Effects of an Oppressive Government in The Bridge at Andau Anonymous 11th Grade

Throughout the history of literature, there are several situations that can prove that the arrangement of political power does in fact impact the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the people being governed. In James Michener's novel The Bridge at Andau, the oppressive nature of the Hungarian politics, specifically the AVO, affects the citizens of Hungary by making them feel inferior, unsafe, and eventually leading to the Hungarians rebelling.

In Michener's novel, the Hungarian people are experiencing severe oppression by their government, specifically a group called the AVO, who set several rules and regulations that served to make the people of Hungary feel inferior in their own country. For example, the Pal family explained that they could barely feed themselves because “food was very expensive,” but then stated that “communist books were cheap” (Michener 58), which demonstrates that the family felt inferior to their government leaders because the only things they could afford were the materials that the government was trying to force upon them. It was embarrassing for the father, who was trying to apply for jobs but unable to afford a suit, to have to go to a job interview in a windbreaker. There is no doubt that this...