When Zus volunteers to risk his own life, though, in order to obtain medicine to treat the typhus spreading through the camp, Tuvia tries to discourage him. Even at this point in the film, subsequent to their argument and parting of ways, we can see Zus’s loyalty to his brother. It is obvious that Tuvia is dying of typhus himself; Zus knows that this medicine is the only hope of saving his brother, and so he is willing to take the risk.
Tuvia and Zus represent two conflicting arguments about how we should behave. On the one hand, we find Tuvia, whose beliefs lead him away from the murder of his enemies. He has a sense of what is right and wrong, this determines each action he takes. Such an approach is known as deontological ethics.
Zus’s beliefs are in stark contrast with his brother’s. He embodies the approach known as consequentialist ethics, which argues that if the end result is good, then any means of attaining that result is right.
Both brothers’ aim is to protect the Jews in their care. Tuvia restrains himself, because he is haunted by the faces of the three men he killed. He doesn’t want to be responsible for more unnecessary deaths. He doesn’t become a pacifist, but his fighting is restricted to the defence of the community.
Zus, however, has reasons beyond just protecting the group. He also feels a need to find an outlet for his wrath, and does this by taking up arms and actively attacking the Nazis. The difference between Tuvia’s revenge killing and Zus’s is that Tuvia killed the men in their own home, and they were unprepared. This murder leaves Tuvia with a sense of guilt, which leads him to reevaluate his principles. But Zus kills his enemies in battle, which perhaps leads to a lesser feeling of guilt, as his opponents are fighting back, with a chance of defending themselves.
We aren’t in such an extreme situation as the one in which Tuvia and Zus found themselves in, and hopefully we never will be. But the wrongdoings of people against us is an all-too-common occurrence. Often these are very minor and can be easily overlooked. But our natural response to serious injuries is to seek revenge. This only leads to a never-ending cycle, which can only be broken by forgiveness, an idea central to the gospel message.
We have all grievously hurt God, and were he to seek revenge upon us there would be no hope for us. But instead, he set us an example to follow by first forgiving us. Thus – at a personal level, at least – we should be willing to forgive those who wrong us rather than avenging that wrong.
This article was first published on Damaris' Culturewatch website (www.culturewatch.org) - used with permission.
© Copyright Richard Blakely (2009)
