Dinner with a Historical Figure: Keep the Past from Repeating by Kaylee

Dinner with a Historical Figure: Keep the Past from Repeating by Kaylee - February 2016 Scholarship Essay

He survived four years of World War I, was awarded two iron crosses for bravery, and gained followers through his public speeches. You probably think the previous statement is regarding someone like George Patton or Douglas MacArthur; however, it is actually referring to Adolf Hitler. To me, Hitler has always been a mystery. He fought so hard for a certain cause, but then he quickly neglected all of his work. He took something so wrong and made it look right to the human eye. His motives are debated constantly by historians. I want to study psychology during college; therefore, the thought of what could have possibly been going through his head during this time intrigues me. I believe that by learning his thought process, we can more easily identify a person who would have the potential to carry out actions similar to Hitler’s. This would enable us to make sure that nothing remotely close to the Holocaust would ever happen again. Because he manipulated the public, went to extremes to implement a change he deemed necessary, and quickly abandoned his intentions, I would choose to have dinner with Adolf Hitler to discuss the unscrupulous logic behind his actions.
Since the beginning of time, everyone has always had their own opinions. Hitler was able to make the majority have the same opinion as himself: what was going on in Germany was a good thing. We look back now and unanimously believe that this event was a horrible thing; however, Hitler somehow managed to make the Holocaust seem like a good change at the time. In addition to manipulating the public, he was willing to kill millions of humans to make a change. Normal people will not go to any extremes to achieve their goal. Hitler was obviously not normal. After working so hard to make his goal a reality, he committed suicide and left all of his work the second it started to go downhill. It is great for our world that he quit and did not pursue his plans any farther, but one would think that he would continue to try and carry out his plan that he had invested so much in.
To conclude, I would choose to have dinner with Hitler to discuss why he manipulated the public, went to extremes to reach a change he deemed necessary, and quickly abandoned his attentions. Hitler was a horrible person, and in no way, shape, or form am I saying that I look up to him or support his decisions. If I was going to have dinner with him to discuss these topics, I would make sure that we were in a guarded area and that he was behind a glass wall chained to a chair. There is no doubt that his claimed reasoning behind his madness was insane. Thinking with a psychology oriented mind, I want to know what those reasons were and how he thought his plans would unfold. By learning his thinking, we can prevent the past from repeating. That is why I deem Adolf Hitler as a historical figure that I would want to have dinner with.