Tuesday, May 12, 2009
The Jew in the Closet
On page 138, in bold, death says that in a small black room "in sits a Jew. He is starving. He is scum. He is starving. Please—try not to look away." p. 138. Why does Death call him scum and describe him as some animal? I thought that Death maybe disliked the fact that he was still alive, that he had been able to avoid Death for all this time. Earlier Death had said that Hans Hubermann had avoided him twice, but he also said that this story is proof that the human existence is worth living. So is the reason for Death calling this man scum the fact that he is alive? But this story is also shows some of the discrimination against Jews. So is it just because he is acting like German Nazi in that time and treating this Jew like trash? Why?
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I would think that because of the treatment that was given to him from the Nazis, he's been degraded and neglected so much that in that society's eyes he would be scum, and for that reason Death also calls him scum.
ReplyDeleteAnd, due to the horrible treatment that Max and countless jews have received at the hands of the Nazi regime, their dreadful state that their in would make people want to look away and ignore it.
I inferred that Death is actually a bit sympathetic towards Max since he says, "Please-try not to look away", and wants the reader to see the truth and not flinch from the cruelty that the Jews had to go through.
Coincidentally enough, I also picked up on some racist comments from Death. On page 209 of TBT, Death refers to Max Vandenburg as "The Jew", referring to him as a unit, not a specific person. This reminded me of Aunt Alexandra in TKM, when she grouped Calpurnia along with other African-Americans.
ReplyDeleteI similarly thought Death was somewhat prejudiced against Jews.
However, I also agree with Arda. I think there are other reasons for Death's discriminating words ("...scum...Please--try not to look away"), and Arda points them out well.