Assignment

First Chapter:

Article 1

The German Reich is a republic.

State authority derives from the people

This statement is straight to the point. It is giving responsibility for its being to the German people. This is letting them know that they are part of the government and they will be listened to.  I chose it because I thought it was significant that this was the first thing mentioned. They are giving their citizens an honorable mention and it sets the tone for the rest of the document.

Second Chapter : Life within a Community

Article 119

Marriage, as the foundation of the family and the preservation and expansion of the nation, enjoys the special protection of the constitution. It is based on the equality of both genders.
It is task of both the state and the communities to strengthen and socially promote the family. Large families may claim social welfare.
Motherhood is placed under state protection and welfare.

It is very exceptional of a government to take special interest in the areas of family and community settings. This shows that the government has a genuine concern for its citizens.  It is a really beneficial move to promote the togetherness of family. If the government is invested in the family from the beginning of conception than it will possibly prevent the greater need for social welfare programs. For instance, the United States’ constitution or any other legal document does not encourage marriage. It is not an important concept which is why the divorce rates are so unbelievably high and why there are so many families in disarray. This chaos within American families kind of disrupts the social structure of the family. You have blended families; you have nuclear families, then single mothers and sometimes single fathers. Everyone’s needs are different which means the government has to spend more time and money to meet those needs, whereas if they had invested in strengthening the family then they would be in a better state.

Midterm (Professor I emailed this to you already)

Laura Powell
Explain the statement, "boredom is nothing other than the dissolution of pain in time", (Jünger p. 13) and its relationship to nihilism
Discuss the relationship between nihilism and changing attitudes on sexuality. In what ways did traditional values place prohibitions on sexuality? Why did these prohibitions lose their power after the first World War? Using The Blue Angel and Dream Story as a reference discuss the new attitudes towards sexuality that developed during the 1920s and early 1930s
   When World War I ended, millions of men across the world had been killed and countries had been destroyed. There was only one country to blame for the madness. Unfortunately,  this country was Germany. Along with taking the blame for the war, Germany was forced to pay reparations which eventually sent their economy into a downward spiral. The public humiliation and poor economy gave way to a meaningless feeling. Most Germans began to feel like they were being misrepresented and the result of the war had caused the country to be frowned upon. Many expressed their dissent in art forms like with the fictional story “On Pain” by Ernst Junger or with the films “The Blue Angel” and “Dream Story.” This meaningless feeling gave way to the idea of Nihilism.
    Nihilism is the idea that if the current method of doing things is not working than all things relating to the problem must be destroyed in order to find a new solution. This ideal forces the person or persons to confront their problems head on in order to come to a solution. Nihilism is a theme which is prevalent in German culture after the First World War.  There is a strong sense of disdain toward conventional methods that is common throughout these art forms. In lecture, we have been examining Ernst Jungers’ “On Pain.” This is an essay focuses on pain and how it can bring one closer to reality. Junger believed that morals such as the ones of Christianity, caused people to become disillusioned.
    An interesting point about Junger is that he welcomes technological advances because he believes that it will eventually push people to revolt against a monotone society.
He states that “Boredom is nothing other than the dissolution of pain in time.” This quote is essentially saying that while there is nothing going on, one is forced to face their pain which in Junger's mind is the truth. The silence that comes along with boredom causes one to think.
    As mentioned in the class blog, Junger believes that pain is the key to creating new entities. In other words, acknowledging the hurts will enable one to shed the burden and start the creative process towards something new. In order for one to start something new, they have to free themselves from oppression. In class, we discussed the ways in which a society can be oppressed. One very significant way is through religion.
      Religion can dictate ones life. It can influence the direction one decides to take. The class blog mentions Nietzches point of view on religion and how it can stifle our natural wants. He compared Greek morals with Christian morals. He said that Christian morals repressed natural human instincts. Whereas Christians were intelligent, the Greeks were physically strong. Nietzche attributed their strength to their ability to express their desires.
     One significant way that people have been repressed is through sex and sexuality. This can be seen in the two films we have watched, "The Blue Angel" and "Dream Story."
    "The Blue Angel" tells the story of Immanuel Rath, a teacher at a school in Germany who eventually falls in love with a singer at a risque club. This film shows how women's beauty and sexuality were appreciated so much so that Rath lost his mind in the end.
    What makes this film important is that it comes at a time when the attitudes towards sex and women were making a radical shift. This radical shift falls right in line with the ideals of Nihilism.
   Before the 1920's, women were expected to stay at home and be submissive to their husbands. Women were expected to dress conservatively and present themselves with manners.
   However, World War I reversed these roles. Women were now able to work and make their own money. This created an attitude of independence. Along with this attitude of independence came an attitude of confidence. Women's hemlined became shorter and lipstick became an even more popular commodity.
     Marlene Dietrich could be considered a sex symbol. She portrayed a sassy, "shared", woman who did whatever she pleased and had men falling at her feet. This image was far from the image of women before World War I. It was indeed a radical shift from the conservative way women were portrayed.
     Sex was another concept that had changed perspective. Where it was once thought of as being only for procreation, the act of sex became a very explored topic. "Dream Story" blurs the line between reality and fantasy, in which sex is explored in many different forms. This is reminiscent of Nietzche and his comparisons of Greeks and Christians. Because all in all, humans have desires that they want to act out on but are afraid to do so because it goes against societal norms.
   Fantasy is one of the ways which can allow one to break from the past and create something new. Schintzler displays this very well in "Dream Story." This film made it ok to have sexual fantasies and showed that even though you may be married, it is ok to fantasize about someone else.
    In conclusion, World War I was a terrible war. However, its aftermath allowed Germany to rethink its morals and culture. From this revelation, German society was able to rebuild itself in order to create an entirely new system. Even though Nihilism is a popular ideal throughout the world, it is more significant in Germany because of the struggle and setbacks Germans faced. It was the eventual turn around that their society was able to make.

Quote On Pain

“In such a situation, pain remains the only measure promising a certainty of insights. Wherever values can no longer hold their ground, the movement toward pain endures as an astonishing sign of the times; it betrays the negative mark of a metaphysical structure.” (p. 47)

               This quote reminds me of the saying “When you’ve hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up.” It is saying that facing the pain helps to relieve any problems that one is suffering from. Junger is saying that pain is the only measure that forces one to think or rethink about their circumstances. He in a way is disregarding the belief system that states that values and morals keep one aloof and in line. It seems as though he is saying that humans have a habit of ignoring their problems and that when pain is faced head on that it shows a remarkable feat for mankind.

This reminds me of the reading on Nietschze in which he compared the differences between Christians and the Greeks. He believed that Christian beliefs suppressed natural human desires while Greek beliefs encouraged them. This very sentence “Wherever values can no longer hold their ground, the movement toward pain endures as an astonishing sign of the times,” rings true of what Nietschze was saying.

I chose this passage because it is a statement that defies what most of us have been taught. In America, we are taught to be ashamed of having problems whatever they may be. We are taught to walk by faith and stick to our morals that way we fit into the society. But in all reality, talking about your problems and acknowledging your experiences help make a better person. When these bad experiences are repressed then the result is all of these psychological disorders such as bipolar disorder or adhd.

Reflection Paper

I actually saw the movie with Tom Cruise. I thought it was some what interesting when I first saw it and in reading the book ,Dream Story , it made a lot more sense. Dreams are our perception of reality and sometimes can be accurate. I think that dreams are our suppression of our subconcious. In the movie, Tom Cruise really wanted to be with the girl. She was a fantasy for him but because he was married, it was morally wrong and he couldn't act on his true feelings without hurting his wife. Its kind of like what Nietszche says " These Christian morals suppress the real humanistic nature."

Dream Story Quote

 "neither the reality of a single night nor even of a person's entire life can be equated with the full truth about his innermost being."
I chose this quote because I thought it was very interesting. It is essentially saying that no one moment can define a persons being. You can know someone's entire life and still not know who they are.  I think this rings true. People's actions aren't always indicative of who they are. Sometimes they are a victim of their circumstances or products of their environment. This quote takes in to account that there are other  factors, outside factors, that develop a person's innermost being and it is impossible to pinpoint and explore them all. This is why you can never truly know someone and it might be safe to say one can truly never know themselves either. Depending on the effects of these events, one might suppress them and the affects may never truly be realized.

Reflection

I enjoyed Blue Angel more so than the other film. It was easier to follow and the story was more like the ones of today where the man chases after this woman who can't be tamed and he ends up going crazy in the end. Also these films represent the beginning of what would be Hollywood and directing. They manipulate light and stage props to set the tone of the moment. And today of course we are more advanced.

Themes

Themes present in Dr. Caligiri’s cabinet and the Blue Angel:

Obsession with beauty or all things beautiful- A woman’s beauty leads the man to despair. In Ceseare’s case he is killed as a result of Jane. In Immanuel Rath’s case, he loses his job and his money chasing after Lola.

Concept of Reality/ Insanity- In both films the concept of reality is distorted. Dr. Caligiri has a twist ending and it turns out that instead of being the doctor who works in the asylum, he is actually a patient. And even in the Blue Angel when Rath finds out that Lola is cheating on him, before he can attack her he is attacked by the people at the club and eventually he goes insane.

Depression/Darkness- Both films have a depressed undertone to them as both characters seem to be hopeless. It seems as though in both films, the characters experienced this life changing event, usually something to do with a woman, and then they become depressed and despondent. Their lives seem to spin out of control and essentially they lose it.

These themes represent Nihilism because they expose the superficial and mock the things we take seriously. The fine line between reality and insanity was explored in both films. This is an important part of Nihilism because as we know this ideal attempts to destroy the present norm and create a new one.  A woman’s beauty being the reason the men went insane is the superficial theme.