A. Read chapters 4-6 from Primo Levi’s “This is a Man” and discuss them.
Throughout chapters 4-6, Primo epitomizes the hardships that prisoners had to endure. In this camp, it is in the usual order for the unprivileged to suffer at the hands of the privileged. Being subjected to harsh task masters shows the oppression, these masters force the prisoners to work at an agonizing pace. Following a foot injury, Primo goes to the Ka-Be and learns that patients with signs of recovery receive treatment, while those with deteriorating status gain admittance to the gas chambers. Aside from being stripped naked and forced to take showers in the cold, the patients stand for long hours in the cold. Although Primo prefers the Ka-Be, his time is over and has to resume work.
Prisoner adaptability is depicted where Primo is sent to a different work unit. He observes the zeal with which prisoners seek to survive the oppression and defend themselves against the stronger prisoners. Even under such ostensibly desperate conditions, the prisoners seek to survive at all costs, including forging tacit accords of non-aggression and understanding. It appears that all hope is not lost as the inmates dream of once leaving the camp and heading to their homes, including Primo. During work, the Kapos subject them to extraneous pain in a bid to stimulate them to rally up their last energy reserves. Primo observes that the Kapos beat them from sheer bestiality and viciousness, while at other times, the beating come while shouldering a load. Since pain and exhaustion is the order of the day, Primo learns to adapt in the harsh conditions. As such, the chapters portray the height of prisoner mistreatment and their resolve to survive.
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B. Comment on one of the following quotes from the Father character in “Six Characters in Search of an Author” by Pirandello, relating it to the main themes of the play.
2. THE FATHER:...I only want to make you see that if we...have no other reality outside our own illusion, perhaps you ought to distrust your own sense of reality: because whatever is a reality today, whatever you touch and believe in and that seems real for you today, is going to be--like the reality of yesterday--an illusion tomorrow.
In this statement, the changing moments of life appear to conflict with the perception of reality. The conviction in the memories of yesterday seems elusive, and only stands as a misconception. The changes over the years present the unreliable reality of human beings who seem to lose track of the importance of the past days. As a result, it creates confusion and serious doubts as new ways to reflect on the reality each day overarch the previous day’s approaches.
Reference
Levi, P. (2014). If This Is A Man . Hachette UK.
