During the Holocaust, Jews were persecuted and tormented in a way that had never really been seen before. The Jews were tormented to the point of not considering themselves human, rather as property that is not worth existing and that should be exterminated. The Holocaust was a long period of time that shocked not only the Jewish nation, but the entire world, and gave the whole world perspective on the horrors that humanity is capable of. The Holocaust had a large effect on the Jewish people as a whole and the individual Jews that were victims of the mass extermination. Many in the Jewish community during this time wished for death, as it could put them out of their misery and release them of their suffering. Both of the poems “O the Chimneys”
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The poem “Death Fugue” focuses largely on individual suffering rather than the suffering of Jews as a whole. “Death Fugue” uses the color black as a metaphor for individual suffering when it states, “black milk of daybreak we drink you at night” (21). By portraying milk, something seen as pure, as black, it is creating a converse effect and portraying the constant suffering of the Jewish individuals within Nazi Concentration Camps. The Jews are suffering on an excessive level, and by saying that the Jews were drinking this black milk all throughout the day, this poem is reinforcing the idea of the Jews’ suffering. “Death Fugue” also uses a biblical allusion to portray its perspective and focus on the individual. This is shown when the poem states, “Your ashen hair Shulamith” (16). This mention of a Shulamite woman is in reference to “Song of Songs,” and a Shulamite woman is known as the greatest woman in all of the land. By using ashen to describe a beautiful woman, it is adding belief that the woman is battered and broken. “Death Fugue” uses the image of an “ashen hair Shulamith” (16) to portray the spirit of the individual Jews as they went through the agony of the Holocaust, rather than the spirit of the Jews as a whole. By comparing the Jews to the “ashen hair Shulamith,” it is depicting the spirit of the …show more content…
“Death Fugue” is a poem that addresses the suffering of the Jews during the Holocaust and focuses largely on the mindset of the Jewish people as individuals. “Death Fugue” employs this idea when it states “we shovel a grave in the air there you won’t lie too cramped” (Line 4). This quote is stating that heaven is not as overcrowded and uncomfortable as the world they are living in now. The concentration camps were places of mass torture and death, and this freedom of heaven was viewed by many as the only escape. Therefore, the grave in heaven that is being shoveled is representative of the mass murder of the Jews. Their murder is being viewed as the only escape from torture, and it is, therefore, something the Jews endure in order to become free. While “O the Chimneys” focuses on the suffering of the Jews as a whole, it still portrays this idea of death as the only escape. “O the Chimneys” portrays this idea when it says, “A star that turned black / Or was it a ray of sun?” (6-7). This situation, the suffering of the Jews, is causing tremendous harm not only to the individual person but the Jewish people as a whole. This poem is presenting the idea that the death of the Jews a “ray of sun” (7), and that it is better to be executed than to suffer this amount of torture. This quote is claiming that
The poem “Death Fugue” focuses largely on individual suffering rather than the suffering of Jews as a whole. “Death Fugue” uses the color black as a metaphor for individual suffering when it states, “black milk of daybreak we drink you at night” (21). By portraying milk, something seen as pure, as black, it is creating a converse effect and portraying the constant suffering of the Jewish individuals within Nazi Concentration Camps. The Jews are suffering on an excessive level, and by saying that the Jews were drinking this black milk all throughout the day, this poem is reinforcing the idea of the Jews’ suffering. “Death Fugue” also uses a biblical allusion to portray its perspective and focus on the individual. This is shown when the poem states, “Your ashen hair Shulamith” (16). This mention of a Shulamite woman is in reference to “Song of Songs,” and a Shulamite woman is known as the greatest woman in all of the land. By using ashen to describe a beautiful woman, it is adding belief that the woman is battered and broken. “Death Fugue” uses the image of an “ashen hair Shulamith” (16) to portray the spirit of the individual Jews as they went through the agony of the Holocaust, rather than the spirit of the Jews as a whole. By comparing the Jews to the “ashen hair Shulamith,” it is depicting the spirit of the …show more content…
“Death Fugue” is a poem that addresses the suffering of the Jews during the Holocaust and focuses largely on the mindset of the Jewish people as individuals. “Death Fugue” employs this idea when it states “we shovel a grave in the air there you won’t lie too cramped” (Line 4). This quote is stating that heaven is not as overcrowded and uncomfortable as the world they are living in now. The concentration camps were places of mass torture and death, and this freedom of heaven was viewed by many as the only escape. Therefore, the grave in heaven that is being shoveled is representative of the mass murder of the Jews. Their murder is being viewed as the only escape from torture, and it is, therefore, something the Jews endure in order to become free. While “O the Chimneys” focuses on the suffering of the Jews as a whole, it still portrays this idea of death as the only escape. “O the Chimneys” portrays this idea when it says, “A star that turned black / Or was it a ray of sun?” (6-7). This situation, the suffering of the Jews, is causing tremendous harm not only to the individual person but the Jewish people as a whole. This poem is presenting the idea that the death of the Jews a “ray of sun” (7), and that it is better to be executed than to suffer this amount of torture. This quote is claiming that