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represents the intellect and technique used to channel and guide Francis' desire to obtain her. Alan is anything that bars him from Jane. The drone-like police and asylum workers are the self-loathing aspects of Francis that he employs to punish the side of himself that fails (Caligari and Cesare).

Originally, there was no framing device, but due to censorship, Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer were forced to add this element. The film was believed to be intolerably controversial in its first form because it too closely symbolized the German government of World War I. The traveling fair is the propaganda spread by government to encourage patriotism. Dr. Caligari represented the manipulative, evil government forcing the helpless, ignorant masses (Cesare) to blindly do its will. Francis was the conscientious objector trying to overthrow his oppressive, murderous government. Jane and Alan are the victims that cause Francis to harbor a personal vendetta and spark his motivation to rebel. The police and public servants are mindless bureaucrats, and the town clerk, on his outrageously tall chair, represents the arrogance of policy-makers. Without the framing device, the film's plot is almost uninspired as a horror thriller, though it serves as a powerful and accurate social commentary.

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