Justice

“Because I hated you so much, I studied you. I listened to everything you said; never missed a broadcast. Did you know that until this very moment, nothing would have delighted me more than to prove that you were a spy—to see you shot. Now, I couldn’t care less if you were a spy. Do you know why?”

“No”

“Because now I know that even if you were a spy, you could never serve the enemy as well as you served us. All of the ideals that made me proud of being a Nazi, they came not from Hitler…but from you. You alone kept me from concluding that Germany had gone insane.”

0:30:30

Campbell’s father-in-law tells this to him when Campbell goes to visit their home after the news arrives that Helga has died. Campbell realizes for the first time in the movie that his greatest enemies may be those that are very close or closely related to him. This realization proves to be painfully true near the end of the movie. 

The power of words is illustrated in this passage. Campbell's job as a propaganda writer for the Nazis was to write speeches that upheld the Nazi principles and views that would be broadcast on the radio for all to hear. However, his job as an American spy was to insert seemingly random pauses and coughs. The meaning of these he never understood, thus the secret messages he was sending out he himself did not know. For him, all he could know and control were the words. And being the talented writer that he was, his propaganda was extremely effective; later in the movie when he sees his speech replayed at a Nazi meeting, he is shocked by the brutality of his own words. He sees for himself the person that he was to the world minus four people, including himself. The words that he wrote for the Nazis were more powerful than any secret message that he was sending out. He informed a few military powers in America, but inspired every Nazi in Germany. It is at this point in the movie that he stops writing, having realized the terrifying power of his words. 

Campbell had only meant to do what he was told by his superiors. Write propaganda. Pause here. Cough here. However, his simple obedience of orders earned him credit of a portion of the six million humans killed throughout the war. It is this truth that his writings fueled and propelled the Nazi movement and Holocaust that leads him to turn himself in at the end and ultimately commit suicide--a justice he feels he deserved.

Q: What justice do you think Campbell deserved?