Compare And Contrast Wiesler And Blackmail

East Germany was like a many Communist governments. Not a single person actually believed in what they taught and they were just corrupt bureaucrats that wanted to get rich. Wiesler was one of these guys at one time, but he changed. Hempf was as corrupt as you could get. Grubnitz, on the other hand, took advantage of the system. Blackmail was very prevalent in Communist societies to the point that it was how things got done so the leaders could continue on with their shenanigans.
Wiesler was a man that would do anything to advance in the party. He was smart, cunning, and a great teacher. Those kinds of people don’t really advance in the party. To advance in the party you must be spiteful, sneaky, and corrupt. Grubnitz was this. Grubnitz even

admitted that he hung on Wieslers coattail all the way through school and copied off of him. Grubnitz had a “quality” that Wiesler didn’t, corrupt. Grubnitz didn’t really help out Wiesler with the investigation of Dreyman either. Weisler would often come into the attic and Grubnitz either wouldn’t be paying attention or doing a half job. Grubnitz didn’t really care as long as Wiesler was there. Wiesler felt like he could do the operation himself. Wiesler also became technically corrupt. He was corrupt in the eyes of the part because he went against the party. Wiesler gradually saw what the party does to innocent people. Dreyman supported the party before Jerska killed himself. The only reason they went to investigating Dreyman was because they had a gut feeling and the fact that Hempf wanted him gone because he was a romantic rival. The entire investigation of Dreyman was corrupt, but more on that later. Wiesler started to feel bad when he discovered the Hempf and Sieland relationship. Hempf blackmailed Ms. Sieland into having sexual relations with him or Dreyman would be blacklisted. What Wiesler does is that he rings the buzzer to Dreyman’s apartment. Dreyman answers, no one is there, he walks down stairs and see’s Ms. Sieland getting out of the car with another man. Wiesler, who is an idealist of the Communist Party, see’s this as horrible and wrong. Wiesler then tells Grubnitz what happened and Grubnitz says he only took the job to advance in the party more. This startles Wiesler more. Wiesler acutally believed in the crap the party preached to the people. Wiesler realizes that is why Grubnitz advanced in the party and he didn’t. All because he wasn’t as power hungry as Grubnitz.
Hempf was a nasty old man.

He had been in the party his entire life and he cheated his whole way up, but who didn’t? He is the one that originally opens the Lazlo case. Wiesler and Grubnitz assign themselves to the case. Wiesler wanted to catch traders of the system while Grubnitz just wants to get a better reputation and rise up the party. Hempf manipulated everyone. His blackmailing of Ms. Sieland was a cold-hearted move and caused her to kill herself in the end. Ms. Sieland’s career relied upon the party. The party could take away her job, kill her, or blacklist her at anytime so the party and Hempf manipulated her. The party wanted to manipulate Dreyman, but Wiesler kept that from happening. Hempfs goal was to blacklist Dreyman no matter what. He supported the party and everyone knew it. Hempf was just out to get him. Hempf saw Dreyman as a threat. Dreyman was an artist and artists were almost completely controlled by the party. When one single party or person has absolute power with no competitor that is where you find the most corruption. We have seen it in every single “communist” government ever. This is because when one person or group has control they can favor friends and eliminate opposition without anyone questioning. If someone does question you can just eliminate him or her. Any totalitarian government is mostly corrupt. East German corruption was to the point where I consider it tyranny. Aren’t the workers supposed to rule? Tyrants inside the communist

party run the country. None of them outside of Wiesler actually believe in Marxism. The oligarchy created in Communist regimes corrupted communism. Guys like Hempf and Grubnitz became tyrants of the system. Wiesler was there was the “good intentions” and the “workers”. I guess you can’t prevent human nature, but a guy like Wiesler had it “right”. Its not for me, its for the people and the system.
Another form of corruption was how Grubnitz ended the case.

The party leaders didn’t really seem to care that Sieland killed herself even after the Der Spiegal article came out. This shows that the party didn’t really care how the people felt about them. In our form of government, the government would care if there were a spike in suicides across the country. Another example is the fact that Sieland killed herself because of the party. It doesn’t concern them. They just tell Dreyman that the investigation is over and go on their way. Totalitarian states don’t care about their people at all. We see it in almost all of them. The government doesn’t care because they are so caught up in their own power they don’t even care anymore. The party realizes she isn’t a threat anymore. Only reimbursement was cancelling an unjustly case and accusation against her boyfriend. Wiesler saw this as wrong and felt bad. Wiesler, for his heroics, was demoted to Department M. Where rogue party members go when they get caught going against the party. What you do is open letters and read them or work behind the scenes. No one knows you exist. Wiesler finally leaves the party and his post in Department M when the Berlin Wall fell. Him and all his workers, who probably now hate the party, walked out silently when one person with headphones in heard it on the radio. It was kind of weird because they all marched out without talking like robots. In the new society, he becomes a mailman or something

like it. Dreyman eventually talks to Hempf and finds out he had been spied on. Dreyman goes to the records department and finds all the false information that Wiesler was reporting. He wants to meet Wiesler, but once he finds him, he thinks it would be better if they never met. Weisler then buys Dreymans new book. Wiesler had changed from a Marxist to a free society man.
The Lives of Others is a story of corruption. Not just anti-communist because the person with the “right intentions” was a Marxist. In reality, People like Glubnitz and Hempf ruined it for the people that actually believed in the system. These kinds of people ruined lives of artists and their families. Luckily one agent realized it. It is also a story of redemption because it showed that an artist could still wield power in that sort of government. Unfortunately, there is a cost when you rebel, which happened to be Ms. Sielands life. Wiesler realizes that the system will die and his reputation will with it. He finds solace when he finds Dreymans book in stores. Kind of weird I feel bad for a commi.