Literary Response and Analysis

Literary Response and Analysis to“On the bottom from Survival in Auschwitz” by Primo Levi

            When Levi arrives to Auschwitz he believed he was living “hell” once he was waiting for something to happen with no food or  drinkable water to realizing he would die soon; creating anxiousness between everyone in the room which floor was covered with cold water up to two inches with no clothes to cover up the shivers and giving them no reason to sit down. The SS man tell Levi and the others to put their shoes in orderly fashion so they wouldn’t get stolen, but to everyone’s surprise someone simply sweeps the shoes making a mess and a confusion of why the SS man ordered them to do so; forshadowing their death. When the morning comes, they are shaved, undressed, hurled in the shower, and ran threw the snow to a hut where they would get dressed. They feel ashamed to “lifting their eyes” and seeing how they look. They wouldn’t consider doing the things they are doing before, but know they are only trying to survive. The prisoners feel dehumanized because of the way they are treated; the SS men don’t call them by their names but my numbers making them forget their manners and their identity. Throughout the stay at the camp Levi uses his name to give back little of his life from the past.

            In the room that Levi was put in, there was a faucet and above it was a sign that strictly said “Wassertriken Verboten” meaning “Drinking water is forbidden.” This made Levi believe it was a joke to make the people suffer, but testing his hypothesis he tried  the water  and to his surprise it was warm and smelled like swamp water. They couldn’t think anymore, they didn’t know what to do, they felt dead.

            Levi uses the phrase “second act” to describe what happens to them after getting undressed because it is the second phase of the dehuminazing process. “We seem to be watching some made play…” refers to the unbelievable torture and suffering they are going through, while the Nazis are being entertained. Levi describes being “hallow” as someone whose soul has been taken away. The Nazis realized what they were doing and were influenced by their leader Hitler which inflicted their knowledge of human race as superior and inferior; they intentionally responded to their beliefs and if "hallow" it would be easy to kill.

            “This is hell. Today, in our times, hell must be like this. A huge, empty room: we are tired, standing on our feet, with a tap which drips something which will certainly be terrible, and nothing happens and nothing continues to happen,” this illustrates Levis perception and experiences that made the prisoners feel dehumanized. Even after he is separated from his family he has hope, “…if I think that our women are like us at this moment, and where they are, and if we will be able to see them again. I say yes, because he is married and has a daughter; certainly we will see them again.” The process of being dehuninized gives a sense of value to life that should be cherished. The torture and suffering Levi and the people received made them stronger as human beings even after the inhuman treatment they were going through. The people focused to survive and do whatever they had to do, to do so. For example, Levi gave respect to the men and asked question to figure out a way to get out of the camp.

            In the passage “On the bottom from Survival in Auschwitz” by Primo Levi is described as a memoir because he shares his personal experiences and focuses on his historical view on the politics that changed his life. He shows us how the leaders of the Nazis Party exposed them and also the difference that it made to society and the world. Levi is a personal example of what happened in the camps and how hard it was for the people to go through the discrimination they received. The purpose of the change was to give the world and insight view on what should not be repeated.