Examples Of Franz Justified In Tobias Wolff's '

This book is not written to find Franz Stangl guilty or not guilty for his crimes. A court had already done that, this book sets out to introduce the type of personality needed to carry out the horrific crimes which served Franz a life sentence. Franz is a classic example of cognitive dissonance. Franz adopted abandoned his morals to allowed him to carry out and make peace with his work during the Nazi regime. One, he wants to make sure people know he knew right from wrong. Two, Franz victimizes himself to justify his actions. This essay will demonstrate how he justified his actions by blaming his upbringing, the ways in which he viewed himself as a victim and differentiate himself from those he believed were the true evil. Franz is a very

First, he makes it clear that he was being threatened. Whether it was direct or indirect threats he makes it clear to have feared for his life. To further his victim ideology, he sets out to make the Nazi regime as these manipulative and brainwashing villains. The reader can see that the criminal was aware of the crimes that he was partaking in. Yet, he attempts to paint the Nazi officials as secret holders that kept him and other officers out of the loop. When he brings up the killing of Jewish prisoners to an official, he gets offered time off. In fact, he points out that high ranking officials refuse to listen to his complaints. He lets the issue go and learns to live with the fact that he is simply just another minion following orders. As a person who once chowed drive an ambition, he was quick to let go of the matter. In the end he begins believing the lies he has told himself to live with what he has done. One can believe he was afraid of losing comfort. Franz was once a man who held a labor-intensive job. He had worked so hard to become a police officer for Austria. His life was simply too comfortable to give up what he had grown accustomed to for silly morals. Morals that would not gain him a higher-ranking

He presents as selfish. He sees himself as ambitious but is quick to move onto the next thing when he believe to deserve better. It is this ideology that lands him a job as a police officer in Austria. He is climbing the ranks as Nazi Germany take control of Austria in 1938. He is believed to have been a “secret party member,” which he denies, but later the accusation benefits him as he is able to climb the ranks by being identified as an early member. He is quick to deny the accusation to his wife and those around him, knowing that the Nazi name will taint him. On the other hand, he embraces the title as he will benefit from it. Ways he justified his actions was disassociating from his work and acting as if nothing had taken place when he was with his family. This is made clear when he omits things from his wife fearing her reaction. He lies to his wife fearing that he could read him better than anyone else. Another experience he has with the Nazis earlier in his career is when he carries out instruction from his superiors knowing that it is wrong but excuses himself by saying his life and job were on the line. Later, he goes on to say that he should have killed himself then. He contradicts himself by making himself the victim when he knows what he did is wrong. Mostly so, he does not value his life enough to not die with his morals