Supremacy of the American soldiers
One of the most pronounced aspects of social hierarchy during the Second World War in Germany was the perceived supremacy of the American soldiers. The American forces were part of the formidable allies that were fighting against the Germans and from the onset of the war, there was an unspoken perception that they were superior in almost every aspect, military wise, economic wise amongst other social dimensions. Even their language was considered superior!
The Marriage of Maria Braun provides several striking depictions of this element of social hierarchy. It cannot be denied that the Americans had for several decades been treading miles ahead of other countries in terms of technology advancement and infrastructure development. It was factors such as these that enabled the country to produce highly advanced combat artillery that easily outclassed those of the other world’s superpowers of that time. For instance, the Americans had highly advanced radar detecting equipment which was used to track the progress and the activity of the foe as well code deciphers which deciphered coded messages of the enemy to anticipate any potential attacks. In regards to this, the supremacy of the Americans in terms of warfare cannot be denied.
The other element of hierarchy in regards to the Americans that can to a huge part be only classified as a perception occurred in the cultural social dimension. This is very conspicuous in “The Marriage of Marie Braun”.
After receiving news about the supposed death of her husband during the war, she seeks comfort in an American soldier named Bill who grants her companionship. This is in fact contrary to some of the notions advanced by Hitler about the supposed racial supremacy of the white majority that would ultimately made any German not want to associate with dark skinned individuals. Bill was an African American and his relationship with Maria seems to indicate a trend of moving away from a belief in racial hierarchies towards a belief in cultural hierarchy or regional hierarchy. It can be deduced that Maria thinking before entering into a relationship with Bill was that in the absence of her husband; Bill could provide her with basic essentials that most of the German men could not. Her thinking is quite brilliant because from Bill, she is able to acquire things like food, alcohol, chocolate, and silk stockings which were at the time considered by the Germans as goods of luxury. Clearly, this is an exemplary portrayal of the American soldier’s supremacy during the Second World War.
One of the concepts that Maria’s relationship with Bill demonstrates is that of Cryptonymy. The “crypt” concept forwarded by Nicholas Abraham and Maria Torok stipulates that a crypt is constructed when a loss or a certain form of life reality experienced by an individual and whose effects cannot be alleviated by the process of mourning cannot becomes impossible to be admitted as a loss (Schwab 27). The crypt is therefore a place inside a subject where this lost subject is forever held and preserved. This is demonstrated in the fact Maria is unable to come to terms with the supposed death of her husband and so she does not adopt the conventional type of mourning. She mourns her husband by constructing a crypt inside her where she preserves the memory of her husband. She absolutely does not talk about him even when she is with Bill.
Maria’s relationship with Bill not only brings into light the supremacy of the American soldiers but it also shows the supremacy of their language. Maria enters into a relationship with Bill because she also knows that he will teach her English, considered to be the world’s most superior language.
Another aspect of hierarchy in regards to the supremacy of the Americans occurs in the social interactions of the soldiers with their counterparts from other nations and even with the common folk in Germany. Some places or venues were specifically reserved for the Americans. The Germans were completely outlawed from being at those venues. For instance, there were bars opened in Germany that were exclusively for Americans. No Germans were allowed into the bars and only Germans who could access the bars were the women who worked there. The bars had mainly been opened as a way of distraction from the atrocities of war. This exclusivity of the bars is exemplified in the part where Maria is being questioned by an American Chancellor, who is investigating Bill’s death states that bars were invented purely for the use of the Americans and Germans had absolutely no right to avail themselves at such places.
It is clear that the supremacy of the American soldiers in the different scopes discussed above in Germany during the Second World War in Germany affected individuals, cultures and the society in general. Just like Maria took part on a relationship of convenience with an America, many Germans were eager to interact with the Americans adopt some of the lifestyle some of their lifestyles. Unfortunately for them, some of the perceived elements of supremacy of the American soldiers were not always accurate as the events of the post war would come to reveal.
It is fairly safe to reason that it was the supremacy of the American’s military might and power spilled over to other social aspects. The American military was hugely endowed in terms of combat equipment and warfare intelligence. This obvious fact made the American soldiers to be considered once again supreme when they landed in the German nation. This is not to say that the American soldiers were not supreme in the social aspect. Bill was obviously an intelligent chap with a lot of social skills simply because of the fact that he was able to enter into a relationship with a white German woman who we would naturally expect to hold some reservations about interacting with black people because of Hitler’s brutal campaign against the minority races in the world.
Social Classes
Social classes were a crucial factor in determining how people related with each other. It was a common occurrence that war inflicted the most damage to the classes from down upwards. The challenges experienced by women, in particular, were in great part affected by the social classes to which the belonged. The lower tier of the social class women were often used as vessels during the war and it took a lot of mettle and subtlety to survive the harsh conditions provided by the war. Records taken by Vivienne Hall who was a middle-class single lady in her early thirties, and who lived at home with her mother in Putney, South West London, and for the Northern Assurance Company in London indicate that the war went to great effect in dismantling the social class system, the lower class was predisposed to much more harm from the war than the other classes.
The hardships of war facing the men engaged in the war, left women in a much more frontal role in running the affairs of normal living, making things work amidst all the strife, in this way therefore, the role of the women expanded to more than the household. Women were able to participate in roles that they would previously not participate in. this is evident in the blossoming of the relationship between Maria relationship and Oswald, a relation that becomes one of mutual benefit through business arrangements. Maria becomes valuable to Oswald, when she uses her knowledge of English to communicate in trade negotiations with Americans for Oswald’s textile business. While the attainment of this status by Maria is admirable, it is achieved through her willingness to becoming sexually exploited by Oswald. This shows the sacrifices that women had to make in order to survive in the troubled times of the war, subjecting themselves to abuse by the upper class in order to make ends meet.
The existence of hierarchy in the upper class of Germany will be analyzed in that the wealthy class is superior and is in control of power. Resources in times of war are an absolute necessity for survival with some people having difficulty obtaining even the most basic of amenities of life such as water and food. In this regard therefore, the higher class was in a position of control, as a majority of the means of production lay in their hands. The lower and middle classes, therefore, had to expose themselves to danger wile going about the creation of livelihoods, while the higher class benefited from their efforts at the comfort and safety of their homes.
During the war Germany is faced with economic depression and the lower class is faced with struggle and strife. The scene in which Maria meets Oswald on the train demonstrates two contradicting lifestyles of the crowded poor and the empty seats of first class containing merely one passenger, Oswald. This scene puts it clear that the higher classes were in relative comfort during the war and would even afford to flaunt their affluence, and engage in vanities such as taking class designated coaches in the train, while the country is under strife. The need of the higher class to be seen as so, implies that they were in a position to avoid the vagaries of war, or their position as the higher class afforded them some advantage to the rest of the people.
The social standing of an individual therefore, and their personal circumstances, played a pivotal role in the conditions they faced during the war. While wealth was a predominant factor in social classification, race and nationality also played a pivotal role in affording an individual a privileged status. Jews for instance, even the rich ones faced persecution and their businesses taken over by the German nationals for instance. Women, as in the case of Maria, were able to find their way through the performance of favors for individuals in the upper classes, and finding a niche in the economic world, such as the role assumed by Maria as a go between by translating English for Oswald.
Male dominance
During the Third Reich, women lived in a regime that gave them minimum space to take up key roles in life. As such, they were confined to women roles such as mother hood and spouse obligation. A typical Nazi woman did not have a career but was for her children’s welfare, education and housekeeping. This was a period in the German history that was characterized by sheer gender discrimination, oppression and exploitation of women by their male counterparts. Male chauvinism and dominance was at the core of the society.
The film, Marriage of Maria Braun, exemplifies the role, the position that men and women occupied, and the subsequent consequences of this situation. The movie is deep-seated in the experiences and post experiences of the Second World War and brings into lime light male dominance of that time. Revolving around the life and the marriage of Maria Braun, the film explores the struggles that women went through amidst a society dominated by males. It should be remembered that during the War World II most men who served in the forces left their families and spouses to take part in the war. This left women such as Maria Braun with the option to engage in extra-marital affairs with other men for survival, fortification and sexual companionship. This is evident as Maria Braun engages in multiple sexual affairs in order to meet her needs.
As depicted in the film, male dominance starts from the authorities. Adolf Hitler’s administration was one of the most radical administrations in Germany that denied women a voice. Women were not allowed to take up roles and careers such as lecturing medicine and politics.
The society had amassed all wealth on men. This left women with less for survival. As uncertainty of their husbands’ return continues to build up, women are compelled to face the rich men for finances and other favors. At the beginning of the film, Maria has nothing at all for her upkeep and survival. She wears tattered clothes and can hardly feed herself. She quickly realizes, “what aspects of feminine and masculine identity are worth something."It is after this realization that Maria opts to use what she has to fix her life. Maria realizes that all what she lacked could be acquired through exchange value with the American soldiers who were serving in Germany during and after the war. Maria decides to use her sexuality to obtain what she lacks. She quickly redesigns her sexuality including her outfits to meet the eye of wealthy men. She fast becomes very materialistic and desire to have the best made to persistently cling on rich men. This is a depiction of a society that has built all whether and authority around men. Male dominance comes is apparently seen as women such as Maria Braun cannot feed their bellies and families or wear good clothes without necessarily having to turn to men.
The Marriage of Maria Braun demonstrates men as the perfect representation of the society and portrays them as individuals who act in the manner that the society expects them to behave. When Hermann returns unexpectedly to Germany from the war, he comes to reality with the engagement of Maria to Bill. In the event of this situation, Bill; is killed by Maria and in a surprising move, Hermann takes the blame for Bill’s death. While it is quite right to argue that Hermann was part of the reason as to why Bill was killed, it cannot be exclusively blamed on him for the death. To Maria, her expectation was none other than having her husband take blame for the death. This would justify the case that she had to sacrifice Bill’s life to remain Hermann. Maria is used to demonstrate the changing society which solely depends on how man reacts to issues achieve continuity. The whole issue shows how man is directly or indirectly involved in shaping the society and using the woman as the object that implements this change.
Through the different scenes of the film, Maria is romantically engaged to several men. In all cases, the film tries to portray her as the odd one out as she is expected by society to remain faithful to her husband Hermann who is involved in the war. Surprisingly, the film fails to take note of the marriage status of the men she engages with. In this essence, the film portrays the kind of justificat5ion technique that men have used to dominate over women that they are more justified to engage in extramarital affairs while women are supposedly required to remain faithful to their marriages. The reason as to why men are given such a privilege in this society and entrenched well in the film is a reflection of the diminished role women are subjected to and which is considere3d a normality.
In all relationships Maria has been engaged in, with the exception of her engagement to Hermann, she is demonstrated as being driven by financial and material gains. Her engagement to Bill is built on the small favors of support he gains from him. He gives her nylon stockings and cigarettes and in the very end, she becomes pregnant of him. Her engagement to Karl Oswald is solely built on her proficiency in English which would be beneficial to Karl’s business involvement. She serves as his diplomat in business relationships and this strengthens their relationship and she duly benefits as she is able to acquire wealth enough to buy a house. These events demonstrate the noti0pn that women can only gain access to wealth or power by sacrificing themselves to men as objects of pleasure or means by which men can strengthen their grip on power and wealth. Rather than portraying Maria’s rise as an achievement for women, the film concludes by relegating Maria to a housewife despite her achievements in life. Surprisingly, all other male characters in the film are depicted more as heroes in the end while Maria is diminished to the peripheries. In fact, as the scenes come to a close, all those men she has been engaging with are left out of the picture once her role diminishes. They are potraye3d to be pursuing different paths and living in completely different worlds. Her social class is lowered, while the men are portrayed as the high social class of the society.
As may be depicted in the early scenes of the film, women do not need men for survival including their own husbands. Maria could obtain all what she lacked without having to pay marital obligations to anyone. However, Fassbinder ends the film at a twist that further reinforces the theme of male dominance. Despite what was earlier perceived as a society with independent women, Maria comes to realization that she was just an object of exchange and that she was still living under the mercy of the same men she had earlier acclaimed not to be dependent on.
Works Cited
The Marriage of Maria Braun. Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Perf. Hanna Schygulla, Klaus Löwitsch, Ivan Desny, Gisela Uhlen. 1979. Albatros Filmproduktion, 1979. Film.
Schwab, Gabriele. Haunting Legacies: Violent Histories and Transgenerational Trauma. Columbia University Press, 2010. Print.
