Character Analysis of Schindler’s Ark

【Abstract】： Schindler’s Ark is one of the classical works of modern Australia literature. The novel shows us the brutality of German Nazi Party and the tragic destiny of the Jewish people by portrayed a series of characters and described events happening on them. This thesis will analyze the main characters in the novel and explain that the kindhearted sides of human nature would never disappear even in the most difficult circumstances.

【Key Words】： character， human nature， destiny

I. Introduction

Schindler’s Ark is a famous historical novel all over the world. It told a story of Oskar Schindler， who had saved thousands of Jewish people from Nazi concentration camps. The word “Ark”， has a strong meaning of religion， and expresses the desire of live and the hope of life. Oskar Schindler， Amon Goeth and a large number of Jewish people are main characters in this novel.

II. The Hero——Oskar Schindler

Oskar Schindler is successfully portrayed as an existential hero rather than a born hero. The following part will analyze this person from the point of view of his character and human nature.

2.1 The character of Oskar Schindler

Oskar Schindler， a self-made entrepreneur who saves Jews from the Nazi death machine. He is a flawed hero and he is not without sin. He is a drinker， a womanizer and at first， a profiteer. He has married his wife， but he also has several mistresses. He employs the Jewish people in his factory， only because their lowest wages. But after the war， he is commemorated as a \"Righteous Person\" at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem， but he is never seen as a conventionally virtuous character.

At the beginning of the novel， the writer describes such a scene as Schindler goes to visit Amon Goeth. When he meets Goeth’s Jewish maid， Helen， he behaves quite polite and does not regard her as the “inferior race”. We could analyze that Schindler is not a racist. So all his actions to rescue the Jews is reasonable. The deepest humanity rooted in Schindler’s heart stimulates out by such bloody scenes and cruel facts.

2.2 Human Nature

At beginning， Oskar Schindler is not interested in political affairs or any other thing except making money and seeking pleasure life. Gradually， he becomes more and more aware that Jewish people is equal to other race and their suffering is cruel and inhuman. Thus he decides to help them. It seems such a simple process and reason， but its result and impact is quite far-reaching. At the end of the war， the Jews write a letter with their signatures to prove Schindler’s innocence. His covered human nature appears， not only rescues the Jewish people， but also saves himself. At the same time， he turns from a common person to a charitable angel.

After the war， his business fails， he separates from his wife and he ends up living a shabby life in a small flat in Frankfurt. Eventually he arranged to live part of the year in Israel， supported by his Jewish friends， and part of the year as a sort of internal émigré in Frankfurt， where he was often hissed at in the streets as a traitor to his race. After 29 unexceptional postwar years he died in 1974. He was buried in Jerusalem as he wished. Maybe all of us would feel much pity about the final result of Schindler’s life， but that is the real human nature.

III. The Nazi Commander——Amon Goeth

Another character， the Nazi commander Amon Goeth， is also important to this novel. He is the contrary side of Oskar Schindler， or we could say that he is a downright devil who kills the Jewish people without the slightest hesitation. On one hand， he is no doubt a bad， rude and cruel person. He went to the work of murder as calmly as a clerk goes to his office， which makes Schindler despise him in the simplest and most passionate words. For all the Jewish people who know him， Amon Goeth is such a horrifying nightmare.

But on the other hand， he deeply loves his Jewish maid Helen. She is his lover， but at the opposite side， she is also his enemy. Goeth does not know what and how to do with her. In his mind， the Jewish people are inferior race， but why would he fall in love with such a beautiful young lady？ His belief tells him that Jewish people are the most inferior race， but at the same time， his heart tells him that Helen is the only exception. Amon Goeth is a complex and mixed character.

IV. The Overall Portray of the Jews

The deeply distressed Jewish people suffer a lot during the war， and we could see that they unit together to fight against the Nazi. The Nazi soldiers search their houses， loot their valuables， expel them to ghetto， and kill them wantonly， but there are still some Jews try their best to save their own race. They constantly keep touch with Schindler and other organizations which support them. This kind of spirit encourage their determination of pursuing success and peace. They does not give up the hope of live. However， on the other side， we could see the darkness of them， too. Some Jews turn to be policemen in the ghetto， they help the Nazi to oppress their own compatriots. What is worse， when they get Schindler’ list， the real Ark for the Jews， they wantonly change the names and rewrite the names whose bribe them， of course， including their own names. Maybe everyone has right to pursuit of life， but this kind of action is too despicable. This is the deep-rooted weakness of the Jewish people.

V. Conclusion

To sum up， through this novel we clearly see the deepest hearts and humanity of human beings. The readers could understand that the human nature would not disappear even in the most hard or cruel atmosphere. In contrast， human being’s kindhearted sides would be stimulated out by these difficult circumstances. The glow from the fire of human nature will light and warm the whole world forever.

References

[1]Keneally，Thomas.Schindler’s Ark [M].London：Serpentine Publishing Co.Pty.Ltd，1982.

[2]張衛紅.《辛德勒名單》及其作者基尼利[J].外國文學，2004（6）.