The Man Behind the Myth

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him as less of a demon and simply more of a violent man. This new angle of Hitler is shown again when she mentions how ‘…cigars, jars of jam, flowers even pictures were often given to poorer peasant families’ on Hitler’s orders. The audience is likely to accept the invited reading of this text despite this perspective being practically unheard of due to the sincerity of which Rosa discusses Hitler. The interview does not neglect Hitler’s mistakes however does silence the information surrounding it. The text silences the other maids as they have passed away before the publication of the article therefore doesn’t take into consideration any other interactions with Hitler thus leaving gaps of information in the text. The discourses present in the text are politics and the workforce. The article is made more reliable by quoting Rosa which makes the audience reassess their own perspective of Hitler. Ms Mitterer cleverly uses emotive language to engage and to establish a connection with the audience. Rosa emphasises Hitler’s more human attributes however doesn’t promote him as a saint as it would appear to be false thus not being considered a truthful, accurate and reliable account of Adolf Hitler. Moreover, many texts represent Hitler as simply suffering from undiagnosed mental illnesses.

Paul Roland’s- The Mind of Adolf Hitler is a bias analysis of Hitler’s mental stability during the time period of which he ruled Germany. This modern text frequently refers to Hitler as ‘…neurotic, unstable, paranoid,’ and is initially stated in the opening sentence. Roland positions the audience by using highly emotive language like malicious, malevolent and bloodthirsty. The misrepresentation of Hitler is further established through the use of alliteration; for example “malevolent spirit manifested into a man”. This is further conveyed by the use of imagery, motifs and similes. For instance, Mr Roden refers to Hitler a ‘chameleon- like character’ which implies that he can change his personality depending on his surroundings and what’s beneficial to him. This infers that Hitler is cruel, irrational, obsessive and manipulative towards those that support him. Additionally, the article continues to compare the Fuhrer to a devil like creature but also discusses his scared mission. The biblical discourse is evident as Hitler believes that he has been bestowed with a gift from the gods thus making him a superior being. These overarching themes have helped to create a connection with the reader as it is something that’s relatable within society.

It is undeniably important to accurately recount a portion of history without a bias opinion or misrepresentation of the subject as the event becomes a distortion of the truth. Majority of contemporary texts are providing a distorted version of reality by loosely using historical facts. This is appalling as it leaves the audience with a false representation of the subject and leads them to believe the creators perspective as factual evidence. Unlike how most modern texts portray the Fuhrer, Hitler was simply a mad man that suffered greatly from mental illness. Most representations portray him as being supernatural, this will desensitise viewers from the true monstrosities that have yet to occur. Furthermore, by continually demonising him it will permanently engrain this representation, thus reshaping actual events in history.