Life is difficult at times of war, people are often desperate and will do anything to survive. The book “City of Thieves” by David Benioff demonstrates the everyday suffering the poor citizens have to face when social injustice is present in the given society. During the siege of Leningrad in 1942, the government shut off all supplies for their city and provided them with practically no resources to live. This interaction gave all the citizens no hope in living a normal life, everybody was struggling to survive. This brought up the issue of inequality between the high class people and the poor people, the poor were being heavily mistreated and punished. Lastly, the ignorance shown by the government and the higher class is disturbing and inequitable
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Survival resources were cut off for the city by the government, so they can focus on the war. Because of this interaction, everybody is struggling to survive. This forces the people living there to make desperate attempts at survival by committing crimes. Lev displays this by looting a dead german body that fell from the sky. Lev and his friends witnessed the german die while jumping out of a plane and decided it was worth checking the body for supplies. They were spotted and Lev ended up getting caught by the soldiers, fearing the outcome. “I decided I was still alive because they wanted to execute me in public, as a warning to other looters” (Benioff 17) This shows how desperate the citizens are to survive and what they have to go through because of it. Another example is how people from other cities are smuggling food and living supplies and selling it for valuables. “When the fancy shops closed one by one, when the restaurants chained shut their doors and the butchers had no more meat in their lockers, the Haymarket thrived.” (Benioff 47) Goods like jewelry have no use for people during a war so they trade it for survival resources like …show more content…
“Ah, well, you’re sorry, all right then, that's fine. As long as you’re sorry, that's the important thing. Listen boy, do you know how many people I’ve executed? (Benioff 30). This is very fearful as a citizen because the only person who has any power does not even support his own city. Not only are they causing horrendous suffering in the city, but they do not even seem to be concerned either. The colonel is more concerned about getting a cake for her daughter's wedding instead of supporting the city. “She wants a real wedding, a proper wedding. This is good, life must continue, we’re fighting barbarians but we must remain human, Russian. So we will have music, dancing.. Cake” (Benioff 34). This shows how little the government cares for the city and how they do not feel concerned about the city's future. The colonel sends Lev and Kolya out on an insane quest to retrieve a dozen eggs, but they do not seem to be worried about their journey. “You’ve got all of January to eat snow, and there won’t be any cards waiting for you in February either. That's assuming one of my men doesn’t find you and kill you before then” (Benioff 36). This happens during the time of war making it very dangerous to scout around for supplies but the colonel sends them out on their own with no safety or support to search for eggs. The quest itself already
Survival resources were cut off for the city by the government, so they can focus on the war. Because of this interaction, everybody is struggling to survive. This forces the people living there to make desperate attempts at survival by committing crimes. Lev displays this by looting a dead german body that fell from the sky. Lev and his friends witnessed the german die while jumping out of a plane and decided it was worth checking the body for supplies. They were spotted and Lev ended up getting caught by the soldiers, fearing the outcome. “I decided I was still alive because they wanted to execute me in public, as a warning to other looters” (Benioff 17) This shows how desperate the citizens are to survive and what they have to go through because of it. Another example is how people from other cities are smuggling food and living supplies and selling it for valuables. “When the fancy shops closed one by one, when the restaurants chained shut their doors and the butchers had no more meat in their lockers, the Haymarket thrived.” (Benioff 47) Goods like jewelry have no use for people during a war so they trade it for survival resources like …show more content…
“Ah, well, you’re sorry, all right then, that's fine. As long as you’re sorry, that's the important thing. Listen boy, do you know how many people I’ve executed? (Benioff 30). This is very fearful as a citizen because the only person who has any power does not even support his own city. Not only are they causing horrendous suffering in the city, but they do not even seem to be concerned either. The colonel is more concerned about getting a cake for her daughter's wedding instead of supporting the city. “She wants a real wedding, a proper wedding. This is good, life must continue, we’re fighting barbarians but we must remain human, Russian. So we will have music, dancing.. Cake” (Benioff 34). This shows how little the government cares for the city and how they do not feel concerned about the city's future. The colonel sends Lev and Kolya out on an insane quest to retrieve a dozen eggs, but they do not seem to be worried about their journey. “You’ve got all of January to eat snow, and there won’t be any cards waiting for you in February either. That's assuming one of my men doesn’t find you and kill you before then” (Benioff 36). This happens during the time of war making it very dangerous to scout around for supplies but the colonel sends them out on their own with no safety or support to search for eggs. The quest itself already