Maus By Korematsu: An Analysis

In the early 1940s, over six million Jews were slaughtered due to the irrational belief of their imperfection. Each day, people make decisions, and those decisions are guided by thoughts, and everyone has the right to those opinion; however, many people fail to believe that their thoughts and actions can affect the lives of others. There are people with a strong moral compass that carry around the weight of the horrific actions of others such as Peter L. Fischl, author of the poem, “To the Little Polish Boy Standing with His Arms Up.” Throughout the poem, the author expresses how some people are in denial but others are haunted by the horrific events of the past. The narrator speaks to this young Polish boy, standing with his arms above his head, waiting patiently for his demise. Life is full of difficulties; if there were no struggles in life then it would not be life at all. The author creates a lead into the poem with the title, using a symbol for vulnerability. If someone stands with their arms in the air it means they are surrendering, they are vulnerable and defenseless. As the little Polish boy walks past the guards, he has his arms raised, knowing he has no say in what is yet to come. In the poem “To the Little Polish Boy Standing With his Arms Up” Fischl uses repetition and symbolism to enhance, that one’s actions affect the lives of others, and at times those on the sidelines have a worsening effect after all.

Writer, Elie Wiesel in his metaphorical speech “The perils of Indifference” argues that the future will never know the agony of the Holocaust and they will never understand the tragedy of the horrific terror in Germany. Wiesel wants people to not let this happen but at the time many modern genocides that are occurring and people shouldn’t be focused on just the Holocaust, they should focus on making this world a better place; moreover, Wiesel expresses his thoughts about all the genocides that has happen throughout the years. He develops his message through in an horrifying event that took place 54 years ago the day “ The perils of Indifference” was published. Wiesel illustrates the indifferences of good vs evil. He develops this message

We can also see the abuse of power in the following event. In early spring, a piece of news that Snowball was back astonished everyone and meanwhile, a strange thing happened. “He stole the corn, he upset the milk-pails, he broke the eggs, he trampled the

Power corrupts everyone who wields it good or bad. The police would beat and help the Nazis take control over the Jews out of fear that they themselves would meet the same fate if they did not swear allegiance to the Nazis. Just like the police the Jews were scared of the Nazis and would beat other Jews for extra rations or fewer beatings for themselves. Power changes people and even those who are not in power are affected, after one and a half long, harsh, years Wiesel is liberated from the camp by the Russians and looks in a mirror, “From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me” (115). Power corrupts people by shifting their mental state into an area of off balance, changing their normal actions into violent ones, and being a part of an oppressing system. Someone who has power has the choice to do good or bad, to make a difference, and change things for the better but with power it is easy to become corrupted and take the wrong

Inaction will sometimes lead to guilt. In the novel, Night by Elie Wiesel; Wiesel, a young adolescent, experienced the torture of concentration camps during WWII. Upon arrival families were separated - men to one side, women on the other; some never saw their families again. Elie and his father lives’ were based on surviving as one. Although his daily existence was focused on his father’s survival, occasionally the idea of surviving only for himself was much more appealing, That idea was so promising that from time to time, Elie faltered in protecting his father, immediately after Ellie felt very guilty. There were times in the camp were Elie couldn’t do anything because he was afraid. The camps filled Elie with fear and with fear comes the guilt of not doing anything.

This quote juxtaposes the normalcy of life before the holocaust with the genocide which was to follow. The Jews of Sighet were unable to accept the possibility that circumstances were dangerous due to the veneer of security. They even questioned Hitler’s desire for extermination! When reading this section, I was curious as to whether the community purposefully ignored the imminent turmoil in order to propagate a false sense of comfort, or if they genuinely believed that no harm was to ensue. Upon this thought, I realized that I am viewing the holocaust with knowledge of what will occur, whereas the Jews of Sighet do not look at the situation with the same knowledge of future events (Certainly, if the Jews of Sighet knew what was to come, they would have responded differently). This understanding drastically changed my view of holocaust survivors. I learned that my analysis of events could not possibly be the same as an individual living through the moment themselves. This realization is what inspired me to research further the factors which influenced survival, as I wanted to learn more about the complexities of enduring the holocaust as it relates to the individuals who were personally affected.

Another example of how power corrupts is seen through Josef Mengele a Nazi physician who became so influenced by power that he no longer had concern for how he affected other people. In the beginning, Mengele was simply an ordinary physician who "...had

Power is defined as “the possession of control or command over others; authority...” (Dictionary.com), and all people have power, whether they notice it or not. Though some employ their power for respectable reasons, often times power is not used in honorable ways. The matter of abuse of authority is prevalent in the story Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Steinbeck illustrates that those who have power abuse it exceedingly often, as shown by Curley attacking countless others, including Lennie, a mentally disabled man, Curley’s wife mistreating the men of the ranch, and Curley’s wife making demeaning comments about Crooks, the African American stable buck.

If they had spoken up, the slaughterer would not have succeeded his task.” In other words, this quotes is talking about how no one spoke up for those who can’t speak up for themselves. All those who have power over most things, didn’t speak up. No one spoke out for Jew’s and others who was forced to go to concentration camps.

“The Red Army is advancing with giant strides… Hitler will not be able to harm us, even if he wants to…” (8). The quote comes from a novel, Night, by Eliezer Wiesel, who was a survivor throughout the Holocaust. Elie and his father are the protagonists as they strive and suffer to survive the rough times. The two gentlemen are split apart from the rest of their family when they arrive at Auschwitz. On a daily basis, Elie and his father went through hell, whether it was being whipped or just being screeched at. Time passed by at a tremendously slow rate. Elie’s father was sick for weeks, but Elie couldn’t help rather than giving up his ration of bread and soup every day. Day after day, being sick and tired had finally come to an end. The U.S.

The Holocaust was one of the world’s major tragedies. If you were a Jew the Nazis would take you to concentration camp and you would have to do everything they said, you would get your head shaved, and be treated awful. Millions died. They would choose Jews to take to the gas chamber, usually the weakest and most unhealthy ones because they weren’t much good to work anymore. “Yolen, Jane. The Devil's Arithmetic. New York, NY, U.S.A.: Viking Kestrel, 1988. Print.”

Close your eyes and imagine this horrifying scene: a dark, dirty concentration camp, a huge pit of flames, a son holding his father firmly by the hand, and then throwing his father in the flames. As you read Elie’s horrifyingly inhumane description of the concentration camps, in which they were degraded and tortured in ways impossible to comprehend, you begin to see one major relationship in every key event: inhumanity. The inhumanity of a group of people will be brought out in deplorable conditions. When you look at a dog and you look at a human, you can see distinct differences. Many times the inmates of the concentration camps were referred to as animals and treated like them as well.

How many examples of misused power can you come up with? In the Scarlet Pimpernel and the Battle of Princeton, John Trumbull and Baroness Orczy’s use of details communicate that both courage and power can be too much of a good thing. characters in the Scarlet Pimpernel sometimes have too much power, and that topples them. Though unseen in the painting, that happens in the painting , too.

A quote from Albert Einstein states “the world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything”. As difficult as it is to describe the terrible deeds of those who were part of the Holocaust, it is true that those who did nothing are at fault just as much as those who carried out the actions. When one thinks of the Holocaust today it is difficult to picture that such events were done by human beings. Societies have advanced but it is important to acknowledge the reason as to why many bystanders refused to help or why they were so indifferent to the pain felt by the Jews. “The psychological mechanisms used to come to terms with the suffering of another appear to be very similar, whether the person is standing right before us or is 2,000 miles away. (Barnet:118) Barnett explains that ideological and moral principles also come into play, as do self-interest and the weighing of the possible consequences of our actions. We try to establish what is or is not possible. In the end, our decision will be determined not so much by whether we actually have the power to change a situation, but whether we have the will to do so. (Barnett, 118). In the case of many of the individuals who chose to become bystanders rather than change the situation they were not willing to get involved. Although not every German was a bystander, those who

Morality is adaptable in extreme situations. The Holocaust is an example of what happens to one’s morality when forced to adapt to animalistic behavior in order to survive. Life in Auschwitz required a purging of one’s human dignity for survival. Prisoners were constantly exposed to perpetual dehumanization, which inevitably led to the dehumanization, and restoration of one’s mental, physical, and social adaptation. Because of this, one’s morality begins to erase. It is in the adaptation of living in a merciless world that the line separating right and wrong begins to blur. Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz and Art Spiegelman’s Maus, both represent how morality and ethics are challenged in the means of survival.