A Comparison Of Oskar Schindler And Amon Goeth What Is...

Victor Frankl once said, â€Å"Any person, regardless of the circumstances, can decide what shall become of them – mentally and spiritually.† This is true for Oskar Schindler and Amon Goeth, who both had very different reactions to World War II. Human goodness is when one sees the truth, accepts it, and makes rational decisions based on the truth. Human evil is irrational decision-making, and when a person sees and understands the truth but choses to defy it. In Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List, philosophers Kant and Rahner would agree that Schindler is a representation of human goodness, and Goeth represents human evil. Oskar Schindler represents human goodness with his actions during the Holocaust. Oskar starts as a man who only acts for†¦show more content†¦They gave him a ring with a Hebrew saying on it and a letter signed by all his workers that explains how good he was to the Jews in his camp. Oskar suddenly felt emotional over everything he had done, and he started to say, â€Å"I could have got more.† He realized that he was capable of saving people during the war and wished he had saved, â€Å"One more person.† Rahner believed that goodness was when one chooses to abide by the truth through virtuous acts, although he also believed good people were capable of evil acts (Lippert). Oskar began as a selfish, manipulative man who was using the war to benefit himself. Once he saw the truth, he acted through virtue. When the war came to an end he wished he had done more, seeing that he was capable of giving up so much more of his own life to save others. Unfortunately, goodne ss like that is rare, but so is evil. Amon Goeth illustrates human evil with his actions during the Holocaust. Like Oskar, he used the war to his advantage by gaining power. Unlike Oskar, Amon found joy in killing. That alone is considered evil to most people and evil does not change. Oskar gets mad about the woman who said that his factory was a haven. When speaking to Itzhak about it, he says that war brings out the bad in people and that if there was no war, Amon would be good. This may be true for most people, but truly evil people do not change due to the situation. Looking at