Number 3
"...It had been a long time since I had felt so easy, tranquil, almost lost in a reverie--so comfortable, to be quite frank. For the first time in ages, I was freed of the torments of irritability: the bodies squeezed up against mined no longer bothered me. Indeed, I was somehow even glad they were there with me, that they were so akin and so similar to mine, and it was now that an unwonted, anamalous, shy, I might even say clumsy feeling came overe me for the first time--I believe it may, perhaps, have been affection. "
I think that this is when Georg begins to realize the changes that have come over him since he left his family. He experiences feeling's he's never had before; affection for people he's never even met, affection for complete strangers. I never really imagined Georg to be the kind fo person who's affectionate about people he doesn't know, but I guess that's how much a situation like he's in could change his reactions, his thoughts, maybe even his personality.
When a man's stipped of everything, his material riches, his social status, his pride, then I he would be left with nothing but a need to survive, like Cassanndra said. But I think that there is still some emotion left in him, still some feelings. Even if he couldnt care less when the boy died, and he accepted his rations for a week...he didn't need to be supported then. But when you're on a train, you don't know where you're going, when it'll stop, you don't even know how far aor fast it's going, that's when you need other people just for the sake of having them there. There's not only saftey in numbers, there comfort in them too.
I think that humans need to have other people to live. They need to communicate, and to have relationships. But this can't happen in a concentration camp. Not really, anyways. You can't get to know people, because your body and mind are set in survival mode. You're living off adrenaline, off hunger, off fear. In the long run though, if you pull through, you're going to need people to listen to your stories, and you'll need them to share their stories, their secrets, their happiness with you.
I think that Georg was only to happy to share his space with his fellow passengers because they were all in it together. There was nothing to win, nothing to lose. Thye were all equal. They weren't going to get another bread ration for ignoring and avoiding each other. So they pulled together. For however long that train ride was, that's how long they remained pure humans for. That's how the first human, however he or she was created, arrived, or appeared on earth, that's what they were for the ride.
That's my thoughts on the passage. I know it sounds philosophical, or maybe it sounds like crap, but thats what I believe.
I think that this is when Georg begins to realize the changes that have come over him since he left his family. He experiences feeling's he's never had before; affection for people he's never even met, affection for complete strangers. I never really imagined Georg to be the kind fo person who's affectionate about people he doesn't know, but I guess that's how much a situation like he's in could change his reactions, his thoughts, maybe even his personality.
When a man's stipped of everything, his material riches, his social status, his pride, then I he would be left with nothing but a need to survive, like Cassanndra said. But I think that there is still some emotion left in him, still some feelings. Even if he couldnt care less when the boy died, and he accepted his rations for a week...he didn't need to be supported then. But when you're on a train, you don't know where you're going, when it'll stop, you don't even know how far aor fast it's going, that's when you need other people just for the sake of having them there. There's not only saftey in numbers, there comfort in them too.
I think that humans need to have other people to live. They need to communicate, and to have relationships. But this can't happen in a concentration camp. Not really, anyways. You can't get to know people, because your body and mind are set in survival mode. You're living off adrenaline, off hunger, off fear. In the long run though, if you pull through, you're going to need people to listen to your stories, and you'll need them to share their stories, their secrets, their happiness with you.
I think that Georg was only to happy to share his space with his fellow passengers because they were all in it together. There was nothing to win, nothing to lose. Thye were all equal. They weren't going to get another bread ration for ignoring and avoiding each other. So they pulled together. For however long that train ride was, that's how long they remained pure humans for. That's how the first human, however he or she was created, arrived, or appeared on earth, that's what they were for the ride.
That's my thoughts on the passage. I know it sounds philosophical, or maybe it sounds like crap, but thats what I believe.
posted by Megan at 3:44 PM
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