Primo Levi

The complexity of humanity, specifically the significance behind what is interpreted as being human, is an exceedingly prominent theme within Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz. The humanity between the prisoners within the camp of Auschwitz and their captors is considerably inquired throughout the novel. There are several instances in which both prisoners and captors are no longer considered human – but what exactly does being human entail? What does it take for someone to no longer be…

strength, while also having respect for others. Levi comes to a realization that his instinct for cleanliness has dissipated within the first week of arriving at Auschwitz. When walking through the washroom, Levi comes upon his older friend named Steinlauf. Steinlauf asks Levi why he does not wash up. Levi internally responds to himself by saying, “I would probably live a shorter time, because to wash is an effort, a waste of energy and warmth” (40). Levi realized that washing up for the ten…

In Primo Levi’s The Periodic Table, the reader is introduced to a variety of issues and concepts. Arguably one of the most significant concepts introduced by Levi is that of self-actualization, defined as the achievement of one 's full potential through creativity, independence, and a grasp of the real world (“Self-Actualization, 2015). Throughout the book, Levi displays this by showing growth as an individual, emphasizing the importance of individuality and free will, and recognising the…

death” is always a thesis that has a lot can be discussed. Various people have various opinions on it. Many authors have written piles of books on this topic as well. In this passage, we use “Carbon”, a chapter from The Periodic Table written by Primo Levi, as a lens to see how the City of God which is written by E.L. Doctorow and “The death of the Moth” which is written by Virginia Woolf, these three articles organize and talk over about the general topic of the significance of life and death.…

The title of Primo Levi’s memoir if This is a Man has the sense that it is an unfinished statement. I have always envisaged it to be ‘if this is a man, then I don’t know what isn’t’ as a statement to question what defines a man. In his memoir, Levi explores this idea of what it means to be a man. He achieves this by using variation in tense to initiate the breakdown on humanity and through the selection of individuals he writes about who epitomize what it means to be a man, and what it means to…

In contrast to Wiesel’s experience, Levi describes his journey with a tone of despair, his depictions have a constant repetition of the horrid conditions on the train. Levi’s use of diction in his depiction is key to understand how his perception of this journey was different from that of Wiesel. The use of the words fear, hunger, exhaustion, and others that have similar connotations can be seen more prevalently in Levi’s work. Levi uses language as a means to emphasize the severity of the…

Authors often use setting to present central themes in their novels in a way that the readers can understand. If this is a man is memoir written by Primo Levi in 1947, that documents Levi's experiences as well as his struggles. The novel acts as a testament to the cruelties inflicted on the prisoners but also to their level of endurance. Cormac McCarthy's novel, The road, follows the journey of a man and his young child in a post-apocalyptic world. The novel explores the perseverance of the…

would be many similarities to be found between an account of one man’s experience of a year in Auschwitz and of a woman growing up in late 19th century patriarchal Italy would hold many similarities. However, the autobiographies, If This Is A Man by Primo Levi and A Woman by Sibilla Aleramo, have more in common than not. While stylistically different the two authors pose the same question: what makes us human? Both novels recount traumatic experiences in which the authors lost so much that they…

Ida Fink’s A Scrap of Time and Other Stories is a collage of fictional short stories about polish Jews during the Holocaust, each told from different perspectives, which combine to form a truly moving narrative. Similar to Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi and This Way for the Gas Ladies and Gentlemen by Tadeusz Borowski, A Scrap of Time and Other Stories is written in a loose, episodic format. It does not tell a linear story from beginning to end, which means it is not constrained by…

This camp is located in Poland Oświęcim and still stands today as a tourist visit. Auschwitz was built on the date April 1940 and was last used on January 1945. Auschwitz also had some famous inmates, some names were Anne Frank, Otto Frank, and Primo Levi. Finally, Auschwitz was ran by the Nazi…