Ordinary Men Essays (Examples)

1000+ documents containing “ordinary men”.
Sort By:
By Keywords
Reset Filters

Example Essays

Essay
Ordinary Men Christopher R Browning Is a
Pages: 3 Words: 960

Ordinary Men
Christopher . Browning is a history professor at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. His work on holocaust historiography has allowed Browning to contribute to the world's most important compendium of holocaust history at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. The sources used to write Ordinary Men were primary sources only: documentary evidence mainly emerging in the legal trials that ensued. Therefore, the author is well qualified to address the matter of the eserve Police Battalion 101. Browning's experience and background would not have made Ordinary Men: eserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland easy to write, though. The material is summarily grim, troubling, and difficult to digest. However, the holocaust is a significant part of modern history that must be continually remembered in order to never forget.

Ordinary Men is about a group of working class middle-aged German men from Hamburg who are selected to participate in the…...

mla

References

Browning, Christopher R. Ordinary Men. New York: Harper Collins, 1992.

Essay
Ordinary Men Genocide and Human
Pages: 5 Words: 1730

In the horrifying details regarding a mass execution operation conducted by a series of German platoons, one man recalls that "it was in no way the case that those who did not want to or could not carry out the shooting of human beings with their own hands could not keep themselves out of the task."(Browning, 65). Browning indicates that many Germans felt inclined by responsibility to follow the orders delivered though.
Unfortunately, when one piles up the evidence detailed by Browning's research, it cannot be denied that genocide of this nature is always possible. The situation in Germany did not illustrate a uniquely evil nation with historically inclined desires to behave so unfathomably. Nor was it simply a matter of a ruling class intimidating a far larger population of potential free-thinkers. Rather, it was the unfortunate calling of fate that would land power into the abusive hands of a…...

mla

Works Cited:

Browning, C. (1992). Ordinary Men. Harper Perennial.

Essay
Ordinary Men Reserve Police Battalion
Pages: 4 Words: 1161

(Browning 168-169) He points to Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiments where some subjects proved so amenable to authority that they were willing to repeatedly shock and possibly kill other people if an authoritative figure ordered them to do so, while refusing if a less authoritative figure gave the same orders. (Browning, 167) Browning suggests that there is an element of calculation and free will here that goes against the notion of the soldier as the mindless vessel of Nazi terrorism.
Browning believed that situational factors be assessed in tandem with psychological factors. (Browning, 186) Though Browning is dismissive of the notion of purely situational factors, he seems to appreciate the significance of situational factors in the gradual transformation of the individual. Whereas the purely situational explanation characterizes these Nazi soldiers as shallow brutes, incapable of the recognizing the larger consequences of their actions, Browning characterizes these soldiers as thoughtful, mature individuals,…...

mla

References

Browning, C. (1990), Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland, London: Penguin Books

Essay
Ordinary Men Reserve Police Battalion
Pages: 2 Words: 566

Clearly, the reason lies within fervent nationalism and Hitler's mad scheme known as the "Final Solution."
As to the book's strengths and weaknesses, rowning conveys the true brutal face of World War II via his highly-detailed analysis of attalion 101 and its members; he also very forcefully relates to the reader that the war was fought for many reasons, the most important being the destruction of Hitler's Nazi Germany and its war machine which devastated most of Europe between 1939 and mid-1945. rowning also conveys how "ordinary" men like those of attalion 101 truly represent all of humanity by being manipulated and in a sense brainwashed into believing that their actions are justified, even when those actions involve murder and torture. Thus, Ordinary Men is a very persuasive philosophical work which underscores the depravity of mankind.

Overall, rowning's Ordinary Men serves as an excellent addition to the class lectures and discussions,…...

mla

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Browning, Christopher R. Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final

Solution. New York: Harper Collins, 1993.

Essay
Christopher Browning's Ordinary Men What Was the
Pages: 3 Words: 1037

Christopher Browning's Ordinary Men
hat was the situation of the Police Battalion 101 that prompted their actions?

"How did a battalion of middle-aged reserve policemen find themselves facing the task of shooting some 1,500 Jews" in a Polish village (Browning 3). This is the central question of Christopher Browning's Ordinary Men. The policemen were not fit for military duty, but they were subjected to the same political and military propaganda as the more famous perpetrators of Hitler's infamous 'Final Solution.' This solution was not introduced gradually. In fact, it was within eleven months from 1942-1943, that the major casualties of the Holocaust occurred (Browning xv). As the Jewish people began to understand that the repatriation to work camps was actually a death march, the Germans encountered more and more resistance and tried to catch the Jews by surprise as they drove them to their mass graves. "Mass killing on such a scale…...

mla

Works Cited

Browning, Christopher. Ordinary Men. New York: HarperPerennial, 1993.

Nazemi, Sandy. "Sir Robert Peel's Nine Principles of Policing." LA Community Policing.

2009. [8 Oct 2012]

 http://www.lacp.org/2009-Articles-Main/062609-Peels9Principals-SandyNazemi.htm

Essay
Chrisopher Brownings Ordinary Men Cristopher
Pages: 5 Words: 1732

Himmler himself came up with an explanation for those who could not obey orders, in spite of their unconditioned obedience, so that their comrades and the rest of the population get a message of a condition in their mental health, rather than a disobedience dictated by their human nature.
Almost a century and a half after the official abolition of slavery of the U.S., a comparison comes to mind. The way the human mind works when it is motivated to see a fellow human lacking it's the most basic element: humanity, in conditions of war and peace appear to be the same. Those who accepted and practiced slavery world wide were coming from different backgrounds and many of them were educated people. They used slaves and never stopped to ask themselves what gave them the right to see them as sub-humans. The comparison between the causes of slavery and those…...

mla

Browning's reflections on those few men who stepped out right from the beginning or later, after having shot a few people, show that, as expected, he finds the Nazi propaganda very effective up to a point. Those who were unable to start shooting or to resume shooting, even two decades later, could only testify that they were repulsed by the act. Browning concludes: The absence of such does not mean that their revulsion did not have its origins in the humane instincts that Nazism radically opposed and sought to overcome. But the men themselves did not seem to be conscious of the contradiction between their feelings and the essence of the regime they seved. Beeing too weak to continue shooting, of course, posed problems for the "productivity" and morale of the battalion, but it did not challenge basic police discipline or the authority of the regime in general (Browning, 74). Himmler himself came up with an explanation for those who could not obey orders, in spite of their unconditioned obedience, so that their comrades and the rest of the population get a message of a condition in their mental health, rather than a disobedience dictated by their human nature.

Almost a century and a half after the official abolition of slavery of the U.S., a comparison comes to mind. The way the human mind works when it is motivated to see a fellow human lacking it's the most basic element: humanity, in conditions of war and peace appear to be the same. Those who accepted and practiced slavery world wide were coming from different backgrounds and many of them were educated people. They used slaves and never stopped to ask themselves what gave them the right to see them as sub-humans. The comparison between the causes of slavery and those of mass executions in the case of the Order Police battalions are, of course, stretched and disregarding the most important element of all: the war. On the other hand, the overwhelming majority of the members of the reserve Police battalions 101 safely returned home after having done their "jobs" successfully. No one held them on the point of a gun and the front line war psychology cannot apply.

Browning, Christopher R. Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland. HarperCollins 1998.

Essay
Chris Brownings Ordinary Men Essay
Pages: 3 Words: 1003


Introduction

In the decades that followed World War Two and the unspeakable horrors of The Holocaust, much study has been conducted to both learn the details of all the interlocking forces that enabled these atrocities. Scholars and historians today have much data about how the Germans engaged in and perpetuated The Holocaust. There is a robust comprehension about the motivating factors of how the Holocaust was carried out. There isn’t a tremendous amount of insight regarding the feelings and thoughts of those who perpetuated such horrific evils. Chris Browning’s book, Ordinary Men Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland, sheds light onto one of the darker corners of The Holocaust: how the ordinary people, the middle-class Germans whose names have been forgotten by history, were able to gather up millions of Jews and systematically kill them—with bullets, stuffing them in cattle cars destined for gas chambers. Browning’s book…...

Essay
Man in the Iron Mask
Pages: 5 Words: 2164

He is the last resource of the dying; he is the instrument of heavenly mercy. Sire, we supplicate you with clasped hands and bended knees, as the Deity is supplicated! Madame Fouquet has no longer any friends, no longer any support; she weeps in her poor deserted house, abandoned by all those who besieged its door in the hour of prosperity; she has neither credit nor hope left. At least, the unhappy wretch upon whom your anger falls receives from you, however culpable he may be, the daily bread which is moistened by his tears. As much afflicted, more destitute than her husband, Madame Fouquet- she who had the honor to receive your Majesty at her table; Madame Fouquet, the wife of the ancient Superintendent of your Majesty's Finances,- Madame Fouquet has no longer bread."
eality v Fiction

There are many ways in which Dumas stretches the reality of not just…...

mla

Reference List

Dumas, Alexandre. The Vicomte de Bragelonne. Ed. David Coward. Oxford: Oxford University, 1998. Questia. 3 Aug. 2007  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=22933050 .

Macdonald, Roger. "Behind the Iron Mask." History Today Nov. 2005: 30+. Questia. 3 Aug. 2007  http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5012048049 .

Essay
Man Did Evolve Man Is
Pages: 9 Words: 3818

He purported the theory that strength is the only acceptable or even desired quality in a human being and weakness in any form was a great failing, good will survive, and bad will fail. Ultimately, goodness will be replaced by strength; humility will be replaced by pride, the very basis of survival will be threatened by equality and the principle of democracy and power will replace justice in all aspects, and power will eventually be the judge of the destiny of humankind. The Church and religious heads of the time vehemently opposed these theories since they felt that this meant that human kind would be subjected to the theory of the 'survival of the fittest' wherein the weak become exterminated by the strong. (it's a Matter of life or Death)
Nietzsche's thoughts, though for the most part forgotten, do stay alive in 'Philosophical Investigations' by Wittgenstein, where Nietzsche's 'Theory of…...

mla

References

Aristotle: (384-322 B.C.E) Retrieved at   Accessed on 16 November, 2004http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/aristotle.html .

Aristotle's Taxonomy. 2000. Retrieved at   Accessed on 16 November, 2004http://www.unbf.ca/psychology/likely/greeks/aristotle2.htm .

Boeree, C. George. Darwin and Evolution. 2000. Retrieved at   Accessed on 16 November, 2004http://www.ship.edu/~cgboeree/evolution.html .

Chain of Being. Retrieved at   Accessed on 16 November, 2004http://www.occultopedia.com/c/chain_of_being.htm .

Essay
Man's Realization of His Dream of Becoming
Pages: 5 Words: 1766

man's realization of his dream of becoming a United States Army Drill Sergeant. The introductory part provides an initial glimpse of how drill sergeants are commonly seen by ordinary people and the stereotype Hollywood movies have made on this important members of the United States Army. Thereafter, the paper takes the reader to how the person became a drill sergeant and the kind of course taken to earn the title as well as have the privilege of wearing the drill sergeant hat and badge. The paper then progresses into the initial assignment after completing the drill sergeant course and concludes with the more responsible posting as a Senior Drill Sergeant in one of the United States Army's training schools.
Personal Experience

Introduction

Most people have seen and are familiar with the United States Army recruiting slogan "e All You Can e." For over two decades (from 1980 to 2001), these words rang…...

mla

Bibliography:

Associated Press. (2006, October 10). Army: Nicer drill sergeants more effective. Military on msnbc.com. Retrieved September 20, 2011 from  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15210867/ns/us_news-military/t/army-nicer-drill-sergeants-more-effective/ 

U.S. Army. (2011). Drill Sergeant School. Retrieved September 20, 2011 from http://www.jackson.army.mil/sites/school/pages/127

U.S. Army Drill Sergeant. (2011). The Making of a Drill Sergeant. Retrieved September 20, 2011 from  http://www.army.mil/drillsergeant/

Essay
Response to Themes in Barry's Machine Man
Pages: 6 Words: 1737

Barry's "Machine Man"
Originally published in 2011, Max Barry's futuristic science fiction novel "Machine Man" was first made available to readers as an online serial, before being updated and collected into a full-fledged book. Barry bucked publishing industry protocol and posted excerpts from his "Machine Man" to his personal website, imploring his regular readers to submit criticism and feedback in the hope of collectively shaping his creative vision. As one of the first literary works to be "crowdsourced" in terms of content, the version of "Machine Man" which emerged from this collaborative process is, much like its conflicted protagonist, an amalgamation of various constituent parts which comes together to form a harmonious whole. Barry's thematic thrust with the novel -- which tells the tale of Charles Neumann, a subordinate scientist working for a military research conglomerate known as Better Future -- is humanity's ceaseless pursuit of perfection, and the consequences…...

mla

Works Cited

Barry, Max. Machine Man. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 2011. Print.

Crerand, Canice E., and David B. Sarwer. "Body dysmorphic disorder." Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology (2010).

Essay
Language of Ordinary People Thomas Paine
Pages: 6 Words: 1806

Language of Ordinary People
The American evolution could not have been as strong as it was if it were not for one man, Thomas Paine. He was the one who supported and fought for it with all his synergies, combined in the written form of most celebrated and valued book and pamphlet Common Sense and The American Crisis, which turned the tables for revolution and brought a vibrant change in the history of America. Thomas Paine spoke the language of common people through his words. This assisted them in being able to rise up for their individual rights. He believed that ordinary people should defend their liberty and this concept was written strongly in his top works of eighteenth century, which is still remembered and read throughout the America as an inspiring piece of inscription to raise the most necessary revolution to change America. This thesis tends to explain how Thomas…...

mla

References

"Hope for the Wrongly Accused." Voices for Freedom. 1-21, 2011.   / (accessed 7-6, 2012).http://voices4freedom.wordpress.com/2011/12/21/hope-for-the-wrongly-accused 

Marin., Lucian E. "Free Women from Domestic Violence." Voices for Freedom. 1-16, 2012.   / (accessed 7-6, 2012).http://voices4freedom.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/free-women-from-domestic-violence 

"Together We Can Change the World." Voices for Freedom. 12-13, 2011.   / (accessed 7-6, 2012).http://voices4freedom.wordpress.com/2011/11/13/toegther-we-can-change-the-world-volunteer 

Whittier, John Greenleaf. Voices of Freedom. london: BiblioBazaar, 2011.

Essay
Existential Analysis of a Man
Pages: 5 Words: 1742

This is a journey that requires the utmost steadfastness and the ability of face the truth. In existentialist terms, the world and all experience is essentially absurd and the more one questions the meaning of existence, the more the irrationality and absurdity of existence is revealed. However, this reality must be faced with acceptance and equanimity.
In the case of the protagonist of this short story, he is embedded in ordinary, everyday existence and refuses to acknowledge the absurdity of existence. Ziegler, like most people, is comfortable to hide behind a wall of logic and scientific rationality; the life of non-authentic existence. However, this illusion is destroyed by the alchemist's pellet that that undermines the illusion that the world is rational or structured in an orderly way.

What the author of this story is attempting to say is that the reality of existence must be faced in the existential journey towards…...

mla

Bibliography

Hesse, H. A Man Named Ziegler. Place of publication: publisher (1908).

Essay
Older Woman Younger Man Relationships
Pages: 8 Words: 2685

So, we see that women are committing to their partners even if they are older than their male companions, even if they rarely get married to them, they enter and stay in a stabile relationship. We have every reason to believe that women are in it mainly for the psychological comfort. But what about the men? Young men can date women of any age, given the fact that youth is one of the most powerful arousal-factors for all species of mammals. it's slightly unlikely for a younger man to stay in a common-law relationship with an older woman, as it usually happens in an average age-discrepant couple (Boyd&Li, 2003), just for one reason: sex, money, influence, etc. But the subject is open to debate.
How does society reacts to age-discrepant unions? Until now, not quite well. The significant difference in age for a couple, whether it's a young woman with…...

mla

References

Boyd, M., Li, a. (2003). May-December: Canadians in Age-Discrepant Relationships. Canadian Social Trend Statistics Canada Catalogue, No.11-008, 29-34.

Darroch, J., Landry, D., Oslak, S. (1999). Age Differences Between Sexual Partners in the United States. Family Planning Perspectives, 31(4), 160-167.

Essay
Carol Tavris' The Mismeasure Women Men Women
Pages: 5 Words: 1621

Carol Tavris' "The Mismeasure omen" men women define intimacy experience love differently. In ways differences affect nature relationships capacity maintain personal commitments? You refer cultural messages cultural scripts men women expected act.
omen as love's victims:

Conceptualizing women and intimacy in the modern age

Both men and women may be capable of romantic love, but love between a man and a woman has been conceptualized as fundamentally different throughout the ages, according to Carol Tavris in her book The Mismeasure of omen. Tavris notes in classical literature, men have tended to be seen as the more self-sacrificing gender, capable of grand, dramatic gestures for love like Sydney Carton or Lancelot while women have functioned as objects -- often objects unworthy of the love of their lovers and husbands (Tavris 246). Of course, most of these works about great male lovers were authored by men: women were portrayed as cold, indifferent, and incapable…...

mla

Work Cited

Tavris, Carol. The Mismeasure of Women. New York: Touchstone, 1993.

Q/A
What systematic failures led to the tragic events of the Holocaust?
Words: 1014

1. The Holocaust, one of the darkest chapters in human history, was not an event that occurred in isolation but was the culmination of a series of systematic failures and societal shifts that facilitated the genocide of six million Jews and millions of others deemed undesirable by the Nazi regime. Understanding the causes of the Holocaust requires a deep dive into the political, social, economic, and ideological conditions of Germany and Europe in the early to mid-20th century. This essay will explore the multifaceted reasons behind this tragedy, examining how a combination of historical grievances, political opportunism, and the exploitation....

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now