Banality of Evil
Trying to ascribe meaning to “The Banality Of Evil” is challenging because the individual words themselves don’t feel strong enough to describe the actions of Eichmann, yet the phrase as a whole provides the language necessary to portray Arendt’s message. Arend’t describes the Eichmann Trial in totality to be presented like a performance. Certain elements of the trail presented themselves in this way, for example she describes the entrance of the judges coming in to “take their seats on the highest tier of the raised platform.” (Arendt 5) This alone creates the sense of spectacle that is about to start when really they are in a court of law. These characteristics emphasize the dramatics of the trial, which adds to the idea of the banality of evil that Arendt raises in this retelling. Eichmann’s crimes are now presented as a story adding a level of banality as if he’s “just” a bad guy that is getting “justice” When in reality he was part of an Organization that redefined understanding of international crimes.
The evils Eichman committed towards Jewish people in comparison to the simpleness in which he describes his life before he became a Nazi is so dissimilar. The phrase almost feels like a commentary on how this evil isn’t new; these atrocities can be traced throughout history. A layer added onto this initial idea is that there’s no inhumane figure doing these deeds, but a human that’s been through the same pedagogy to become a person in society. The same as other people and yet they didn’t turn into a Nazi paramilitary officer. The true problem at hand was instating language and punishments for these “new” evils. In chapter two, it’s described how doctors and mental psychiatrists are trying to diagnose Eichmann and ascertain his mentality. All these consultations led to no apparent cause or reason as to why he would be driven to do these acts. He is a perfectly simple man, whose life has been “normal.”(Arendt 25) A doctor even describes his outlook towards his family as “not only normal but most desirable.”(Arendt 26) What I would derive from the subtitle “The Banality of Evil” in the context of this reading knowing about Eichmann’s life pre-nazism is that not every wrongdoing is to right another wrong done. People do not necessarily have to be troubled to do wrong and will derive meaning for their actions based on personal causes. Therefore, continuing this cycle of evil and solidifying the banality of it.
Work Cited
Arendt, Hannah. Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil. Penguin Books, 2006.