the silliest man in all of Auschwitz

on
spencer wood

Kraus

Why was he filled with denial? Why did he not understand where he was? Was he blinded by hope? Or just not around long enough to learn?

More importantly, why did Levi tell him about the dream?

I don't understand what the point of the story was. Why would Levi intentionally give Kraus false hope? Was it false hope? Was it even for Kraus?

I think there are two possible reasons for Levi to tell the story.
1. Levi saw the hope in Kraus' eyes and wanted to keep stoking the flame within. But even then Levi doesn't seem like the hopeful type, especially at this point. But maybe the child-like laugh Kraus had struck Levi. And that reminded him of the young man who gave him a hug. Maybe Levi wanted to help someone like he was helped. Or maybe he just wanted to hug that kid again.
2. This was a hopeless time for many, many people. Maybe Levi saw the hope in Kraus as a tappable resource. And he used the story to help bring about some hope in his own life. The story may have just been a conduit to connect Levi to that hope he craved.

Whatever the reason I'm glad the Kraus wasn't forgotten.


zane addison

Comments

Zane Duke said…
I think that Levi has a love-hate relationship with hope. He hates the idea of hoping in God, as we see with Kuhn, but he also has a silent, brooding hope deep inside that he could survive through this. He could se the light of day again, he could reach the other side. I think at this point, as far away as it may seem, Levi has just a smidgeon of hope that he and some others will at long last escape from this disastrous place.
February 10, 2020 at 8:28 PM
Ezra Kennedy said…
You make very good points for why Levi told Him the story and I agree with them both. I, myself, don’t know but I also think a reason would be to distract him (in a good way). When they were running he could tell that he was running out of pace, possibly because his mind was weighed down with distractive thoughts, so he told him the story to distract him.
February 11, 2020 at 8:20 AM
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