Primo Levi's "If This is a Man"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines Primo Levi's "If This is a Man", which discusses the true nature of man, and his ability to adapt in degrading circumstances, when faced with evil and dehumanization. The paper maintains that although the prisoners of Auschwitz were degraded and demoralized, they were not able to be dehumanized for the choice to give up is a personal decision that cannot be made by another. The paper states that Primo's work provides insight into the lives and nature of the victims of the Holocaust. It concludes that analysis of this text may broaden one's knowledge of the Holocaust and Jewish culture, as well as man's ability to adapt and handle depersonalisation.

From the Paper:

"In the initiation process that welcomed prisoners to Auschwitz they were stripped of every ounce of their identity that could be taken: "Nothing belongs to us any more; they have taken away our clothes, our shoes, even our hair; if we speak, they will not listen, and if they listen they will not understand." (p.33) Even their names were removed and replaced by numbers, tattooed on their bodies; with which they would be identified: "He is Null Achtzehn. He is not called anything except that, Zero Eighteen, the last three figures of his entry number; as if everyone was aware that only a man is worthy of a name, and that Null Achtzehn is no longer a man" (p.48). The prisoners soon realize that along with individuality all social distinctions and subtleties, good and bad, wise and foolish, the cushions of law, social habits and morals within the camp are reduced to zero. In the concentration camps "there is only survival or death" (p.59). Deprived of all human-defining aspects they begin a new existence as nothing more than laboring units. It is this first initiation process that starts the erosion of the prisoners' humanity."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Abeijon, B. (2006, November 25) Retrieved September 30, 2007, from http://www.socyberty.com/history/survival-in-auschwitz.8050
• Bold, M. (2007, September 20) Retrieved September 30, 2007, from http://www.markbold.com/writing/ifthisisaman
• The Holocaust . (2007, September 30) Retrieved September 30, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust
• Levi, P. (1948). If This is a Man. Italy: Abacus; New Edition.
• Lopez, A. (2004, October 9) Retrieved September 30, 2007, from http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/survivalauschwitz/essay1.html

More papers on Primo Levi's "If This is a Man":

• Comparison Essay # 75021 : "Setting and Plot in Puig's and Levi's Novels"
• Book Review # 74173 : "Chinua Achebe's 'A Man of the People'"
• Analytical Essay # 5587 : "Primo Levi's "Survival in Auschwitz"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: