Objective Summary

The middle section of Spandau: The Secret Diaries, a transition occurs in the writings of Albert Speer, as his thoughts transition from a focus on dealing with his guilt to coming to terms with his sentence. Speer still reflects on his conversations with Hitler. In private, he wonders how he could have been so blindly indoctrinated, but when others misrepresent, in his opinion, Hitler, Albert is the first to defend him. Speer states several times that he wants people to understand the humanity and abilities of Hitler, instead of only his monstrosity. Only when Hitler is perceived correctly will people be able to understand members of the Nazi party and why they followed such a commanding and inspiring leader. At the same time, Speer recognizes the facts and what Hitler did. He focuses on his guilt and involvement in the crimes and how he never spoke up against them in the moment. The other main point in this section is Speer's avoidance of boredom. He constantly reads the writings of philosophers, entertaining himself with internal dialogues on their philosophies. In this section, Speer even begins a walk "around the world". He keeps track of all the kilometers he's walked in the prison yard and pretends as if he's going places. He even researches where he "walks" to next heavily in travel books and other resources. Albert uses this as a tool to keep his mind off of his imprisonment, guilt, and boredom.

The included video is a video of portions of several of Hitler's speeches with English subtitles. The strength in word and power he exerts helps readers know what Speer thought people should understand about Hitler.

Speer, Albert, Clara Winston, and Richard Winston. Spandau, the Secret Diaries. London: Fontana, 1977. Print.

Essential Question Blog Post

Topic: War

Essential Question: Is war necessary?

Claim: War is a necessary evil that can bring many benefits.

Reason: War can allow a country in need to secure land and resources for itself and its people. For example, post-WWI Germany was a greatly demoralized and broken apart nation. German populations were cut off from their home country and ruled by foreigners, such as in the Czechoslovakian Sudetenland. Hitler brought the idea of lebensraum to the German populace, stating the need for land for the German people. Hitler also went to war to defend his refusal to pay the reparations of the Treaty of Paris, saving his people from debt. Another example of warring for land and resources can be seen in the Mexican-American war of the mid 1840s. The United States fought for territory in Western North America, which brought sea to sea power for the United States. The war also resulted in the finding of vast amounts of precious metals to make the US rich.

Territory gained for the US in the Mexican-American war.

Hitler inspecting one of Albert Speer's designs.

In the first third of Spandau: The Secret Diaries, Albert Speer presents the diaries of his time in prison as a criminal of war, which allow a glimpse into the troubled psyche of Hitler's Minister of Armament as he struggles with his guilt and responsibility of the Nazis' atrocities. The journals mark the time from his sentence in the Nuremberg trials to the end of his 20 year sentence. Speer writes as he's going through his struggle, and we see his attempt to cope with his responsibility for the Holocaust. In the Nuremberg trials, he told the court that even though he didn't even know about the killings, any official of a regime must take at least partial responsibility for all of the regime's actions. Speer reflects often on the personal qualities of Hitler, recounting in detail conversations of his with Hitler, which explain to some degree how so many people followed him. Speer struggles internally with this and frequently asks himself in his journal how he couldn't see the signs of Hitler's atrocities in the moment. Speer also tells of the daily occurrences of life in the jail. Although it is freezing and they are confined to their cells for 23 hours a day, the men don't complain excessively. The prisoners are allowed books, paper and pens, and magazines to keep themselves entertained. The author also reminds the reader on occasion that his family has it off much worse than he.When Christmas time, he gets no presents, other than pieces of cut paper from his children, and the other prisoners share with him from their packages. Speer concludes the section not much different than he began, still questioning his own guilt, pondering Hitler, and still being anxious about being moved to a Russian jail.

Speer, Albert, Clara Winston, and Richard Winston. Spandau, the Secret Diaries. London: Fontana, 1977. Print.

Survey on war

Survey

Discussion Question #3

Discuss whether the climax has already passed with Mcwatt's killing of Kid Sampson.

Although the author uses confusing chronology, the story has not yet reached its climax. Mcwatt flying into Kid Sampson is a crucial point in the novel, as it brings home to the men the fact of death in the war. However, it is a tool to set up more conflicts in the book, and not as the climax of the novel. For instance, Kid Sampson's death set up existential trouble for Doc Daneeka because he was falsely written on the flight log, and thus considered dead. "'Doc Daneeka's up there, too.' 'I'm right here,' contended Doc Daneeka, in a strange and troubled voice, darting an anxious look at Sergeant Knight" (Heller 338-339). This quote is from the group on the beach watching as Mcwatt kills Kid Sampson and then himself. From this point, nobody seems to acknowledge Doc, which is obviously setting up some bigger conflict. Mcwatt's mistake can't be the climax of the book because it is used as a plot device to set up bigger conflicts.

Catch-22 Discussion Question

Discuss the significance of the man in white and what he represents.

Faceless man - how bureaucracy seems us
according to Catch-22

In the book Catch-22 by Josef Heller, the man in white, while not a major character, is used as a tool to establish and reinforce a few of the book's major themes including seeming worthlessness of man in war and the inefficiency of bureaucracy in war. The man in white is first introduced while Yossarian is in the hospital in the beginning of the book. The man was sneaked into Yossarian's ward in the middle of the night while everyone was sleep. Covered completely from head to toe in white wrappers, none of the men in the ward know anything about the man in white. Yossarian describes the man in the first chapter:

"Sewn into the bandages over the insides of both elbows were zippered lip through which he was fed clear liquid from a clear jar. A silent zinc pipe rose from the cement on his groin and ... carried waste from his kidneys and dripped it efficiently into a clear, stoppered jar on the floor. When the jar on the floor was full, the jar feeding his elbow was empty, and the two were simply switched quickly so that the stuff could drip back into him. All they ever really saw of the soldier in white was a frayed black hole over his mouth" (Heller 4).

A stop motion, artistic video depicting the man in white's story.

The men in the hospital ward were all terrified of the man in white. He is intended to highlight how men are viewed by bureaucracy as dispensable. The man in white remains faceless and nameless, a direct symbolization of the lack of individual from the viewpoint of bureaucracy. Later in the book, it is hypothesized by Yossarian and others that there might not even be a man in there at all. Months after this man dies, another man in head to toe bandages is brought in. The second man is treated the same as the first, which leads the men to believe that it is the same person inside. The man remains representative of the worthlessness of the individual to a government in war. He remains a mystery; even whether or not he's alive is a mystery. He symbolizes bureaucracy's apathy toward the life of individuals in an attempt to push them through the system and secure a win for the bureaucracy.

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