Symbolism, Connotation, And Repetition To Talk About Unspeakable In Survival In Auschwitz, Never Shall I Forget And In Jew

At times, words are insufficient to describe what one is trying to convey because there are no ample words able to describe the fate of the Jews. Millions of Jews faced this issue after the severe events of the Holocaust. They struggled to decide if they should remain silent or share about the brutal events that had taken place. If anyone did find the courage to speak up, what words could be used to describe the genocide of six million Jews?

However, authors are able to find ways to talk about the event deemed unspeakable by using symbolism, connotation, and repetition. Repetition is used throughout the authors’ writing to emphasize the overall meaning of the piece. In Elie Wiesel’s Night, he uses repetition as he describes his first night in the camps; “Never shall I forget” (Doc. A). He utilizes this strategy to highlight the idea that he will never forget the horrifying events that he witnessed. The reader is able to understand the seriousness of the situation and feel the horror Wiesel experienced through the repetitive phrases. Phil Chernofsky also uses repetition in his book, And Every Single One Was Someone, as he repeats the word ¨Jew¨ (Doc. B) six million times. By practicing repetition, Chernofsky conceptualizes the immense crime for the readers and is able to describe the Holocaust in one word. This provokes thought in the reader to feel the seriousness of the situation and realize that 6 million Jews is not just a statistic, but instead tangible people who had a life before the Nazis took it away. Through the application of repetition, Elie Wiesel and Phil Chernofsky are able to say the unspeakable and convey their message to their readers. Imagery is a strategy used in the authors’ writing to enhance the readers’ understanding of the story and create a vivid picture. In Elie Wiesel’s, Night, he says “Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky” (Doc. A). Wiesel uses these details to make the unthinkable real and to make the events of the Holocaust clear in the minds of those who never endured it. The use of imagery in his memoir evokes emotion out of the reader and aids them in having a clearer understanding of how brutal the Holocaust was.

Primo Levi utilizes imagery in Survival in Auschwitz when he says, ‘only this language could express what it means to toil the whole day in the wind, with the temperature below freezing, wearing only a shirt, underpants, cloth jacket and trousers, and in one’s body nothing but weakness, hunger and knowledge of the end drawing nearer’ (Doc. C). Levi describes the feeling of surviving through winter in a concentration camp, such as Auschwitz. The imagery provokes sympathy and the reader is able to imagine what Primo Levi, the author, must have felt like as he endured the cold, bitter winter. The use of imagery throughout Primo Levi and Elie Wiesel’s memoirs allows the reader to picture the events and understand what the affected experienced. Art Spiegelman uses symbolism in his graphic novel, Maus, as he displays his memories from the Holocaust. In one of the scenes, the Nazis are shooting the Jews, and one falls limp and lays on the ground relating to the position a dog would have if it was shot (Doc. D). Spiegelman indicates how the Nazis regarded the Jews as animals rather than people. The reader is able to make a connection between a dog and a human and comprehend the cruel treatment. He presents the information through symbolism, so the readers are able to easily understand the insensitive treatment of the Jews. Authors use different approaches to state the unspeakable through symbolism, connotation, and repetition. Elie Wiesel, Phil Chernofsky, Art Spiegelman, and Primo Levi are able to share their experiences with the world using these strategies. Therefore, the unspeakable must be spoken in order for every person to understand the horrors that the Jews had to face. Each author used multiple different strategies to convey their message and describe the unspeakable events of the Holocaust.