How does the poem opening Primo Levi’s work affect how you read the main body of the text?
This poem actually put me on the defensive. I liked the beginning, but the end, where he curses you if you don’t repeat “these words,” whatever they are, I didn’t like. I felt it was an awkward way to try to gain the audiences’ sympathy, especially since he didn’t define what the “words” were. I especially think this was an odd contrast to his introduction, which did successfully gain my sympathy.
Sum up what the poem is saying in one sentence.
Be aware of those less fortunate than you? I don’t know, this poem annoyed me.
What are the key characteristics of the narrator which Levi chooses to present in this work; how would you describe the narrator? Does this add to or take away from your ability to sympathize with the narrator?
Levi chooses to portray his narrator as a naïve pessimist. He takes what he now knows and translates it onto his former self (the pessimism) but stays true to his early naivety. He also seems to be a reflectful, observant person. I think it adds to my ability to sympathize with him, since he’s putting his later feelings on his younger self, it adds a layer of depth that might otherwise not be there. It also gives a sense of knowledge and trustworthiness, as well as sadness, that makes him a more compelling character.
Which moment(s) in the text stand out or make the strongest impact on you? Why?
The part in the beginning when he talks about how Emilia died, the part where he meets the 16 year old German Jew, and the part at the end where he says it was no longer worth it to meet with his fellow Italians stood out the most to me. These seemed to have the most emotion in them and were in a more personal tone than the rest of the piece. Levi seems to distance himself from most of the events in the story, but in these it seemed like he couldn’t, so they were written with more life in them, or more feeling, or something.
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