Schindler's List and the concern for the victim -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: [1], 2 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 21:11:08 04/07/08 Mon
Author: Betsy Peters
Subject: Schindler's List and the concern for the victim

In chapter 13 of the Scapegoat, Girard notes how our modern culture is so concerned for the status of the victim and that this concern springs out of only a Christian idea--no one before this ever gave a second thought to the status of the victim. Girard calls the concern for the victim "the secular mask of Christian love." "we never praise outselves" he writes, "and always show concern for the victims we have not saved yet" (166). This reflection reminded me a lot of the movie Schindler's List. Religion appears to remain quite absent from the movie--the church is used as a trading ground of the black market. Only at the end does Schindler meet his wife there and promise fidelity again. But, despite his lacking religion, Schindler does feel an acute concern for victims. The very last scene in which he weeps for the Jews he has failed to save demonstrates Girard's point nicely. All the Schinder Jews are telling him what a good work he has done, but all that he can do is look around and see the places where he has failed to save another victim. It is a really moving scene and demonstrates that even the atheist among us in this post christian age is moved by a concern for the victim.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Re: Schindler's List and the concern for the victim -- CS Holden, 08:34:19 04/08/08 Tue
- Re: Schindler's List and the concern for the victim -- Hwaet!, 20:24:53 04/13/08 Sun
  - Re: Schindler's List and the concern for the victim -- CS Holden, 13:00:30 04/14/08 Mon