It is a pathetic, dog-like face, the face of a man suffering under intolerable wrongs. In a rather more manly way it reproduces the expression of innumerable pictures of Christ crucified, and there is little doubt that that is how Hitler sees himself. The initial, personal cause of his grievance against the universe can only be guessed at; but at any rate the grievance is here. He is the martyr, the victim, Prometheus chained to the rock, the self-sacrificing hero who fights single-handed against impossible odds. If he were killing a mouse he would know how to make it seem like a dragon.
Like the cop who beats up his wife, then cries because she made him do it, and convinces himself he’s really the victim of the whole debacle.
Orwell on Hitler:
Like the cop who beats up his wife, then cries because she made him do it, and convinces himself he’s really the victim of the whole debacle.