Good Cop, Bad Cop

After reading a few chapters of The Final Solution, something that stuck out to me was the presence of police officers during the investigation of Bruno's absence. A recurring theme I noticed in fiction as well as in movies is the degradation of policemen and their roles in society. During the investigation, the narrator specifically pointed out that "neither Noakes nor Woollet was bothering to write anything down" (52).  Not only are they not trying very hard to figure out what happened, but they also abused Reggie because they believed he was the culprit when they did not fully have the right to. Now the real question is, why am I focusing on such small characters?

It came to mind that the media as well as just some people in general have a very negative view of policemen. In The Final Solution, Mrs. Panicker saw them as "sweating hulks in their blue woolen coats" which is no better than their donut-eating stereotype (53). Especially with recent controversy in the news about police officers, people in reality, as well as myself, have questioned their power and experience. I find it interesting that there are very few people who see policemen as the good guys. Obviously they are there to keep things in order, but they are also there to help, and it's intriguing to see how many people hate them. Of course there have been tragic situations in which they have abused their power and mistreated others and I think those are valid reasons. Even in The Final Solution, they mistreated Reggie without a proper reason. It's just also ironic. Something someone once asked that stayed with me was "Why are people afraid of the police or hate them if they are there to help? " Not everyone fears them or sees them as the enemy but many do. Perhaps it has to do with trust and the constant anxiety of being let down.