We as humans experience trauma during some time in our life, such as the loss of a loved one, war, rape, and segregation. These traumas can leave a long lasting effect on a person. It can isolate a person from others leaving them in silence and also with a shadow of themselves that is unrecognizable. With trauma, a wall of silence can build around a person and begin to chip away parts of them, by sharing their stories the wall can be broken and the person can begin to heal.
Trauma is a concept that is difficult to fathom and therefore when it is spoken of, it is spoken through a language of its’ own. Gates- Madsen describe the language of trauma, that when speaking about trauma, it is almost like speaking in a different language and has its …show more content…
When faced with a traumatic situation your brain determines the danger, as a result, your body activates your fight or flight response in your autonomic nervous system and the urge to survive takes over. During fight or flight response your heart rate increase, your pupils dilate, more blood circulates your body, and your digestion tract slows (Sethnne). As the body experiences trauma, it undergoes many chemical changes which are difficult for the body to process, as a result, shock can occur and the person can remain still and silent. The bodies urge to survive can take over, which can lead to the silence of a …show more content…
This wall of silence began to take away parts of Elie, the things that made him, him. At the end of the book, Elie viewed himself in a mirror and describes a corpse looking back at him (Wisel). The corpse is the result of what the wall had taken away from Elie, a corpse that was unrecognizable to himself. At the beginning of Elie’s journey at the concentration camp, Elie’s father was the most important thing to him. His father was his will to survive. The thought of even betraying his father made him sick, he made a promise to never betray his father like other sons had at the camp. However, as time goes on, the wall of silence around Elie pulls that bond away from him, he views his father as a burden. In the end of his father’s life, Elie abandons him in his father’s time of need. The concentration camp had taken Elie’s humanity away from him and left him with a wall of silence and a shadow of
Trauma is a concept that is difficult to fathom and therefore when it is spoken of, it is spoken through a language of its’ own. Gates- Madsen describe the language of trauma, that when speaking about trauma, it is almost like speaking in a different language and has its …show more content…
When faced with a traumatic situation your brain determines the danger, as a result, your body activates your fight or flight response in your autonomic nervous system and the urge to survive takes over. During fight or flight response your heart rate increase, your pupils dilate, more blood circulates your body, and your digestion tract slows (Sethnne). As the body experiences trauma, it undergoes many chemical changes which are difficult for the body to process, as a result, shock can occur and the person can remain still and silent. The bodies urge to survive can take over, which can lead to the silence of a …show more content…
This wall of silence began to take away parts of Elie, the things that made him, him. At the end of the book, Elie viewed himself in a mirror and describes a corpse looking back at him (Wisel). The corpse is the result of what the wall had taken away from Elie, a corpse that was unrecognizable to himself. At the beginning of Elie’s journey at the concentration camp, Elie’s father was the most important thing to him. His father was his will to survive. The thought of even betraying his father made him sick, he made a promise to never betray his father like other sons had at the camp. However, as time goes on, the wall of silence around Elie pulls that bond away from him, he views his father as a burden. In the end of his father’s life, Elie abandons him in his father’s time of need. The concentration camp had taken Elie’s humanity away from him and left him with a wall of silence and a shadow of