Imagine living in a world of oppression, a world in which people deny others their food, their water, their identity, and ultimately their right of life. Imagine living in a world of starvation, a world in which people fight their own family members over crumbs of bread. Imagine living in a world constantly filled with horror, a world in which death can strike at any moment. And finally, imagine that, at a point in history, this world did, in fact, exist. The Holocaust, perpetrated by Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany during World War II, remains one of the most infamous genocides in human history, resulting in the death of approximately six million Jews. For many of these Jews, as seen in Night by Elie Wiesel, “Stealing Bread” by Ella Liebermann-Shiber,
…show more content…
The poem “I Kept on Walking” by Mark Hayward perfectly displays this idea. The narrator in this poem witnesses many malevolent actions as he walks by; however, he doesn’t stop to help since he doesn’t care. For example, quoting the third stanza, “I kept on walking as the words were thrown, every insult, every plea. The wounds they inflicted were not my own, and nothing to do with me,” he simply kept on walking since he wasn’t the one struggling. In the final stanza, “I’ll keep on walking from the things I’ve known, But refused to really see. I’ll keep on walking but I’m not alone, You’re keeping step with me,” he realizes that other people also have the same, self-centered mindset. During the Holocaust, all of the Jews only cared for themselves, not for anyone else around them. They didn’t take any action when those around them got taken to ghettos, then to concentration camps, and finally to the gas chambers. They didn’t care because they only cared about themselves; their self-centeredness contributed to their failure to take action against the German actions. In addition, it doesn’t take as severe of conditions as the concentration camps for people to change and become selfish. For example, in the Diary of Anne Frank, written by Anne Frank, Anne, her family, and the Van Daans stays hidden in the Secret Annex. Within a few months, Mrs. Van Daan displays her change to a selfish personality, as seen in this quote: “For the umpteenth time, Mrs. Van Daan is sulking. She’s very moody and has been removing more and more of her belongings and locking them up. “ -September 27th, 1942. She refuses to share her belongings with the Franks, even things as small as her sheets. Despite their conditions not being as extreme as in the concentration camps, she shows that people will still change in face of challenge, and they will do all they
The poem “I Kept on Walking” by Mark Hayward perfectly displays this idea. The narrator in this poem witnesses many malevolent actions as he walks by; however, he doesn’t stop to help since he doesn’t care. For example, quoting the third stanza, “I kept on walking as the words were thrown, every insult, every plea. The wounds they inflicted were not my own, and nothing to do with me,” he simply kept on walking since he wasn’t the one struggling. In the final stanza, “I’ll keep on walking from the things I’ve known, But refused to really see. I’ll keep on walking but I’m not alone, You’re keeping step with me,” he realizes that other people also have the same, self-centered mindset. During the Holocaust, all of the Jews only cared for themselves, not for anyone else around them. They didn’t take any action when those around them got taken to ghettos, then to concentration camps, and finally to the gas chambers. They didn’t care because they only cared about themselves; their self-centeredness contributed to their failure to take action against the German actions. In addition, it doesn’t take as severe of conditions as the concentration camps for people to change and become selfish. For example, in the Diary of Anne Frank, written by Anne Frank, Anne, her family, and the Van Daans stays hidden in the Secret Annex. Within a few months, Mrs. Van Daan displays her change to a selfish personality, as seen in this quote: “For the umpteenth time, Mrs. Van Daan is sulking. She’s very moody and has been removing more and more of her belongings and locking them up. “ -September 27th, 1942. She refuses to share her belongings with the Franks, even things as small as her sheets. Despite their conditions not being as extreme as in the concentration camps, she shows that people will still change in face of challenge, and they will do all they