English 3&4 - Stasiland 2 - Tutorlex - Eastina Zhang

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BY EASTINA ZHANG

How does Funder explore the nature of guilt in Stasiland?
Stasiland by Anna Funder explores the changing status of guilt in her interviews
and interactions with the citizen of the past German Democratic Republic (GDR). In
Funders journey to uncover the truth of the past, she observes the forms and degrees of
guilt not only in victims and perpetrators, but also herself. The recovering situation of
East Germany may seem successful, as many people assume that like many other
things, guilt can be erased with time. However, as Funder learns from her own
experiences this is not always true.
The power of guilt on the individual has been revealed by Funder, in simply
listening, on a personal level, to the citizens. For people who have fallen victim to the
GDR regime, many have been left psychologically damaged. Through her encounter
with Miriam, Funder discovers that Miriams guilt for her husbands death has been
revived. Funders judgement, that her life stopped after Charlies death insinuates that
Miriam cannot move forward because she feel responsible for Charlies death. Similarly,
Frau Paul is a character which also feels immense guilt from deciding against her son
although she didnt have it on her conscience. Funder suggests that people can use
guilt to manipulate and control others to the extent that it would override ones personal
morals. Frau Paul is presented to readers as a guilt wracked wreck, as she has carried
the burden of feeling like a criminal, which is the portrait the Stasi made for her.
Ironically, although Frau Pauls son Tortsen grows up a physically impaired man, it is Frau
Paul who is ultimately crippled mentally. Funder establishes to her audience that guilt
can be an irrational emotion, and that the powerful nature of it can force one to
contradict their personal values.
Although Funder is the omnipresent narrator, she is also a major character in the
text, a character who openly feels guilt herself. Her position as an outsider supposedly
allows her to view the past unbiased and without emotion. Funders narration in first
person strengthens the influence her thoughts have on the reader. However, Funder
herself is shown to feel guilty of bringing pain to her interviewees, especially for Miriam
and Julia, she exposes a side of them they lock deep down inside. The emotional impact
their personal stories have on the reader is great, as they hold such psychological
burdens For Miriam, the unsolved question of Charlies death, and Julia, the shocking
violations to her intimate sphere. As an effect, Funder even questions the guilt in
herself when attempting to dig up the past and lay it out in front of her [Miriam]
Funder feels responsible for causing such characters to recall painful memories, thus her
position to explore the nature of guilt may be flawed. It can be seen that the personal
guilt explored in Stasiland extends out of the limits of the characters stories, but also
has an effect on those trying to understand it.
Through Funders interviews with zealous ex-stasi men, she also discovers that the
emotional burden of guilt does not apply universally for all the citizens of the GDR.
Compared to Frau Paul who was forced to act against her conscience, Funder wonders if
the currently thriving Stasi men have a conscience at all. Pro-communist Von Schintzler


BY EASTINA ZHANG

is a man who, even in the present day does not regret or feel responsible for innocent
death. Instead, he claims it was absolutely necessary, and refers to the fierce and
feared Erich Mielke as the most humane human being. In Funders exploration of the
absence or denial of guilt, she discovers that the regime itself is what allowed for its
ambiguous status. Herr Christian is the personification of living in a faade of justice
born from Stasi mentality. He tells Funder how he is a sticker of the law and a man of
justice, yet his job to catch citizens of his own country who were trying to escape. To
him, his job has a sense of fun and Funder implies from this that Herr Christian is a
man with a distorted sense of right and wrong. His alternate justice is shown through the
metaphor of his sunglasses, he pulls the black over his eyes, suggesting the blind
following to his superiors and the lens of his distorted moral compass. The truth does
not matter for neither Von Schintzler nor Herr Christian, because the GDR itself was an
ossified state, living in its own fiction. Those who conformed feel free of guilt in
watching the regime destroy the lives of many citizens, because at the time, that was
the right thing to do.
Throughout her journey in Stasiland, Funder discovers the powerful nature of guilt
and how it can be manipulated to control people. For people to truly heal, and move on,
guilt needs to be admitted by the perpetrators and community who look the other way.
In Funders experiences, it appears that this has not been the case for victims and not
perpetrators. Ultimately, many East Germans have been brought up in an environment
that advocated distorted moral values, creating a delusion of justice. For some, the past
may just be something to be put behind glass and filed away, but for others, it carries
the unrelenting burden of guilt.


BY EASTINA ZHANG

Ignore this:
Guilt is strongly linked with dealing with the past
Guilt in the present
Although people feel guilty for the past, not enough people are willing to face the
consequences
Frau Paul: guilty for leaving her son (forced by stasi), goes against ones
conscience, conflicts with her personal choice, shows the irrational nature of guilt
Personal guilt: miriam, at charlies death
Personal guilt is different and can change within the individual
Herr Christian: torn between his duty to the country and expectations of the
citizens (metaphor of his sunglasses, has a distorted moral compass)
Absence of guilt in individuals and community
People arent facing the past, do not deal with the unexplained mysteries, arent
willing to feel the guilt in recognising they let their own country fall into such a
situation
Eg dancing to the new tune, the bmw comparison
Von Schnitzler: still firmly believes he is correct, justifies his actions, lives under a
delusion of righteousness
not one of the tortures of hohenschonhausen has ever been brought to justice,
Funder asserts that guilt should be felt
if they have any conscience at all
Denial/ shifting of guilt: who is truly guilty? Who is the judge of what is right and
wrong, who assigns this guilt?
stasi offcials/ informants felt superior and were given the unconscious task of
assigning guilt
distinction between morality and legality: did not exist to many of the stasi,
hence the absence of guilt.
Consequences in escaping/ accepting the mistakes of the past
Mriam left with little tics
Julia unable to submit to being on time


BY EASTINA ZHANG

Stasi thriving

English 3&4 - Stasiland 2 - Tutorlex - Eastina Zhang

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