The Lives Of Others Analysis

How do we know if something has the quality of being true? We usually rely on our own experiences or the experiences of others. We rely on what we can see, smell, hear, taste or touch. We use our five senses to perceive something as real, to a certain extent, but our thoughts, our beliefs, and our personal experiences usually tend to come between reality and the actual truth. We usually ask questions or people for advice and we tend to believe what others tell us. To what extent do we have to believe them? Is it because it seems true? Is it because it seems legit? The information that is given to us, how do we know if it is true? We have many questions, and not many accurate answers. We can be easily manipulated depending on how certain information …show more content…
Wiesler first sees Dreyman at the opening of one of his plays. A colleague says to Wiesler, “One of our only writers who is read in the west, and is loyal to our government.” Wiesler is suspicious of Dreyman after his colleague says Dreyman is an honest man. Wiesler accepts a job from his superiors as he is driven by his own curiosity on Dreyman. He tape wires Dreyman’s apartment and eavesdrops conversations between playwright Dreyman, and his mistress, an actress, Christa-Maria Sieland. Later in the movie Wiesler realizes Dreyman is a loyal man after all, and that he has been hired to eavesdrop the couple because his boss has developed an interest in Christa-Maria. His boss orders him to frame Dreyman about something, anything at all, to get Dreyman out of his way. Wiesler has nothing to frame, or pin on Dreyman. Wiesler is asked to be dishonest to prove his loyalty to his boss. He knows the truth, but is given orders to give false information about Dreyman. He is disgusted by the motives of this job. He becomes fond of Dreyman, and hides information from his superiors. Dreyman decides to write an anonymous article on the rate of suicide after one of his friends commits suicide. An editor from a newsweekly in Germany gives Dreyman a typewriter. A typewriter with red ink. The red ink symbolizing a nameless, anonymous writer. Wiesler does not inform his boss that Dreyman has written an anonymous article, or that the anonymous article was written with a typewriter that was not legally registered. Typewriters are not commonly used anymore. The Lives of Others takes place in 1984. A time period where they did use typewriters. A time period where the internet had not yet shined its way through the lives of people. An article cannot be easily manipulated. You have to find the article, change it and publish it again. This process makes it difficult for information to be