Nika's Reviews > Mother Night

4.5 stars rounded up

Who is Mr. Howard Campbell?
We know that he is an American playwright who happened to live in Germany under the Nazi Regime. He could have returned to his homeland but he opted for staying in Germany. Nazi rule did not seem to bother him. But Campbell could well have a serious reason for not leaving Hitler's realm.

In Nazi Germany Campbell worked on the radio, constantly attacking the 'enemies' of the Third Reich and spreading nefarious propaganda. He had risen to fame as a Nazi propagandist.
Some, however, believe that he was a spy who used his radio broadcasts to send coded messages to the Allies. After the war, the US government decided to ignore Campbell. They neither deny nor confirm his status during the war years.

At the end of the day, it seems that this is not the most important question whether or not Campbell was a spy who contributed to the downfall of Hitler's Reich.
Several years after the war his speeches where Campbell stigmatized the so-called Untermenschen started living their own life. His fiery diatribes have infused those who adhere to supremacist ideologies with new dangerous passion.
Ideas live much longer than people do.

Meanwhile, troubles face Campbell. He feels as if his personality were split into two halves. One Campbell is a valuable spy who worked for the Allies. Another is a man who by his speeches condemned thousands, even hundreds of thousands of innocent people to death. Should we say that a person can have several faces at the same time?
It becomes increasingly difficult for him to stay afloat.
Campbell is tired of toying with the thoughts about which version of himself is true to life and which is not so true.