From the outset and throughout, Anna Funder, in her historical non-fiction text 'Stasiland' remains unyielding in her quest for "human courage". Though confronted with the aftermath of a world both punishing and somewhat strange to the young Australian, Funder recounts stories shared with her from both victims, and those who victimised. It is ultimately through this that she is able to depict to the readership that amidst all the anguish and agony, there too are moments of joy and healing.
Funder encapsulates a world that was both cruel and absurd, but is now "either broken or about to be" from decades under the watchful eye of Stasi officers. In order to fully emphasise the effects of the Stasi on ordinary GDR citizens, Funder describes the …show more content…
In doing so, Funder is able to portray a more authentic and genuine perspective as to how the Communist regime became synonymous with cruelty through overt oppression of their own citizens. A prime example of the ever present malicious behaviour of the Stasi is Miriam, who claims that East Germany "made enemies of their own children." Miriam's story is the catalyst for Funder's search for stories beyond the Berlin Wall, and is depicted by Funder as a victim of the regime, a "small still woman" who is "stuck in the past" as a result of the many years of suffering. At the "age of sixteen, [Miriam] became an official enemy of the state", and was promptly imprisoned; Funder's dismay at the absurdity of Miriam's situation highlighted in her remark that such an act "seems so harmless". Miriam's comment that when she was released from prison "[she] was no longer human", suggests to the reader the extent of Stasi torture behind closed doors, exemplified by Miriam's statement that "[the Stasi] break you". Throughout her time in prison Miriam was subjected to sleep deprivation as a means of torture, and as a result of simply "[wanting] to sleep" made
Funder encapsulates a world that was both cruel and absurd, but is now "either broken or about to be" from decades under the watchful eye of Stasi officers. In order to fully emphasise the effects of the Stasi on ordinary GDR citizens, Funder describes the …show more content…
In doing so, Funder is able to portray a more authentic and genuine perspective as to how the Communist regime became synonymous with cruelty through overt oppression of their own citizens. A prime example of the ever present malicious behaviour of the Stasi is Miriam, who claims that East Germany "made enemies of their own children." Miriam's story is the catalyst for Funder's search for stories beyond the Berlin Wall, and is depicted by Funder as a victim of the regime, a "small still woman" who is "stuck in the past" as a result of the many years of suffering. At the "age of sixteen, [Miriam] became an official enemy of the state", and was promptly imprisoned; Funder's dismay at the absurdity of Miriam's situation highlighted in her remark that such an act "seems so harmless". Miriam's comment that when she was released from prison "[she] was no longer human", suggests to the reader the extent of Stasi torture behind closed doors, exemplified by Miriam's statement that "[the Stasi] break you". Throughout her time in prison Miriam was subjected to sleep deprivation as a means of torture, and as a result of simply "[wanting] to sleep" made