Primo Levi's victimization must be addressed in two parts: the victimization of his body and the victimization of his humanity. The distinction, humble as it may seem, is essential to assigning blame for the horrors of his experiences in the concentration camp. Regarding his physical victimization, his internment, and forced physical labor, it can be seen that Nazi efforts, in addition to the forced ineffectiveness of his pre-incarceration activities, are responsible for his suffering. At the same time, however, it is his personal choices and his attitude that allow him to sacrifice his humanity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Primo Levi was an Italian Jew from Turin. A chemist by training, he found himself in an anti-fascist movement that lacked "the contacts, weapons, money and experience necessary to acquire them" (Levi 13). The nascent group also suffered from a lack of men fit to fight and a wave of refugees seeking "protection, a hiding place, a fire, a pair of shoes." When the three companies of the fascist militia raided the mountain camp on December 13, 1943, Levi was taken prisoner "as a suspicious person" and then deported to Auschwitz, a concentration camp in Poland (Levi 13). The nature with which Levi was captured demonstrates what caused his victimization. Caught while trying to resist, to hide, Levi was not the victim of his choice. Others “had surrendered themselves spontaneously… because they did not have the means to survive, or to avoid separation from a captured relative, or even – absurdly – 'to conform to the law'” (Levi 14). Therefore, unlike those who chose to be imprisoned, he cannot be blamed for his capture. His diction emphasizes the point. Levi becomes disdainful when referring to those who voluntarily surrendered to follow fascist legislation. The tone of the passage is semi-condescending through the use of quotation marks, implying that he himself cannot even take responsibility for the language of such an apology. Furthermore, the use of the adverb “absurdly” shows that he does not believe this is a right reason (Levi 14). It is these Jews who perpetuate "a cliché still prevalent in Italy: the Jew is a meek person... cowardly, humiliated, who has tolerated centuries of persecution without ever reacting"; the same stereotype that Levi tries to defeat through his book (Levi 186-187). It is the rebellious activities preceding his incarceration, the conditions of his arrest, and the disdainful attitude towards those who have given up their freedom that best demonstrate Levi's helplessness regarding his imprisonment. His victimization develops further with physical suffering in Auschwitz. Once they reached the camp, half of the group, made up of women, children and old people, was "swallowed up" by the night, "pure and simple", while Levi's group "had been judged capable... of operating usefully for the Reich" (Levi 20) Levi is taken to Monowitz-Buna where the intense security measures, the decrease in food and the regimented work force him into an unbearable situation: the camp is "surrounded by two fences of barbed wire, the internal one crossed by high voltage current...(and) the prohibitions (which) are innumerable" (Levi 31-33). Alongside the forced servitude, the feeding of the prisoners further debilitates them to the point of " obscene torment and indelible shame" where the soup that is eaten "to satiate (their) hunger... swells (their) ankles" (Levi 61). Forced labor, of course, further tortures the.
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