Dirty Hands
Idealism & Compromise
Ravneet Kaur (19053) | Rao Aditya Vikram Singh (19159)
Lakshay Singla (19334) | Antra Bhaskar (19413)
Leadership, Vision, Meaning & Reality
About the Author: Jean- Paul Sartre
He was one of the key figures in the
Philosopher philosophy of phenomenology, and one of the
leading figures in the 20th century French
philosophy and Marxism.
Political Activist
In 1939, he was drafted into the French army.
Playwright He was captured by German troops in 1940,
and he spent nine months as a prisoner of
war—when he wrote his first theatrical piece.
Screenwriter
Literary critic He was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize in
Literature despite attempting to refuse it,
saying that "a writer should not allow himself
to be turned into an institution".
Setting of the Play
The action takes place during the Second
World War in a fictional country called Illyria in
Eastern Europe.
The country is ruled by a fascist dictator. There
are two underground resistance movements
against the regime and Germany – the party of
the proletariat (Communist) and the Pentagon
(a nationalist and capitalist movement).
The proletariat and the Pentagon are hostile to
each other. Many lives were lost in the conflict
on each side.
Act 1: Hugo meets Olga
Some people come at Olga’s Olga pleads for his life and says,
Olga is in a flat used by the place and Hugo hides. Olga ‘Give me till midnight to find
Illyrian communist party. Hugo opens the door to out what really happened.’ The
arrives. He has just been representatives of the Party, tough guys grudgingly relent
released from prison. He has just tough guys with guns. They’ve and leave.
served two years for the murder come to kill Hugo, they’ve Hugo comes out the bedroom
of the communist leader, trailed him here, he’s a liability, a where he’d been hiding. Olga
Hoederer. loose cannon, he must be explains he must tell her
liquidated. everything so that she can
protect him
Act 2: The background of Play
It is 1942, Hugo has joined the After a turbulent meeting of the He is persuading the central
People’s Party. He has been party heads Louis explains to committee to go into an
given the task of editing the him and Olga that the party’s alliance with the Fascists and
party paper and is horribly general secretary, Hoederer, is the bourgeois party after the
intimidated by the ‘real men’ of planning to sell the party out. war to create a government of
action who surround him. national unity.
On a night to be arranged he Olga and Hugo can’t believe he
will open the door to the is a sell-out. Louis hesitates then
assassins. Hugo bridles as he lets them in on a plan to
wants to assassinate Hoederer. assassinate Hoederer. Hugo will
Louis hesitates but Olga speaks get a job as Hoederer’s personal
up for Hugo secretary.
Act 3,4 and 5: Turn of events
01 03
The next scene is set in At which point Hugo jumps to
Hoederer’s office, where the his feet, outraged that Hoederer
main representatives of the two is prepared to do a deal with
other parties arrive, the Fascists the bourgeois he so despises.
and the Liberals.
02 04
Hoederer points out to the Hugo is on the verge of pulling
other two that, with the USSR out his revolver and shooting
on the horizon, the Proletariat Hoederer then and there, when
Party, though numerically in a a bomb goes off in the garden,
minority, will soon be supported shattering the window,
by the conquering Reds: so throwing the characters to the
they’d better do a deal now floor.
Act 6 and 7
The assassination of Hoederer will almost by chance,
after the discovery of a relationship between Jessica,
the wife of Hugo.
No jealousy, but because Hugo discovers the
inauthenticity of Hoederer through this act. As part
existentialist, Hugo made a decision – that kill Hoederer.
He refused to abandon his ideology. And be ready to die
for that.
Characters
HUGO HOEDERER
• Bourgeois intellectual who joined the party's • Former member of the Illyrian parliament and
Communist faction under the name a leading figure in the Socialist Proletarian
of Raskolnikov . Party.
CHARACTERS
• Comes from a wealthy background • Has a trusting nature and remains friendly
• He likes to talk, which makes him exist. • Helped Hugo to sort out his internal conflicts.
• He seeks the confidence of others • Plans based on the political reality of the
• Indecisive and finds difficult to assume situation.
responsibility. • Possess a balance of logic and fear .
• Anxious to prove his worth • Compromised for the grated good
• Idealist- Problem of dirty hands is merely an • Realist- Maintains that dirty hands are
excuse adduced by the morally weak to do inevitable
what they want to do. • Stance- Loves men the way they are in life.
• Stance- Holds little interest for men; he is • Consequentialist
interested in what men can become. • Tough Negotiator
• Afraid to look like his father
• Deontologist
OLGA JESSICA
• She keeps out of politics, referring to
herself as someone brought up to
• A member of Louis' faction and one
simply "put flowers in vases".
of Hugo friends
Curious- to know what is Hugo upto
CHARACTERS
•
• Strong bond of affection
• Courageous- they way she tricked
• Tough, loyal and reliable
the bodyguard and they way she
• Her affection drove her to the
tried to prevent the assassination
singlehanded attempt on Hoederer's
• She knows more about life than her
life.
over-intellectual husband, tricks the
• Pretends not to care for Hugo
bodyguards with her nimble-
• Encourages Louis to consider if Hugo
wittedness, and is quite a match for
is ‘salvageable’
Hoederer.
• She is the only one who sees
through the men with all their high-
handed rhetoric to ask the real
questions, specifically why Hugo
wants to murder a person he loves?
THE PRINCE LOUIS
• Son of the Regent and his representative in • Another leading figure in the Proletarian Party,
the negotiations. but opposed to Hoederer's plan.
• Calm personality • Planned Hoederer assassination
CHARACTERS
• More affective than ideological
KARSKY
• The leader of the Pentagon, a group that
includes Liberals and Nationalists, fighting the
Regent of Illyria and his pro-
Fascist government.
• Came for an alliance with Hoederer
• Not ready to listen Hoederer point of view
Deontology vs. Consequentialism DEONTOLOGY CONSEQUENTIALISM
● Deon = Duty ● Outcome of actions determine
● According to a clear set of rules, morality
certain acts are bad ● Hoederer’s sole focus on the
● Dismisses Hoederer’s political future success of the Communist
pragmatism party
● Does not want to believe in ● Willing to sacrifice strong
political success after collusion ideologies of the party to form
of parties government
For me one man more or less in the world is
something that counts.
-Hoederer
IDEALISM COMPROMISE
● Hugo displays naive intellectual ● Anticipates Germany’s military
Idealism vs. Compromise
purity defeat
● Believes in party’s ideological ● Striking a power sharing deal
thoughts with the Regent and the
● Is not pragmatic Pentagon
● Wants to prove himself to the ● Forward looking enough to
party accept a secondary role now
They get their ideas readymade and then they
believe in them as God.
-Hoederer
EXISTENTIALISM
● Hugo questions his purpose from time to time
● Wonders if anyone trusts him or loves him
● Thinks that cause of the proletariat can give meaning
to his existence
● Sets to prove himself to Olga and the party despite
Existentialism
his belief in Hoederer
I am not built for living. I don’t know what life is and I
don’t need to know. Nobody loves me, nobody trusts me.
-Hugo
IDEALISM AND COMPROMISE
Saint Joan Tughlaq Gandhi Charles VII Galileo
IDEALISM COMPROMISE
Don Quixote Hugo Keller Hoederer Sancho
brothers
Leader vs Follower traits
Effective followers can shape productive
leadership behavior
Idealistic vs Compromising stance Examples in the corporate
(1/2) world & Real-life scenarios
Idealists-
Ferrari- Did not compromise on his vision and stayed
true to its ideology.
Ford- Strong resolve to defeat Ferrari
Steve Jobs- Apple- Knack for perfection
Elon Musk- Tesla- Didn’t get overwhelmed with
adversities and still pursued his vision
Idealistic vs Compromising stance (2/2) Examples in the corporate world
Compromises- & Real-life scenarios
VG Siddhartha – Had to compromise and cede
his Mindtree shares to L&T
ICICI Compromised governance- Chanda
Kochhar compromised the ICICI ethics for personal
gains
Coalitions- So much in the name of remaining
true to its ideology
What our friends think?
A Common Political Scenario
If you were in a leadership role and your company was in the the government's plan of implementing a project that would lead
process of developing a new technology that would give your to a severe breach or intrusion of people's privacy. You have a
company high future gains and benefit the customers directly, chance to expose the government's ill-intentions but with personal
but in the process, a pandemic has hit the country, which
would increase
55.90%
44.10%
67.60% Trolley Problem
32.40% Expose the Maintain the
government, government's secret
sacrificing for thesake of
Survey results
Continue with the Leave the project for yourpersonal personal and family
development (High future (Reducing the interests interests
Rewards, High Risk) gains significantly) 100%
0%
You are the CEO of a Natural cosmetics brand, and You study in a college whose curriculum is outdated, and
your brand's core ideology is that you will not advertise there's a demand for reforms. To achieve this, the student
your product through traditional marketing channels. community wants to convey its stance to the director through
Some years later, the company started its operations in Save 5 by Save1 by an academic representative. You strongly believe that its
a highly competitive, communication-in sacrificing sacrificing high time for the re
1 5
17.60%
82.40% 58.80%
41.20%
Adapt traditional Maintain the status
marketing to quo leading to the
Nominate yourself for Provide support to
increase awareness eventual exit of the
the position and lead the selected
and abandoning company from that
the students candidate
your core ideology market
Class Discussion Questions
1. Why did Hugo decide to quit the party and get killed instead
of working for the party?
2. What was the reason that Hugo decided to kill Hoederer?
3. What is your take on senior political leaders switching
parties and moving to completely different ideologies?
4. What do you think you would pick: Sticking to your
ideologies or compromising for the greater good?
Apt!!
Thank you!!
