Human struggle and death.
The ultimate human struggle is depicted in this telling of prisoners staying alive to serve the enemy only to see their own people go to the gas chamber. They are also made to clean up the filth from terrible travel conditions forced upon those who are literally on the last leg of their journey.
Taken the dead, adult and human and sending them to the crematorium to be burnt. The German's taking all of the personal belongings that people had brought along with them like gold watches and rugs.
This is the first story that we have read that I feel like there really isn't any other major way that it can be interpreted. This story is straight to the point and makes a person want to just shake the prisoners helping the Germans.
It does bring up an interesting question.
What would you do to survive? Would you help send your own people, those who are sharing in your struggle, off to meet their end?
I agree... I don't think there are any hidden interpretations but rather just a straight forward depiction. Interesting questions too... I couldn't tell you what I'd do in that situation
ReplyDeleteLando, I have to agree with you that the interpretation is pretty straight forward. To your question I can answer that it is hard to say what an individual would do (hypothetically); I guess that it comes down to a question of instincts. As gruesome and revolting as the actions described by the narrator in the story are, the human being has an instinctive drive to survive, and these actions were the ones that guaranteed the narrator and others with a chance to remain alive. And as seen in other examples like the players that crashed in the Andes and engaged in cannibalism; humans sometimes go to extremes, in which their humanity is questioned,in order to survive. I am well aware that the actions of those working in "the Canada" lack a sense of morality (to a point) nevertheless I think that their options were quite limited and in a way they were pushed to become detached of the whole situation in order to survive.
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