
Dr. Pereira and Georg Dreyman live in conditions that force them to be censored in their creative works.  In Pereira Declares by Antonio Tabucchi, Pereira lives in Lisbon Portugal during the Salazarist Era, specifically in 1938. Dr. Pereira writes for a local newspaper, “The Lisboa”, and is in charge of writing obituaries for authors who recently passed away.  Pereira goes about most of his life following the rules on censorship and he avoids The Political Police by only publishing articles that will not start any problems.  Towards the end, Pereira’s friend, Monteiro Rossi is brutally murdered by The Political Police and this forces Pereira to create a controversial obituary.  In The Lives of Others directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Georg Dreyman is living in East Berlin in 1984, and is harmed by the censorship under the rule of Karl Carstens.  Dreyman is a writer who is considered a law abiding citizen, starts off his writing career as a faithful writer to the government.  Eventually, Dreyman decides to write an article about the high suicide rate that Germany’s government is forcing.  The Secret Police is observing Dreyman during this process and creates a potentially dangerous situation.  In Pereira Declares and The Lives of Others, Pereira and Dreyman have very similar situations that are affected by the censorship that Germany and Portugal have created during their respective time period.

The biggest similarity in the two works created by Antonio Tabucchi and Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck is the conditions in which they decided to set their respective texts. Tabucchi decides that Salazarist Portugal is an environment that will allow him to show his beliefs on censorship.  The conditions are poor throughout all of “Pereira Declares”, but Pereira does not discover this until the end. One of Pereira’s coworkers, Monteiro Rossi was brutally murdered because of his actions and words against the government. In Salazarist Portugal, the Political Police report to no one and do not suffer any consequences for their heinous actions. This lets the Political Police do whatever they want to keep the people from speaking out about the government. Pereira begins to realize that the environment he resides in is no longer safe when his friend, Dr. Cardoso tells him “it is better for [him] to go to France before the disaster strikes.” (100).  Cardoso flees because he genuinely fears for his life and advises Pereira to do the same. With the current conditions of Portugal, at any moment the government could become darker or experience a rebellion, and this would create an unsafe environment for anyone who lives there.  During the time of danger, the main character, Pereira, decides to test the Portuguese government by writing an article obituary about Rossi, who was murdered by the Political Police. He does this in a time where “dissent and criticism were forbidden” (Solsten).  Pereira writes this obituary because he thinks that he can make a change to all of Portugal if he sheds light on the terrible actions that were committed in his household. Pereira is aware that because of the way he writes his obituary, he is no longer safe in his own country.  Pereira begins as an innocent newspaper writer, then learns more and commits an action that puts himself in danger.

Henckel von Donnersmarck places Georg Dreyman in East Berlin, during 1984.  This time period is important because it is set six years before the Berlin Wall is taken down, and it is the most dangerous time for Germany.  East Berlin is the communist half of Berlin and many writers like to create pieces that are similar to Western Literature, but this is forbidden.  This forces Dreyman to live a different life, and create different and less thought provoking plays than would be produced if Dreyman lived on the other side of the wall.  The Secret Police, also known as the Stasi are very interested in Dreyman, even though he has a history of following the laws about censorship. The conditions that Dreyman faced were bad enough that “a young East Berliner was coldly and deliberately shot as he tried to swim across a canal into the West” (Frederick). This was death was one of the first, and are thought to be at least two-hundred more, and there were thousands of people who attempted and were jailed for their efforts.  This depicts how East Berlin created an environment that was not suitable for its citizens to survive in.  While the conditions for living were terrible, the conditions for him to be focusing on his writing were just as poor.  Dreyman also feels that his country needs a change, and because of his influential writing style he believes that he may be able to spark that change.  Like Pereira, Dreyman decides that during this period of danger it would be the best for him to publish a piece that questions the government.  Dreyman decided to create a piece that questioned the government by mentioning that his country has the second highest suicide rates in the whole world. This article is created in secret because of the major risks he and his partners are taking.  Dreyman even went far enough to use a separate type writer from West Berlin so that it could not be traced back to him.  Georg Dreyman begins as a writer who does not deal with politics, but transforms into a writer who questions the government because he realizes the unfair treatment the citizens of East Berlin receive.

Dreyman and Pereira are very similar in their writings about the government, and the actions they take in the process and both involves someone assisting them. Pereira receives assistance from his friend Dr. Cardoso, who advises Pereira to flee the country because of the rising tension. This advice is crucial to the wellbeing of Pereira because without it, he would have stayed in Lisbon, Portugal after he writes his obituary.  If Pereira were to stay in his home after his obituary of Monteiro Rossi was published, he would either have been sent to jail or murdered in cold blood to send a message to others trying to trash the government. While Pereira can thank Dr. Cardoso for his safety, Dreyman can thank Wiesler for not letting the Stasi catch him. The Secret Police find out that it was indeed Dreyman who wrote the article about suicide and Dreyman’s girlfriend, Christa, tells them were Dreyman was hiding the typewriter.  If the Stasi found the type writer, Dreyman would be arrested, and because of the cruel conditions he would not receive a trial.  Wiesler was aware of this and decided to enter Dreyman’s home and take the typewriter in order to save Dreyman. Both Pereira and Dreyman are influenced by characters who are able to either keep them alive or out of jail.

Pereira and Draymond have very similar situations that are affected by the censorship that their respective countries have installed during the dangerous time periods in which their stories take place. In Antonio Tabucchi’s Pereira Declares, Pereira is censored in his writing by the Political Police who eventually force Pereira to flee his country.  Georg Dreyman is also censored in his writing in Henckel von Donnersmarck’s The Lives of Others and he is lucky to not be imprisoned for his actions. Dr. Pereira and Georg Dreyman are set in conditions that force them to be censored in their respective creative works.  
