George Orwell's Stasiland: Stories From Behind The Berlin Wall

George Orwell would be despaired to learn that the oppressive regime in the dystopian future outlined in his novel 1984 realistically took form through the implementation of the secret police agency in the German Democratic Republic, otherwise known as the GDR. Readers of Orwell’s novel often pose the question of whether this society of this shape is even possible in the contemporary world, forgetting the GDR’s highly effective domination of power during the Cold War which took place for over forty years. Two works which describe life in the GDR are the 2002 book Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall by Anna Funder and the 2006 film “The Lives of Others,” directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmack. A comparison of characters detailed

Exploitation under the drives of oppression leads to exemplified emotions and an identification of core values for both the perpetrators and victims. Perpetrators of oppression continuously deal with the inner battle of humanity versus their designated obligation as part of the regime; oppressors are at least in the smallest amount aware of their degrading of humanity, and this calls for personal recognition of their moral standards. In Stasiland and “The Lives of Others,” perpetrators Wiesler and Koch become victims of the Stasi themselves, and it is under this circumstance when their values become apparent to the reader or viewer. It is apparent at first that Koch behaved as a Socialist Man as a way to secure a quality life. When drawing the line for the Berlin Wall, he explained to Funder, “I concentrated on the line, and not on what was happening around me. I thought to myself that those in the west were enemies, looters and profiteers” (Funder 266). He was aware of the chaos around him, but he stopped his conflicting views from getting to him by focusing on his job. Koch’s true reason for staying as a Stasi official emerges when his family is put in harm’s way; he first leaves the Stasi to aid his father meet his grandfather and rejoins in despair at the loss of his wife and child, only to remarry his wife despite the repercussions. His motivation is to protect and love his family, whether that can be achieved as a Stasi official or a normal citizen. A look at Koch’s motives independently provides only a glimpse of arising values under oppression, but Wiesler’s story adds another layer of