Survivors in Literature

Paper Summary:

This paper argues that the protagonists in 'Survival in Auschwitz' and in 'Wind, Sand, and Stars' survived their ordeal and returned and became productive members of society. The author points out that they were able to survive and to return because they found that their lives had meaning. The paper contends that the protagonist in "Invisible Man" had more difficulty because the society he has left would not welcome him back.

From the Paper:

"The protagonist in "Invisible Man", an ambitious, polite and intelligent black man, states that he is invisible only because people refuse to see him. His solitude is the result of alienation. Perhaps, his task is the most difficult of the three books because it is not simply he who must adapt, but society must also change if he is to return and interact with human beings in a normal way. The protagonist in "Invisible Man" is expected to live humbly in white society while at the same time he is being abused, a situation presented to him as "normal." For example, when he gives his graduation speech as valedictorian of his class, he is allowed to give it only after being forced to participate in a brutal, humiliating, and demeaning "boxing match" designed to be a spectacle and entertainment for an ignorant, racist, white crowd."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ellison, R. (1947). Invisible man. New York: Random House.
• Levi, P. (1958). Survival at Auschwitz. New York: Macmillan.
• Saint Exupery, A. (1939). Wind, sand, and stars. New York: Reynal & Hitchcock.

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