Tran: The Bad in the Good

It is easy to simply say that Halder was the victimizer while Max was the victim, but the line between the two isn’t always so simple. The two men represent different roles people took on during the war, but neither character is completely the embodiment of either ‘victimizer’ or ‘victim’. Halder can easily be branded as the victimizer, but he wasn’t always that way. At first, Halder is a bit opposed to the Nazis because he doesn’t want to have to join the party, but when it changed his institution and society, he thinks about it over. His best friend is Maurice, who happens to be Jewish. Halder is a bit cynical about Nazism and this new government and is even hopeful that the Nazis won’t be in power for long. As the play goes on, he realizes in order to keep his position in the university he would have to be recognized with the Nazi party and does so. As he gains ranks, he starts to question his beliefs and morality and rethinks this whole Jewish thing. He begins to get annoyed with seeing Maurice and only really wants him for the summer cottage to be with Anne. Halder can’t even see Maurice’s anxieties about getting out the country, and later goes to think to himself why weren’t the Jews smart enough to leave when they had the chance. He never physically did anything to the Jews himself unlike Freddie who goes and round them up, but his indifference towards it is all the same. He is a victimizer because he becomes part of that pack mentality of the Nazi Nation and does nothing to help his friend or even care about what happens to the Jews. He becomes a part of the solution to the Jewish problem.

Max is a victim in the film Bent because he was unjustly persecuted. Granted, Max was a bit reckless with his life and chose to bring him a Nazi officer, who was later tracked down which lead to Max and Rudy’s arrest. Max is considered a victim because didn’t do anything to hurt anyone, but was hunted down by the government for his sexuality and him and Rudy were caught and sent to a camp because of it. On the way, Rudy was killed and Max was forced to commit a horrific act to prove he wasn’t homosexual. Rudy was truly a victim too because he was beaten to death just because of the fact he had glasses and later when they knew he was homosexual. Max also is a victimizer to Rudy because he does not acknowledge an acquaintance between them in order to protect himself. In a way, we can see how some regular Germans could have been victimizers and victims because they didn’t do anything to protect the Jews, but they would have put themselves in harm’s way if they did too by not obeying the laws. You really have to take a side sometimes and Max kind of play on both sides a bit in order to protect himself and Rudy at first, but later just himself until he met Horst.

This may be a bit of a stretch, but in a way you could look at Max as the victimizer and Horst as the victim. Max has the mindless task of moving rocks from one pile to another and bribes an officer to make Horst join him. Max might think it’s the best job ever, but he wants Horst there to talk to him. Horst even mentions how heavy the rocks are and how they will go mad soon from doing this kind of mindless labor. Max selfishly thought he knew what was best for Horst and brought him to work there for his own personal satisfaction and subjected Horst to even harsher conditions than before. Horst then becomes a victim of Max’s desires, even though they are from love; it ends up killing Horst. It’s a complex situation people were put in during the war; sometimes it was too difficult to remain neutral and away from the problems. You have to pick sides sometimes and even when you don’t think you’re doing wrong, you’re committing a heinous crime of indifference by letting things happen without preventing them from doing so.