Lessons from “The Great Dictator”

Most of us are familiar with ‘The Great Dictator’ a classic movie starring the legendary Charlie Chaplin made in the year 1940. It made a statement, a visionary satire on the unfolding events, which etched itself indelibly in world history. The film per se, may be about 70 years old but remains as relevant today as it was then.

It was recently that I came across the full text version of the speech given by the barber (Charlie) who was mistaken for the tyrannical dictator, in the movie. I was surprised by the magnanimity of the speech, which perhaps had not dawned on me when I had seen the movie during my college days’ years ago. Every word and line seemed to stand out from the speech. The protagonists may have changed, but characters like that of the barber, in the film, will be adored forever because they personify sanity and can stand up to deliver common sense in such succinct terms.

The tentacles of terrorism are reaching out to engulf democracy. The democratic order is challenged each day and the ensuing fight is between the resilience of one against the relentless and mindless violence and propaganda of the other. Rationality has been discarded and in this hour the voice of reason needs to speak up, just as the barber masquerading as the dictator did in the film.

He said “….I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone - if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.”

Persistent wave of hatred, and the sadistic tendency to inflict misery upon others, has brought the world to the brink today. Religion has become the prime divisive force and the major cause for all forms of violence and depravity.

The speech brings before us a picture of the present when it conveys this “Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost....”

Yes, our intelligence is used to terrorise or counter terrorism. Compassion and fellow-feeling has been replaced by all-pervading hate which percolates down to every strata of people. Kindness and gentleness are now considered to be the ornament of the weak, the bold and the beautiful are full of hate and misguided intelligence.

Let us read further where there is an ardent appeal to bring back frenzied people from the brink.
“Soldiers! don’t give yourselves to brutes - men who despise you - enslave you - who regiment your lives - tell you what to do - what to think and what to feel! Who drill you - diet you - treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don’t hate! Only the unloved hate - the unloved and the unnatural! Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!
In the 17th Chapter of St Luke it is written: “the Kingdom of God is within man” - not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people have the power - the power to create machines. The power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.
Then - in the name of democracy - let us use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world - a decent world that will give men a chance to work - that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfil that promise. They never will!
Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people! Now let us fight to fulfil that promise! Let us fight to free the world - to do away with national barriers - to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers! in the name of democracy, let us all unite!”

The need of the hour is to be resilient and to counter un-democratic stands with democratic measures. This will ensure that democracy will live and prosper. Dictators and those others, who rule not through love, compassion and understanding, will face subjugation if democratic means are upheld. Violence can get the better of some people for all time and all people for sometime but not all people for all time. Those who make false promises and instigate innocent people to serve their own selfish interests cannot win in the long term. Dictatorship stifles while democracy nurtures, so in the interest of the world at large it is our duty to uphold democratic values. One of the key elements for promoting such democratic thoughts and process is through education. The world needs to address not only global economic poverty but also poverty of reason and education. 

The barber raises his voice and tries to make himself heard to as many people as possible. He states that the phase is temporary and will pass just as all bad things pass away. He tries to bring optimism among the people. 

“To those who can hear me, I say - do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed - the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish. ..”

The words convey the need of the moment; the state of the world remains the same as it was more than 60 years ago. The ugly head of greed, misplaced cleverness, animosity and hate have established their credentials. In a recent speech given by Sheikh Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, the Islamic State’s chief spokesman, in September’15, he urged Muslims in Western countries such as France and Canada to identify infidels and “smash his head with a rock,” poison him, run him over with a car, or “destroy his crops.” Time has come for all of us to stand up and oppose such hate, else the world will soon come to an end.