Dezarie Aragon, Trixie Mercado, Kimberly Siy

SA21 O
Metamorphosis
An Analysis of the Social Change in the Movie Schindlers List by Steven Spielberg
Bikram Choudhury once said, It is never too old, never too bad, never too late, never too
sick to start from scratch once again. Oskar Schindler was known as an alcoholic, a womanizer, a
war profiteer due to his ownership of enamel and ammunitions factories, and a member of the Nazi
party. But, most of all, he is famously known as the saviour of 1200 Polish-Jews during the dark
days of Auschwitz. Many would not have expected him to be the kind of man that would go out of
his way to save these Jews given his stature in society and his involvement with the Nazis, but
upon seeing the sadism and brutality that the Jews were going through, he was moved by his
conscience to do what he felt was right.
During the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Polish Jews were being relocated to
concentration camps. In these camps, Jews from different economic status were forced to work,
and, later on, were killed violently. Schindler saves some Polish Jews from this fate by hiring them
as his workers for his army mess kits factory. He employed the Jews in his factory, even those who
had no skills whatsoever, in order to protect them from the brutality and viciousness of the
Auschwitz. Schindler used his capitals, namely his large amount of money that he earned from his
factories, his charisma, and his wits to save the Jews from death in the concentration camps. He
was able to bribe the Nazi lieutenant, Aman Goeth, and his soldiers to build a subcamp where the
workers would only work under his command and where they would not be killed as long as they
were working for him.
The Polish Jews, now known as Schindler Jews, were ultimately saved from cruelty and
death, and peacefully worked under Schindlers protection. What Schindler did was very
controversial for the people in the society since he is a member of the Nazi party, a political party
that aims the complete abolishment of Jews throughout Europe. Being a member of this group
entails allegiance to the party, thus saving the Jews is against the partys beliefs. In this scenario,
we can see how Schindler challenged the status quo by helping the Jews instead of killing them.
This was the start of the social change in that society. Back then, it was the norm that the Jews
were made to suffer, they were treated like animals, and they killed because they were not part of
the society that the Nazis were trying to aim for, but through the work and perseverance of
Schindler, the Jews were elevated to a much more comfortable social status where they were
treated more humanely. After the war, Schindler attempted to start a normal life again, but sadly he
ended up with several failed business ventures as well as a failed marriage. He died penniless, but
to his favor he was abundant of the everlasting gratitude from the Jews.
Schindler was the type of person who you would consider to be an elite during his time. He
was definitely part of the first-class in society. He was rich and he generated respect from his
peers. He was educated and charismatic which is why he had a lot of powerful friends who were
always at his back when he needed something. He also knew a lot of people or had a lot of

connections wherever he went. He was said to be very good-looking and had a way with the
women as well. In other words, he was like one of those people that others hope to be like.
Surprisingly, he was able to use these attributes to help save the Jews from the suffering they were
in. As Pierre Bordieu explained, we humans have our own capitals that we can use in order to
bring about a new order or, in the movie, that is a social change. Just like what was mentioned
earlier, Schindler had a lot of capital from money, connections, charisma, good lookswhile
Jews had nothing and this was what made them feel helpless and miserable. Also, Bordieu
mentioned that it was possible to transfer one capital to another and this was definitely what
Schindler did. He took advantage of his capital to be able to pursue his ultimate goal. He
exchanged almost all of his capital in order to give the Jews the capital of safety and, eventually,
freedom from the Auschwitz.
Here, we can observe how Schindler was able to create a change within the existing
problem. Of course, he did not try to solve all the problems all at oncedespite the potent power
he was holding, he put in mind that he still had superiors and people that he has to carefully deal
with. He prioritized the little things firsthe hired a Jewish accountant to help him start a new
business, then he hired several other Jewish workers to become part of the production of his
enamel company. He gave these people the status of being essential workers. This was important
back then to the Jews because being essential meant that they were not going to be killed.
Schindler, although he may not have initially wanted to be the saviour of the Jews, made certain
changes and did certain deals with people in order to ensure their safety. His accountant, Itszak
Stern, would create fake documents to pass of Jews with a non-essential status as essential.
Schindler, in the film, even went as far as claiming that a man with only one arm was an essential
worker because he was a metal press operator. All these little actions all piled up and by the end of
the film, we have come to realize, little by little, Schindler was saving one Jew at a timehe was
able to solve the grand problem in the movie; he was able to create a change of a system. Just like
what Lewis Coser is saying, social systems are flexible enough to adjust to conflict situations and a
change within could eventually build up into a change of in the system. And with these said, I
quote a line from the movie, "Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire."
Had Schindler been any other man, say he was poor or he had a lack of charisma, he may
not have been able to make the kind of change the he achieved in the movie. He may have had the
same desire to save the Jews, but without the power and the stature that he had to back him up, he
may not have been able to do anything to save them. Or, say that he is a rich man but he is
apathetic of the events transpiring about him, he would not have been able to affect the society,
and even worse he would not have even known the situation of the Jews.
Every one of us has the power to make a positive difference in the lives of those around us.
No matter how rich or poor we are, how articulate or smart or strong or kind, we can all make a
difference. Of course some of us will have it easy, but every person is capable of achieving such
change. Each and every one of us has our own capital in our own little ways. Remind yourself
everyday that you have the power to help others and look for ways to make it achieve your dreams.