How does Amis subvert morality in chapter 2
Morality is the distinction between right and wrong. It is the determination of what should be done and what should not be done. Morals deal with behaviours as well as motives. Tod's morality is questioned when polar opposition is reverded for example good is evil, wrong is right and guilt is innocence. Amis does this to make the reader question on their views on morality and describe what is seen to be wrong or evil to them as something good and innocence. This links to the how Amis describes the holocaust as an ironic and humorous thing to ridicule the nazi ideology and how it was ironic as the they set out to create the perfect race and make the Germany a better place by committing genocide because in their eyes they went against their idea of the perfect race, and doing this meant exterminating millions of jews and were doing the right thing.
Amis explores the theme of morality through his use of temporal inversion as this allows him to reverse ideas of morality. In chapter 2 he reverses ideas of right and wrong. We can see this when he discusses the rape of women in the ‘crisis centres’ describing the perpetrator as “the men who suddenly heal them”. The word ‘heal’ implies that the men are heroes and take them away from a life of sadness which is problematic for a reader as it reverses the idea of right and wrong as it describes the men as the innocence and sinless and the women as weak and fragile. Also it says how “there's nothing wrong with them..that's a good six inches won't cure” this descibes women in a derogative way and all they need is sex and their problems would just go away. Amis could be doing this to mirror the German ideology during the holocaust ,as Nazis argued that they were killing Jews for the right reason. The reader would think this to be wrong and how killing millions of people would never be a good thing and see this as evil and wrong.
Amis explores the theme of innocence and guilt as he says “hookers have this thing for mature men. “They do”, which shows prostitutes as predators, who prey on the vulnerable “mature” men. This shows reverse roles between prostitutes, who generally are the victims and are mistreated by these old men. The word “hookers” is derogatory and uses colloquial language, this shows how the narrator thinks prostitutes as bad evil people with loose morals unlike the old men who are delicate and fraigile peoplle and these 'hookers are taking advantage of them. Furthermore “they do” suggests that the narrator is trying to convince us , this shows readers how morality can be easily twisted in someone flavour, and think the idea of wrong to the reader as good and completely innocent. This makes the reader question the narrator's morality and is constantly tying to prove himsself to the reader. Additionaly Amis does this because the narrator is so sure of himself that the reader might think that there is some truth to what heis saying. This relates back to the Nazis and how they brainwashed German citizen to believe killing millionsof jews as something right. This demonstrates how easily morality can be manipulated, as a whole country become defenceless under dictatorship.
Amis explores the theme of morality using irony “ the pimps-these outstanding individual”, which shows how pimps are actually not “outstanding” but men who controls prostitutes and arranges clients for them, taking a percentage of their earnings in return showing them to be selfish and greedy and prey on the weak victims who are prostitutes. The pimps are showed as heroes “where would the poor girls be without their pimps”, which implies how without these pimps the prostitutes would be nothing and cant survive without them, this is ironic as the pimps usually make life harder for the prostitutes however this suggests how the pimps make life so much easier. The word ‘poor’ suggests girls as weak and can be easily taken advantage of. Additionally the pimps “shower money on them and ask for nothing in return” this is wrong because the pimps do usually sleep with their prostitutes and then give them to customer and take some of their money. Amis uses irony to show how what the reader believes to be right as wrong and reverses the roles of the good and the evil. This links back to how the Jews were seen to be the evil and cruel and the Nazis were these brave heroes doing what needed to be done , when the Nazis where actually the immoral ones.
Amis explores the theme of doubling “but the body I live and move in, Todd’s body, feel nothing”, indicates how the narrator and Todd have two different identities. It says “Todd’s head” which implies that Todd is the controller of the body and has all the power. This shows how Tod has moved a long way away from him and has lost all identity. Then narrator created the Todd friendly identity because he had to deal with being a Nazi doctor and having to kill all the Jews, therefore had to create a dutiful and efficient medical supervisor of mass killing. Also when it says ‘feel nothing’ this suggests that Todd hard emotionless exterior prevents him from sympathising toward people like Jews.
In conclusion Amis shows how your morality can easily be manipulated and makes you question what is actually is right and wrong. Also how roles where reversed with the innocent and the guilty for example the hookers and the old men “but the hookers ravenously remain” linking back to the prostitutes being animals and hunt for these poor fragile old men. The word ‘ravenously’ means eager and hungry which associates to a animal imagery and suggests these women can’t control themselves when it comes to these men, this overall shows the reversed roles that Amis purposely set out to do to go against what the reader knows about prostitutes and how they are opposite to this description and how they’re the fragile ones and the men are the predators.