principally focused on the outcomes caused by the dissimilar ideologies resulting from capitalism and socialism principles.ConclusionDehumanization corrupts a person’s thinking and facilitates the perspective that other human beings are insignificant or less humane than those in power or the dominant group. This leads to issues of discrimination, torment, torture and even dearth of the minority faction.

It limits people’s rights and acknowledges mistreatment which causes suffering to many poor and innocent individuals. The Nazis treatment of the Jews in Germany indicates how dehumanization can be detrimental in society leading to a hazardous massacre, caused by propaganda and hatred.ReferencesAtwood, M. (2005). Brave New World: Kazuo Ishiguros novel really is chilling. Slate. Web. Retrieved on 7, May 2012. From,< http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/books/2005/04/brave_new_world.html> Kaufmann, P. (2011). Humiliation, degradation, dehumanization: Human dignity violated.

Dordrecht [etc.: Springer.Provost, R. (2011). Confronting Genocide. Dordrecht: Springer.Van, T, and Bahm, E. (2011). Historical Contexts and Literature. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.Wiesel, E., & Wiesel, M. (2006). Night. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux.