Ordinary Men by Christopher Browning

In the book Ordinary Men, Christopher Browning tackles the question of why German citizens engaged in nefarious behavior that led to the deaths of millions of Jewish and other minorities throughout Europe. The question of what drove Germans to commit acts of genocide has been investigated by numerous historians, but unfortunately, no overarching answer for the crimes has yet been decided upon. However, certain theories are more popular than others. Daniel Goldhagen in his book, Hitler’s Willing Executioners, has expounded that the nature of the German culture before the Second World War was deeply embedded in anti-Semitic fervor, which in turn, acted as the catalyst for the events that would unfold into the Holocaust. It is at this

The movie, A Few Good Men, is the story of how two marines go on trial for the murder of another marine. The movie then unfolds into an emotional drama which dives deep into conspiracy and the psychodynamics of following orders. A Few Good Men was a critically acclaimed movie and was nominated for multiple Academy Awards. Similarly, authors Erich Fromm and Stanley Milgram, wrote essays that explored the morals behind obedience, and how disobedience of immoral commands can bring betterment to others. Although A Few Good Men presents disobedience as being a vice, evidence from Milgram and Fromm suggest that disobedience can bring about an improvement on current conditions.

A Few Good Men portrays the importance of military orders, the reality of the ranking system and how much military leader’s authority can cloud their judgement. Former psychology professor at Yale, Stanley Milgram sought the reasoning behind the blindness of individuals when ordered to perform a task for someone who seems to be an authority figure. His infamous experiment was and is currently being dug through and examined thoroughly. Milgram’s research caught the attention of fellow psychologist Philip Zimbardo. Zimbardo conducted an experiment with similar interests in mind. He collected 21 men from newspaper advertisements to live in a false prison and live in the prison for two weeks. The experiment lasted six days due to how quickly the experiment escalated and transformed the “prisoners” and “guards” (Zimbardo 116). Their conclusions from both experiments are that power and stress can transform even the strongest willed people. Zimbardo and Milgram discuss the same sort of entitlement Colonel Jessup presumes to order an illegal code red due to his position on the base at Guantanamo Bay; also the entitlement Lieutenant Daniel Kaffee had over the case due to the position his father once had.

The book written by Christopher R. Browning titled Ordinary Men is an interesting, engaging, anomaly in the genre of non-fiction books pertaining to the topic of World War Two and the Holocaust. Browning’s analysis of what possessed ordinary German men, who’s ideas where non pertinent in relation to Nazism is one worthy of academic study and discourse. Browning is delving into the intricacies of what specifically pushed “ordinary” men in the Reserve Police Battalions 101 of Nazi Germany to perpetrate the action of moving thousands of Polish Jewry into box cars, and sequentially taking part in perhaps the worst enormity in human history. Browning’s argument is an ever unsettling one, an argument that reveals to the reader what “normal” people

Christopher Browning describes how the Reserve Police Battalion 101, like the rest of German society, was immersed in a flood of racist and anti-Semitic propaganda. Browning describes how the Order Police provided indoctrination both in basic training and as an ongoing practice within each unit. Many of the members were not prepared for the killing of Jews. The author examines the reasons some of the police members did not shoot. The physiological effect of isolation, rejection, and ostracism is examined in the context of being assigned to a foreign land with a hostile population. The contradictions imposed by the demands of conscience on the one hand and the norms of the battalion on the other are discussed. Ordinary Men

Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland by Christopher R. Browning is an insightful book that provides information as to how ordinary people may be susceptible to committing heinous, evil acts. Browning explains this through analyzing judicial interrogations, which occurred in the 1960’s, of about 125 men of the Reserve Police Battalion 101 (Browning, pg. xviii). The Reserve Police Battalion 101 was a unit of the German Order Police formed in Hamburg, Germany, under the control of the SS which was under Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party (Browning, pg. xvi-xvii). They consisted of German police and sheriffs who were middle-aged men of working and lower middle class. The Reserve Police Battalion 101 was formed as the

The small city of Brownsville is small in both population and mind. Even though there are individuals who commute morning and night from country to country, there is no unity. Growing up, I had never experienced a “diverse” city. In the city of Brownsville, Hispanics are the majority. As a result, individuals who saw somebody of a different race or ethnicity would make negative and offensive comments towards them. At times, these offensive comments were accidental. Other times, the offensive comments were on purpose and intended to appear humorous to friends. Apart from discriminatory remarks to outsiders, this happened amongst people of my Hispanic community.

The men of Reserve Police Battalion 101 were just ordinary men, from a variety of backgrounds, education, and age. It would appear that they were not selected by any force other than random chance. Their backgrounds and upbringing, however, did little to prepare these men for the horrors they were to witness and participate in.

The literary element setting includes the time when the story happens and location where the story takes place. Some stories use variety of settings to initiate an interesting beginning. However, the 12 Angry Man has only one fixed setting – the jury room, which is not commonly used in a novel. The author, Reginald Rose, overcomes the limitation in setting by describing changes in weather, initiating different types of character and imitating the events of the murder.

In a discussion John Steinbeck said, "I worked in the same country that the story is laid in. The characters are composites to a certain extent. Lennie was a real person. He's in an insane asylum in California right now. I worked alongside him for many weeks . . .” (Parini 27)

In the article “The End of Men,” Hanna Rosin offers several examples of women overpowering men. The inequality between men and women has become a critical issue in today’s society. According to Rosin, women are slowly surging ahead in the workforce and family life while men are left behind struggling to meet expectations. Rosin argues that this role reversal is taking place because women are simply better suited for postindustrial society.

“O Pioneers” by Willa Cather follows a group of frontiersmen trying to survive in the harsh conditions of the untamed west. The story follows the Bergsons, but more descriptively, the main character, a girl named Alexandra Bergson. Throughout the story, Alexandra grows up to her full potential and we are able to see her character just as rich and as mesmerizing as Willa hoped to achieve. This is the character that Willa decides to revolve her story around and makes the reader fully understand who the novel is truly about. Using this assumption, readers can conclude that “O Pioneers” derives from Willa's real-life experiences - especially when dealing with her love life.

But it was his lead they were following so if anyone could end this, it would be him. But just like the rest of the men, he was just following orders from men higher on the totem pole. We can see how distraught he is during the first massacre but how does the climate of the war change him? Even in the very same chapter, we see him change when he turns away from the Jews who tried to kiss his hands for saving them. But it's in chapter 11 we truly see how the climate of war has made him adapt. When faced with a killing quota when stationed in Talcyn, Trapp decides to kill the Jewish population instead of the Poles. Seemingly, this is because they're more expendable. But to me, it seems as if he's gotten used to killing Jews. Poles can still be looked at as people for him. He hasn't distanced himself from them like he has been forced to with Jews. The very obvious rules of the German side of this war is that Jews aren't necessary. So when faced with the decision to kill Poles or Jews, Trapp created his own rule that Jews are more expendable then Poles. The man who once weeped for the Jews "no longer had any inhibitions about shooting more then enough Jews to meet his quota" (Browning, chapter 11, pg. 102).

“Master and Man” by Leo Tolstoy is a story that explores the dynamics between a peasant, Nakita and his master,Vasillii Andriech. Andriech foolishly risks both of their lives, when they venture to another town in inclement weather to secure a business deal. Unfortunately, Andreich's impatience and greed ultimately leads to his demise. At the end of the story Nikita dies and is denied the same bliss that Vasillii Andreich experiences in death; in order to solidify the dichotomy between these two men, demonstrate how Andriech cheated Nakita, and he uses Nakita's lackluster death to amplify Andriech's extraordinary passing.

Writer Alan Bloch in his short story “Men Are Different,” tells of a robot who is infatuated with humans, but does not understand them. The robot meets the last known human, and tries to help him, but due to a lack of understanding kills the human. This story seems simple, but when put under a magnifying glass there is hidden meaning. That hidden meaning is that without full understanding, a situation should not be interfered with because it could hurt instead of help. Bloch’s purpose it to inform society that some situations are better off without people trying to interfere when they cannot supply help with their current knowledge.