Chain of command
When the movie starts, the main characters are on the battlefield, trying to destroy an important French landmark. When a bomb falls from the cannon and near the soldiers, no one is willing to go and check if it will explode. Three people come, one more powerful than the other and every person orders the next one in line to check the bomb until a normal soldier has the eventually take the risk. This image repeats itself and has the purpose of showing how during those times, the people who died were not the ones who gave out commands but rather the poor soldiers who could do nothing else except follow the orders given to them.
The ruling class
In the first speech gave by Hynkel, he tells the mass of people before him how they must tighten their belts, be willing to sacrifice everything they have in the name of the country. The camera than moves from Hynkel to another man, a highly decorated fat man, who tries to tighten his belt to show his support for Hynkel. Comically, when he goes to sit down, the belt snaps from being put on too tight. The image of the fat man is used here to represent the ruling class of the country. While they expected the rest of the country to make sacrifices, the ruling class had no intention to do the same and they were content with living their perfect comfortable life they had until then.
Cheering crowd
During the speeches gave by Hynkel, the camera moves to show an extremely large crowd, both behind Hynkel and in front of him. Every time Hynkel finished one part of his speech, the crowd would go wild, cheering and going into a frenzy. With a flick of his hand, Hynkel would silence the crowd and in the same way he would rile them up when the crowd would not pick up on the cues and start clapping. The image portrayed here is that of a group of people who just follow orders, who are unable to think for themselves and who are more than willing just to take orders. This image is also used to explain why Hynkel was so popular and why his power was undisputed.
Arrest that man! He assaulted me!
When the Private returned to his shop, he put it in order so he could start working as a barber again. While in the show, the Private saw two men coming to his shop and painting the word ‘’Jew’’ on his window shop. When the Private went to tell the soldiers to stop, they started assaulting him. Scared, the Private runs into the arms of another soldier and asks for help, explaining that the other two men were beating him. Instead of helping the Private, the third soldier hit the Private and berated him for his actions. This image is used to portray the violence with which the Jews were treated by the Germans during the Second World War and also the instability they experienced every day.
