Bystanders 'Injustices In The Poem Hangman'

You are about to go to sleep. You are in bed, just about to drift off, but then you hear a scream: Please help! He's hurting me! What would you do in this situation? Some might aid, while others will not intervene. This was a dilemma many Germans may have witnessed during World War Two. Sadly, crimes are still committed to this day, and bystanders are forced into a difficult decision just as Germans in the Holocaust were: To speak out against these injustices and risk their lives, or to not step in. Considering different views and sources, when bystanders witness a crime, they have a responsibility to help. Others who do not agree with this claim may say onlookers should remain neutral and not risk their lives. In the poem "Hangman", after somebody speaks out against the injustices, the Hangman says,”‘Do you hold,’ said he, ‘with him that was meant for the gallows tree.' (Ogden), insinuating he may be killed for saying anything. While it is logical to not wish to hinder a crime for your own safety, you do not have to necessarily risk your own safety. For

In the poem "Hangman", the antagonist (the Hangman), who kills people says to the narrator, 'I did no more than you let me do' (Ogden). When the Hangman says this, he means that if everyone together had interfered, the death toll would be lower. Since everyone was weak in protesting in this metaphorical town, all the townspeople were wiped out. Second, in Night, when a train carting the Jews passes through a German town, Wiesel describes the scene as, “German laborers were going to work. They would stop and look at us without surprise" (Wiesel 100). These German citizens had the opportunity to protest, or question the Nazi officials before the war got too bad. But now, all they could do was watch these injustices. In conclusion, people must interfere against those in control to stop injustices from