Why did Werner crush his radio?

[Cole Powers]

Why did Werner destroy his radio after fixing Herr Siedler's?  You would think that he would be proud of his accomplishment and hopeful of his opportunity to go to the school.  Instead, he appears to lost all enthusiasm and hope.  He realized that he has so little compared to some, and that he may be stuck in his position forever.  Why did he break his only source of enjoyment, of escape from the life he did not want to live?

[anthonywang]

I believe Werner smashed the radio out of fear that they would be discovered for harboring illegal software. He didn't want to endanger his sister with his hobby--no matter how much she lived for the broadcasts (as much as he did). Jutta saw this as a violation of his identity, and a betrayal. He wants to keep Jutta safe and listening to foreign broadcasts is forbidden. In addition, I think he wants to escape his life at the orphanage, and doing things that are forbidden might jeopardize his chances of going to school.

[Luke W]

I think he smashed his radio because he felt that Jutta might be in danger or that he just wanted to escape from that entire seperate reality. Smashing the radio changed him as a character and also changed what Jutta thought of him.

[elizabeth miller]

I think that Werner smashed his radio because he did realize that he had so little. He was still young when he grasped that concept and I think that it was done in anger. In society it can be hard to go from the bottom to the top and the make of the radio was one that the poor could barely afford. It was a constant reminder of what he didn't have.

[keelylipp]

I believe that Werner crushed his radio to protect Jutta. After he went to fix the radio at the house of the rich German people, he realized how much he feared them and how much power is associated with being rich and having material possessions. He didn't want the power nor the responsibility of having the radio and if something were to happen to him, he didn't want it linked back to Jutta. In his mind, the only way to protect her and her innocence, was to destroy the radio.

[Madeleine Stewart]

I believe that Werner destroyed his radio, because he realized it put his sister Jutta in a bad place. With his sister listening to illegal things from other countries he does not want her to find herself in trouble. The biggest part is that Jutta is one of the only things he has and if he lost her his world would be pretty close to being empty. 

[sarawittig]

Werner crushed the radio out of fear for Jutta that she would get caught listing to the wrong things. After going to Herr Seidler's he began to have a greater understanding of the danger Jutta could get into if she continued to listen to foreign broadcasts, and that is why he was so worried after coming home from Seidler's house.

[Emma Kaer]

Werner crushed his radio to protect Jutta. After fixing the radio he realized how truly mind washed the people around him were. They were the ones who had everything, he realized that they wouldn't care who Jutta was, how old she was, if she stepped out of line she would be disposed of just like everyone else who tuned into a radio station from somewhere other than Germany. He realized that they wanted to control everyone and everything around them, and Jutta would be keeping them from accomplishing that if she kept listening to those radio stations.