Ernst Juenger and the "figure" of the worker
Newton, Robert Parr
Master of Arts
Raised in a comparatively stable society, in one of the most politically conservative states in the world, an American tends to be baffled by the personality that, with intelligence and sensitivity, deliberately advocates totalitarian schemes. Reading superficially the anti—liberal literature of Germany, one is struck by the fact that concepts such as Freedom, Democracy, Progress, and Individualism have come into ill repute. Their opposites have become the slogans of a fuller life. Even totalitarianism, one then finds, is in some sense pursuing the ideals of a more intense existence; of freedom---from indecision; and of stronger personal identity---by identification. Insofar as the totalitarian thinker is not cynical, hypocritical, or self—deceiving, what does he find desirable in a state to whose interests the totalitarian himself is fundamentally subordinated? In Ernst Junger we are fortunate, or disquieted, to find a man of intelligence, a man who has been called "the greatest German stylist of the twentieth century," scientifically educated, his courage proved in battle, acquainted with the world---a man who also wrote a book which is as close to being a bible of totalitarianism as one could well imagine. In this book, Der Arbeiter, there is not a single good word for "Inalienable Rights" or "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity." Ernst Junger later demonstrated that he could say convincing and forceful things about the individual, his freedom and the foundation of tolerable society in mutual respect. What were the formative moments, then, that produced Der Arbeiter? How does a man see himself who sees men as simple functionaries in a great collective work? What could such a work possibly be? These are the questions prompting this dissertation. After an introduction to some social and intellectual factors directly affecting the times under consideration, Ernst Junger's early career will be resumed and his personal motivations examined. On this basis his intellectual perspective, his vision of "figures," will be analyzed. There follows a presentation of the "Worker," totalitarian man, as seen by these eyes. In conclusion, Junger's somewhat dismayed reassessment of values, after 1934, is outlined.