Journal #4: Chapter 4

Primo Levi wrote that everything was hostile in the camp. The SS men were of course mean and cruel but other prisoners were also hostile and evil. I could notice the evilness of people by reading the parts where people did not answer others’ questions and made fun of others. Primo Levi said the social structure of the camp is based on the human law that the privileged oppress the unprivileged. I think it is a part of human nature than people with power want to control others who seemed to be inferior. There is plenty of evidence supporting the statement. For example, colonization and slavery show inequality among people and abuse of power. Also at present, some politicians and leaders in countries take advantage of power and make life of poor people even more difficult. Many people think that we should treat everyone equally, but in real life, the inevitable human law does exist.

Primo Levi wrote, “We have never seen its boundaries, but we feel all around us the evil presence of the barbed wire that separates us from the world” (42). There was this invisible wall that separated the men in Auschwitz from the rest of the world. Repeating the manual work everyday and being monitored by enemy all the time, the men would have suffocated with lack of freedom. So, even though he was surrounded by hundreds of people, Primo Levi would have felt loneliness and a sense of isolation. I think all men feel a sense of isolation to some extent in their lives. We may live among others and have interactions with them, we often find ourselves alone and isolated. But at the same time, we grow internally when we deal with the loneliness inside us. I think feeling a sense of isolation is not the problem, but how to deal with it is what matters!

Memorable Quotes:
“We have never seen its boundaries, but we feel all around us the evil presence of the barbed wire that separates us from the world” (42).

“This fills me with anger, although I already know that it is in the normal order of things that the privileged oppress the unprivileged: the social structure of the camp is based on this human law” (44).