Torn between the Three

As I was reading the Silberman article, I was trying to make any connection I could to how it represented Germany at the time. Initially assuming that there was some hidden subplot designed to make the Third Reich look good, seeing as how the film industry was under Goebbels control when this was released, I knew I had to look for more than waving flags and massive marching demonstrations. Yet the more I looked for this, the more I realized that the positive message was not there and, if anything, a more pessimistic message lay underneath it all.

This specifically happened when I reached the section in the article analyzing the different male suitors for Madeline (around page 3 or 4). I realized that each of the three men could represent various aspects of the authority under the Third Reich, each trying to control Madeline (the German empire) using its own means of influence. Silberman describes Madeline's husband as an "authoritarian personality whose identity rests on subordination." This could describe the aspects of the Third Reich that assumed all was well among its people and that its entire image was founded on the power given to it by the subordination of the people. Silberman then describes Victor as an "arbitrary power of authority to bring catastrophe or salvation." This would be the side of the ruthless side of the Third Reich, crushing subordinates and flaunting its power. Lastly, Silberman describes Michael as outside of these two poles as the artistic, expressionistic side of authority. In the Third Reich, this would be the emphasis on culture, arts, and the media to manipulate its subjects and acquire its desired means. Each suitor used its means of influence to pull Madeline towards himself, yet in the end she could not handle it any more and died. As a result, each suitor was defeated, unable to hold the same form of influence without its goal in reach. Likewise held true for Germany and the various forms of the Third Reich. Once the country fell, there was nothing left to influence.