Power

When Burke describes power he says, ‘the power which arises from institution in kings and commanders has the same connection with terror’. Therefore, I decided to focus on this connection between power and terror and felt that Polanski’s The Pianist displays many examples of this connection due to its depiction of the Nazi occupation of Warsaw during World War II. In the scene that I have concentrated on and believe to be a particularly good example of power and fear, the Jewish people are rounded up and told to collect a limited amount of belongings in order for them to be transported to an extermination facility at Treblinka. Their willingness to cooperate displays their fear of the Nazi soldiers and it becomes clear when one woman gets shot for questioning where they are going why they are so fearful. A particularly poignant moment in this scene comes when the father of the leading family is speaking to two friends while they wait for their transport to arrive, and one of the friends says, ‘Why don’t we attack them? There’s half a million of us here, we could break out of the ghetto. At least we could die honourably and not as a stain on the face of history.’ To this, the father jokes ‘What do you think I’m going to do? Fight them with my violin pole?’ As the man pointed out, the Jewish people greatly outnumber the Nazi soldiers, yet their fear of what may happen prevents them from taking action and the father merely sees it as a throwaway comment. Overall, Burke’s comment that ‘pain is always inflicted by a power in some way superior, because we never submit to pain willingly’ is exemplified in this scene, as their willingness to cooperate is only so great due to their fear of the Nazis’ armed SS organisation: a power superior to them at that time and in their situation.