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Why do you think he makes this choice, when he knows that it is unlikely that he will be able to prove that he was working as a spy? What moral purpose, if any, is served by his surrender?
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Chapter Forty-Four: Lock Me Up
Why do you think he makes this choice, when he knows that it is unlikely that he will be able to prove that he was working as a spy? What moral purpose, if any, is served by his surrender?
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I think Campbell was tired of hiding. Had he not turned himself in he would have had to start over again. Build a new life as a new person. There would always be people looking for him and hating him. The alternative of possibly being imprisoned for the rest of his life was more appealing than being in hiding for the remainder of it.
ReplyDeleteAs far as morality goes I think Campbell was a little confused himself. On all sides he had judgment for his actions during the war. By turning himself in and going to trial I think Campbell was trying to put an end to it all. He could be seen as doing the morally right thing by many of the people that were hurt and angered by his actions by turning himself in, and if he was found innocent then he could no longer be prosecuted. Campbell was just searching for a way out of his life that no longer had meaning
I don't think Campbell cared much for proving his innocence. I think for the most part that he just wanted to be somewhere that was consistent with how he felt. Jail, seemed to suit that well. It was somewhere where he would be left alone for the most part. After the tragic events of his life he no longer wanted to exist. But since he still felt that he must he decided that he might be 'happiest' in a place where he didn't have to think about what to do next. (And in jail especially those options are very few). He ate when told to, slept whenever, and devoured time in the writing of his court ordered memoirs.
ReplyDeleteAs hard as I try I can't think of much of a moral principle to accompany him turning himself in. To the one who is but only 'briefed' of Campbell's past, I assume they would believe that he meant what he had said during the war and accordingly surrendered himself because he was (and felt) guilty. I can justify my personal thought on this by including the fact that Campbell ultimately ended his life once he found out that he would be spared, and would have to continue life when he had nothing more to live for.
By giving himself up to the people who desire his death I believe that Campbell is trying to cleanse himself in the only way that he could come up with that was deemed suitable by himself. Campbell played the role of a Nazi for so long that I think by the end of his lifespan he truly believed that he was responsible for the lives of all those people that were murdered by the Germans and that he felt like he must attone for those crimes committed by others. Deep down I believe that Campbell knew that he was guitless and that he did those things for the purpose of ending the reign of terror the Germans had instilled in much of the eastern world, but he had told so many people that he believed the thoughts of the Nazis that he began to question his true purpose behind his job in the war and he might have even began to believe it for real. Campbell asked to be put on trial for his supposed war crimes to truly be rid of any false guilt.
ReplyDeleteI don’t believe that there was really anything moral to his decision. Campbell was simply tired of running. He had nothing left to live for, and no will to go on. He was tired of a life with no meaning. He didn’t want to decide what to do next anymore. In a sense, it was the best option for him. While in jail, all decisions were made for him.
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