Analysing Evil-Amon Goeth
Amon Goeth is the walking representation of evil that is the Nazi Party. He is vicious, brutal and cruel. The Nazi party becomes a legal vehicle for his sadistic and ruthless cruelty in which he constitutes the evil of its “final solution”. He sees Jews as nothing more than vermin and to him they are certainly not worthy of basic human rights.
Goeth murders without hesitation, not only this but throughout the film we see he often kills without incitement- nothing nor nobody provokes him. Goeth never wanders onto the good side and shows absolutely no morality. But do not mistake his pure evil as being a one dimensional character.
He is a very conflicted person. We see this as he lusts after his Jewish housemaid, Helen Hirsch. Goeth embodies the contrasting qualities of passion- power and vacillation. In his attempted seduction of Helen, after she shows no reaction, he beats her viciously-blaming her for tempting him.
Later on in the film Schindler (a German member of the Nazi Party who is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and ammunitions factories in occupied Poland) tries to buy Helen but Goeth refuses his offer. Goeth wants to take her to Austria and grow old with her. We see his contrasting and conflicting nature when he tells Schindler that he would never subject her to the atrocities at Auschwitz, instead he would rather shoot her in the head. This is his form of “mercy”.
Goeth’s twisted idea of a merciful end for Helen epitomizes both his inner conflict and essential cruelty.
