To Deceive a Child or Not?

To Deceive a Child or Not?

Roberto Benigni is a very unique writer who sometime uses comedy to describe the most serious of situations. In the film Vita e Bella, Benigni uses comedy to describe the events that happened leading up to the Holocaust. The motion picture is set in the time when Jews were discriminated against in Germany. The main character, Guido, is of Jewish descent and falls in love with an upper-class woman named Dora. As it turned out she was getting married to someone else and Guido comes and literally sweeps her off her feet on a white horse at the wedding reception. Eventually the two do get married and have a son named Joshua, who is a very energetic young boy. As he is growing up, he is oblivious to the discrimination that is happening around him. One of the reasons why he doesn’t notice is because his father deceives him every time he asks a question. The deception begins when Joshua asks, “‘No Jews or dogs allowed.’ Why do all shops say, ‘No Jews or dogs allowed?’” His father replies and says they are the “latest trend.” One day, Dora comes home to find that Guido, his uncle, and young Joshua have been arrested. In order to keep his son oblivious to the reality of what is about to happen to them; Guido decides to pretend that everyone in the camp is competing in a contest. The grand prize of the competition is a life-size tank and that if they hide from the guards (who "aren't really mean; that's just they way they have to act in order to win the game"), Joshua will help them earn points to win the game. Joshua being as young as he is, believes every word his father says and plays the “game.” Guido is right in deceiving his son into thinking the camp is a game because Joshua is too young to understand what is happening around him.

Parents do all they can to please their children and keep them happy sometimes that even means lying to them in uneasy situations. Children have simple, innocent minds that cause them not to realize the severity of situation. When a child is young their mind is like a sponge. It absorbs everything that is going on around them and the memory is “saved” in their minds the rest of their lives. Guido utilizes his wits to make his son believe he is playing a game to win a tank and that they must get one thousand points to win. When they arrive at the bunks he “translates” for the German officer, who is giving the rules, for Joshua and the rest of the prisoners. He says, “The game starts now. You have to get one thousand points…” He doesn’t want his son to feel like an outcast from society or be traumatized for life by the experience. Guido keeps a comedic mind-state through the horrific experience to not let his son’s hopes down and to keep him calm.

Reviews and articles also justify the trickery that Guido partakes in as justified because of the same reasons and others. Phillip French from The Observer of London says the movie never truly “gets dark.” This is correct, being that Benigni uses humor throughout the