Foucault's Theory Of Punishment And Panopticon

The Berlin wall separated East and West Germany both physically and politically. Disabling families to convene, putting people out of their jobs, and creating a divide between the Communist East Germany and the Democratic West Germany. Civilians inhabiting East Germany lived under strict rule, restricted to not even being able to leave their homes. Living under such strict, controlled power implied there needed to be surveillance in order to eliminate unfaithfulness to communism. Government officials, police, and other advocates watched the society closely to ensure complete obedience reminding us of Michael Foucault’s theory of punishment and discipline and Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon. Analyzing East Germany circa 1984 through Florian von
Foucault’s main three topics he elaborates on are torture, punishment, and discipline. Torture was necessary because, according to Foucault, “partial proofs meant partial guilt”. It was also found extremely helpful in receiving a confession. Breaking a suspect down to the point he or she confesses legitimizes the torture and investigation. Foucault also states that investigations are to be kept secret from the accused. Punishment often involved the convicted felon portraying the crime they committed. Foucault believed showing these actions allowed the public to observe the crime and reflect upon them. Discipline is achieved in two ways. First, there must be constant observation and records of the inmates. Second, it must guarantee that the inmates internalize the discipline. Basically, al of Foucault’s theories in Discipline and Punishment is visible in the Stasi general’s actions in The Lives of
According to Matthew Bernstein, “Grubitz and Hempf embody the way in which East German officials [deploy] surveillance and repression to serve personal ends” (Bernstein 32). Wiesler first has the hunch they should keep an eye on Dreyman. Except when he tells Grubitz his idea, Grubitz laughs in his face. It is only when Hempf asks Grubitz if Dreyman is an adequate subject to spy on does he understand it is a good idea. Grubitz uses Wiesler’s idea for his own personal gain. This is not new to Wiesler, “Grubitz has plagiarized Wiesler’s ideas before to rise in the ranks” (Bernstein 32). The audience then gets panned back to when Grubitz and Wiesler went to school together and Grubitz takes yet another one Wiesler’s ideas. Grubitz did not credit Wiesler for his idea so he could look good in front of his boss, Hempf. Hempf also uses his power for his own personal gain. He becomes fond of Dreyman’s girlfriend, Christa Maria, so he sets Wiesler’s plan into motion just to observe Christa Maria. Although Grubitz and Hempf did not use their prestige and power to murder millions of people, they did use their power for immoral