Miami Dade College Sense of Power Influence the Schindlers List Reflection Questions

Concepts: Human worth,oppression, power, freedom.

Oscar Schindler was a German entrepreneur, a member of the Nazzy party, who had a critical role during the Holocaust. He made “the Schindler’s list,” or in my opinion, a better way of naming it would have been “the list of life.” Oscar used all his money to save more than a thousand Polish-Jewish people from the control of the Germans. When the war was over, the Jewish people were so grateful for everything he did that they gave him a list of all his good acts along with their signatures as an assurance, in case the Germans ever arrested him. Oscar was a man who knew that there was evil surrounding him, but he did not want to be a part of it.
Schindler’s list is a black and white film; color is used only in four scenes; at the very beginning when the candle is lit up as a symbol of hope for the Jewish people as well as towards the end when the candle is lit up once more giving the audience the same sense of hope. The use of color for the red coat that the little girl is wearing while walking on the streets is displayed to bring more attention to the current plight because he sees her again at the end of the movie in a pile of dead bodies. Also, at the very end, the color scene involving the placement of stones on Schindler’s tomb gives the film a more dramatic effect and emphasizes the importance and meaning behind those scenes with color.
In one scene of the movie, when the Jewish people were being forced to leave the ghetto, you see a little girl screaming at them, saying “goodbye, Jews” as a symbol of joy, knowing that the Jews were about to be murdered. This scene, to me, portrays how fundamental it is to teach your kids the importance of being kind to everyone so that in the future, they are not cruel and unsympathetic to others despite their circumstances.
“How much is a human life worth?” That is the question Oscar asked the SS functionary, Amon Goeth, who did not know how to answer because the Jews were invaluable to him. It is no longer about your origins or your belief but rather about how humane you can be. Sometimes you have to set aside your differences and focus on what is essential, which is what Oscar did. The value of human life is the dominant concept in the movie, and it is most accurately presented at the end when Schindler started crying, just thinking about how he could have sold his car or his gold pin for just one more life. From being a person who cared only about his persona and money, we can see someone willing to lose everything to make it right. He saw them not only as just Jews but as humans, human lives that could be saved. And that’s how we should be, more caring about others and always be willing to help without expecting anything back.

Questions:

1.How does the sense of power influence our lives?

2.What can we do as a human race in order to prevent the tragedies that have happend in the past from happening in the future?