International Journal Of English and Studies (IJOES
Subodh Kshetre
Adewuyi AyodejiThis study aims to analyse the important symbols used in 'The tattooist of Auschwitz' a novel by Heather Morris. This novel is based on the powerful true survival story of LaleSokolov, a Jew prisoner of Auschwitz. So, this article also discusses the background and importance of Holocaust fictions as well as the meaning of symbols and their significance in any literary work. Symbols add deeper meaning to the literary work. They have complex meanings and represent greater ideas. Author has used various symbols in the novel which are unconventional and new to the category of Holocaust fiction. Analysis of all important symbols will get done one by one and this article will try to study the hidden meaning of these symbols and to connect them to the broader canvas.
Related papers
The Cultural Politics of Progenic Auschwitz Tattoos: 157622, A-15510, 4559
Facing the loss of the last generation of Holocaust survivors, progeny of survivors have begun to tattoo their ancestors' Auschwitz numbers on their own bodies. We investigate the rhetoricity of progenic tattooing through semiotic, affective, and pedagogical registers. We argue that shifting conditions of discourse across time alter decorum about public memory of the Holocaust. Further, the progenic practice, constituting a distinct form of trauma tattoo, enacts a mode of postmemory through a resignification of the original sign that makes visible the intergenerational trauma of the Holocaust.
The Sign Made Flesh: Durkheim's Authentic Symbol in Contemporary Holocaust Pilgramage
Synthesizing Durkheim's notion of " sacred symbol " with Walter Benjamin's theorization of " authenticity, " this paper proposes the theoretical construct, " authentic symbol, " to account for the symbolic function of Holocaust relics in contemporary Holocaust pilgrimage. The symbolic function of four kinds of relics (the sites, witness/survivors, human bodily remains and accessories) is examined and compared in three different contexts: The March of the Living Holocaust tours organized for Diaspora Jewish teenagers, the Masa tours organized for Israeli teenagers and the U.S. Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. Different ritual experiences are found to predominate in each of the three contexts, which significantly correlate with how symbols are processed by participants and the different ideological and practical aims of the tours and displays. Résumé: Résumé. Employant un synthèse de la notion Durkheimienne de " sym-bole sacrée " avec la théorisation de Walter Benjamin au sujet de " l'authenticité, " cet article propose une construction théorique nouvelle, " symbole authentique, " pour expliquer la fonction symbolique des reliques de la Shoah dans les pèler-inages contemporains vers les sites du Holocauste. La fonction symbolique de quatre types de reliques (les sites–mêmes, les témoins/survivants, les débris humains et les accessoires) est considérée et comparée en trois contextes dif-férents: les visites " Marche des vivants " organisées pour les adolescents juifs du diaspora, les visites Masa organisées pour les adolescents israéliens et le musée de la Shoah à Washington, D.C. Chaque contexte offre une expérience rituelle prédominante et différente, ce qui corrèle au traitement des symboles par les participants et les buts différents et idéologiques et pratiques de chacun des visites et des expositions.
The Holocaust and the Arts: Paths and Crossroads
Art in Hungary 1956–1980: Doublespeak and Beyond, 2018
The study provides the first comprehensive survey of the reception of the Holocaust in Hungarian art in the 1960s-1970s. Conclusion From the late 1950s onwards, the topic of the Holocaust had a significant reception in Hungarian art. Besides the artists discussed here, who returned to the subject several times, others also touched upon the topic in singular works. Additionally, there were state commissions, but it seems that the independently produced works and the commissioned ones resulted in developments unfolding in parallel, mostly disconnected from one another. This was due to the fact that the non-commissioned artists’ perspective was typically very different from that of official memory politics, which focused on the anti-fascist struggle and thereby instrumentalized the memory of the Holocaust, as exemplified here by the Mauthausen case study. The examples analysed here also shed light on differences in approach between periods and generations. Artists of the older generation, still temporally close to the traumatic experiences, used a surrealist, symbolic approach from the late 1950s; the primary objective of their works was the commemoration of the victims. Accordingly, they employed a Holocaust iconography referring to the locations and tools of the genocide, and symbols alluding to the victims and their memory. By contrast, a more open representation and a critical approach became prevalent in the mid-1960s, and particularly at the end of the decade; besides remembering, identifying those responsible for the Holocaust and the reasons behind it gained importance, which were frequently connected to present-day problems, such as contemporary anti-Semitism. This tendency was partly due to the fresh approach of the younger generation emerging at this time, but also influenced by the conceptual turn of the late 1960s, which brought new forms of expression. For example, the inclusion of texts helped foster a new, more open tone. It is also important to consider, besides the generational differences, the artists’ personalities, e.g. the works of Endre Bálint and János Major have significant affinities due to their satirical tone despite any differences in generation or genre. The 1960s and 1970s were characterized not only by the coexistence of generations and styles but also by a kind of thematic plurality in the works. In a number of cases the theme of the Holocaust surfaced in connection with further topics, thus visualizing different time periods simultaneously. The two possible perspectives on the Holocaust – social and individual – often appeared together, most notably in the works based on well-known documentary photographs but also recounting personal stories. These simultaneously reflect two tendencies that characterize further works as well: the generalization of the experiences of the Holocaust and personalization through emphasizing aspects of the event related to individuals or families. A number of works link the Holocaust and the Nazi era to contemporary anti-Semitism and to events such as the Six-Day War. These works represent the Holocaust as part of a broader narrative of anti-Semitism running from the past to the present. Another important characteristic of the period was the indirect articulation of messages that were nevertheless quite accessible to contemporaries. Such works leave it to the viewer to complement and interpret the visual representation by ‘reading between the lines’. A characteristic example of this elliptical mode of expression is János Major’s photograph of a gravestone marked ‘…ER ADOLF’, referencing Hitler. The use of biblical and historical allusions also belongs to this tendency. In these cases, the remote event is not used primarily to illustrate something about itself, but as a reference to the Holocaust: for instance, works dealing with the late nineteenth-century blood-libel case of Tiszaeszlár do not simply present an interesting historical episode, but use it as a parable to address the Holocaust and issues from the artists’ own era. A significant number of the works discussed here were shown to a Hungarian and (primarily in the case of conceptual works) international audience at the time of their production or a few years later. Even so, the public display of works was restricted: the works of neo-avant-garde artists, for example, often reached only a narrow subcultural audience, regardless of their topic. Despite occasional, temporary access to most of these works, no broad public discourse about the Shoah emerged during this period, and this lack of discourse was not exclusively the result of the socialist system in Hungary. In fact, such a discourse would have been anachronistic as it would have occurred before the memory of the Holocaust became globalized and the term Holocaust was widely established. The works discussed here are exceptionally significant for the very reason that (in time and in critical attitude) they were ahead of the prevailing social discourse, or – as seen in the case of the Roma Holocaust – even ahead of scholarly research on the subject.
Reflections of the Holocaust in the Graphic Novels The Boxer and Maus
Stredoeurópske pohľady, 2023
The study analyses the depiction of the Holocaust in the graphic novels Der Boxer [The Boxer] (2012) by the German author Reinhard Kleist and Maus I-II [Maus I-II] (1986-1991) by the American author of Polish origin, Art Spiegelman. Both texts are explicit in their anti-psychologism and emotional rationalism and base their aesthetic value not on the subject matter's originality but on the artwork's form. While Der Boxer is a realistic comic about boxing as a means of survival in the liminal situation of a concentration camp, the postmodern Maus captures the traumatic experience of genocide through the allegorical presentation of the main characters as animal beings.
Cultural Representations of the Holocaust. Phd Thesis
ABSTRACT This thesis evaluates representations of the Holocaust in fiction and other genres and emphasises the relationship between the texts examined and the historical events they represent. The first three chapters are focussed on the victims. Chapter 1 considers representations of the death camp Treblinka in Jean-François Steiner’s novel Treblinka and Ian MacMillan’s novel Village of a Million Spirits. Questions of ideological bias and historical accuracy in works of fiction are examined. Chapter 2 considers works produced by writers who were inside the Warsaw ghetto. Readings of the diaries of Chaim Kaplan, Emmanuel Ringelblum and Adam Czerniakow, and of Bread for the Departed, a novel by Bogdan Wojdowski, assess how they add to understanding of the events they describe. Chapter 3 considers novels about the Warsaw ghetto by authors who were not personally involved: The Wall by John Hersey, The Final Station Umschlagplatz by Jaroslaw Rymkiewicz and The Beautiful Mrs Seidenman by Andrzej Szczypiorski. The potential for ideological distortion of the events is examined. The final two chapters are focussed on the perpetrators. Chapter 4 examines the role of Nazi ideology in the Holocaust, and the question of German guilt and responsibility, including the contributions of Eberhard Jäckel, Karl Jaspers and Alexander and Margarete Mitscherlich. Examples of the impact of the Holocaust on the second generation are considered, including several books of interviews with children of leading Nazis, as well as Niklas Frank’s book condemning his father Hans. Chapter 5 examines fictional representations of the Holocaust by German authors: Death in Rome by Wolfgang Koeppen, Alfred Andersch’s Efraim’s Book, Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader and Flights of Love, Rachel Seiffert’s The Dark Room, and Günter Grass’s The Tin Drum, From the Diary of a Snail and Crabwalk. These novels are considered in the light of connections between postwar Germany and the perpetrators of the Holocaust. The thesis confirms the importance of historical fact in Holocaust representation.
Susana Onega. “The Role of Symbolisation in the Shaping of Reality and Identity: Tales of Woundedness and Healing”.
Human Diversity in Context. Cinzia Ferrini, ed. , 2020
Proprietà letteraria riservata. I diritti di traduzione, memorizzazione elettronica, di riproduzione e di adattamento totale e parziale di questa pubblicazione, con qualsiasi mezzo (compresi i microfilm, le fotocopie e altro) sono riservati per tutti i paesi. XIII XXIII EDITORIAL FOREWORD communication medium for scholarly exchanges among the members (here of three different nationalities: Italian, German and Spanish). The second reason concerns the Department of Humanities of the University of Trieste. One of its strategic aims is to foster internationalisation when supporting research projects, in order to reach wider audiences and to encourage dissemination of its members' scholarly results. To achieve this goal, writing in English and publishing both in print and in open access can be advantageous. In my departmental responsibility for internationalisation, I am especially concerned to facilitate these communications. These two reasons underlie my editorial policy regarding the language and manners of publication of this volume; yet they also raise a concern, for to choose the Anglophone readership as context of reference requires caution about culturally sensitive issues. Two such editorial challenges concern the degree of awareness of non-sexist language, and the use of the term 'Holocaust'. The editor is aware that, regardless of an author's intention, the generic 'man' or 'mankind' is not interpreted gender-neutrally in the English-speaking world, as testified by the Guidelines for Non-Sexist Use of Language issued by the American Philosophical Association on 19 January, 2019 10. Yet it would have been anachronistic, uncritical and decontextualised to disregard the original term 'mankind' in the English literature of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, substituting for it 'humankind' (see Chapter 1) 11 , whereas it would have been too one-sided to write of an educator or of an educator's students only in terms of 'she' and 'her' (as was done in the first draft of Chapter 8). The term 'Holocaust' is commonly used in Anglo-Saxon culture to refer to the genocide of European Jews during the Second World War, whereas in the rest of Europe and in Israel the trend is to use the Hebrew word 'Shoah'. Both words are controversial and have advantages and disadvantages. 'Holocaust' is often used in its wider, more inclusive meaning, to encompass all ethnic and social groups suffering Nazi persecution or who died at their hands. Since the eighteenth century, the lowercase 'holocaust' has been used to indicate the violent deaths of large human groups. Against it stands the Greek etymology of the word, which retains its meaning of a sacrificial victim, whether a religious offering, or due to some measure of guilt. The term 'Shoah', meaning 'calamity' or 'catastrophe', was used to refer to the Jewish genocide in order to avoid the connotation of ineluctable sacrifice, but as a Hebrew word, its standard use risks suggesting that the Nazi extermination project was restricted to a single people.
Aesthetics and Ethics of Holocaust Narration and Representation in Contemporary Times Analysis of " The Uses and Abuses of Memory "
Tzvetan Todorov, who was a Bulgarian-French structuralist critic of literature and poetry, "turned his talents toward analysis of human behavior during the Holocaust of World War II, examining the virtues that inspired heroic conduct and the forces that produced horrific evil in the concentration camps" (Tzvetan Todorov Biography, n.d.). In this given work I will present an overview and analysis of his one of the famous and important articles: "The Uses and Abuses of Memory." What do totalitarian regimes do? What is a memory and why it is important? How can we use the past and in particular, which uses are good or bad?
SP Publications
International Journal Of English and Studies (IJOES)
An International Peer-Reviewed Journal ; Volume-3, Issue-4, 2021
www.ijoes.in
ISSN: 2581-8333; Impact Factor: 5.421(SJIF)
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Analysis of symbols in ‘The tattooist of Auschwitz’: A novel by Heather Morris
____________________________________________________________________________
Subodh Kishor Kshetre
Principal,
MIT VGS and Jr. College, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra.
____________________________________________________________________________
Introduction:
Abstract:
Heather Morris is a well-known New
This study aims to analyse the important
Zealand born Australian writer, famous for
symbols used in ‘The tattooist of
her series of Holocaust novels. Her debut
Auschwitz’ a novel by Heather Morris. This
historical fiction novel ‘The tattooist of
novel is based on the powerful true survival
Auschwitz’ published in 2018; best fits in
story of LaleSokolov, a Jew prisoner of
the category of the Holocaust novels. The
Auschwitz. So, this article also discusses
novel is based on the powerful story of Lale
the background and importance of
Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew man sent to the
Holocaust fictions as well as the meaning of
Auschwitz Concentration camp during
symbols and their significance in any
World War II. He was assigned a job of
literary work. Symbols add deeper meaning
tattooing the prisoners with numbers into
to the literary work. They have complex
their arms. The novel tells the story of his
meanings and represent greater ideas.
survival and love with a girl Gita Furman,
Author has used various symbols in the
to whom he met and tattooed in the camp.
novel which are unconventional and new to
The author is neither Jew nor having any
the category of Holocaust fiction. Analysis
connection with Holocaust. She just tells
of all important symbols will get done one
the story of the love and survival of Lale
by one and this article will try to study the
and Gita from the perspective of the
hidden meaning of these symbols and to
protagonist Lale Sokolov.
connect them to the broader canvas.
Keywords: The tattooist of Auschwitz,
Heather Morris, Holocaust Literature,
Symbols
ISSN: 2581-8333
Holocaust is the genocide of
European Jews by Nazi Germany. It is a
stigma on the world history and humanity.
It demands to be remembered. So, it is very
important to write and preserve the
Holocaust literature because it will always
keep the memory of Holocaust and its
inhumane destruction alive in our minds.
That’s why Spivey, Tyler Grey argues in
Copyright © 2021 SP Publications
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SP Publications
International Journal Of English and Studies (IJOES)
An International Peer-Reviewed Journal ; Volume-3, Issue-4, 2021
www.ijoes.in
ISSN: 2581-8333; Impact Factor: 5.421(SJIF)
RESEARCH ARTICLE
his thesis – ‘However, the holocaust
demands to be remembered and therefore it
is necessary to write about it, even if the
work is fictional.’ The Holocaust literature
deals with the destruction of European Jew
community by Nazi Germany during the
World War II, mostly in the years between
1942 -1945. According to Levin, Gerald
‘The literature of the Holocaust is usually
discussed as a class of literature defined by
its subject – the destruction of European
Jewry by Germany, chiefly in the years
between 1942 and 1945 – and not by its
form’. (Holocaust Literature as a genre: A
description and a bibliography)
Famous Holocaust fiction writer
Elie Wiesel had stated - ‘A novel about
Auschwitz is not a novel, or else it is not
about Auschwitz.’ So, everything that is
written about the Jew community’s
survivals, traumas and sufferings during
Holocaust at the concentration camps
comes under the category of Holocaust
literature. So, the novel ‘The tattooist of
Auschwitz’ comes under the category of
Holocaust literature as it narrates the story
of Love and Survival of a Jew prisoner of
Auschwitz. Author Heather Morris has
succeeded in her task of keeping the
Holocaust story of LaleSokolov alive in
front of the readers using simple and short
sentences, powerful narration technique and
different symbols. These all characteristics
make this novel one of the best-selling
books of the twenty- first century.
ISSN: 2581-8333
The main aim of this research
article is the study and analysis of symbols
used in the novel-‘The tattooist of
Auschwitz’. Before starting the analysis of
these symbols, let’s check the definition
and significance of symbols in the
literature. According to the Dictionary of
Literary terms and literary theory by
Cuddon, J.A.-‘Symbols are an object,
animate or inanimate, which represents or
stands for something else.’ (page no.699) In
simpler words, Symbols are objects,
characters and figures used to represent
ideas or content. Symbols always stand for
the bigger ideas and deeper meanings in the
literature and contain several layers of
meaning. Symbols are used as objects or
actions those mean something more than
their literal meaning. The use of symbols in
the literature can give a deep and detailed
impression on readers. That’s why St.
Augustine explained the importance of
symbols in his works as-‘Symbols are
powerful because they are visible signs of
invisible realities.’ There are many symbols
used in the novel by Heather Morris which
give a deep meaning and significance to the
story of love and survival of Lale Sokolov
in Auschwitz concentration Camp.
Analysis of the symbols in the novel:
Heather Morris has used many
symbols in the novel which give the layers
of meaning and paints the colourful scenes
in it. Let’s encode and analyse them one by
one.
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www.ijoes.in
ISSN: 2581-8333; Impact Factor: 5.421(SJIF)
RESEARCH ARTICLE
I.The Tattoo: The tattooist is the protagonist
and hero of the novel. He is forced to do the
hard work at Auschwitz II-Birkenau
Concentration camp. He chose the work of
tattooing the prisoners, which was
comparatively easier than other physical
hard work at the camp. The main character
of the novel is Lale who is working as the
tattooist,so the symbol of Tattoo often
comes in the story and plays a pivotal role.
Though the tattoo is a form of body
modification for the sake of beauty, art or
identity but the Nazis were tattooing every
prisoner with identification numbers which
are not for the art or beauty but for
humiliation. The tattoos of the numbers in
the novel symbolises the new identity of the
prisoners. It also symbolises that, the
prisoners were not considered as human
beings after coming to Auschwitz. They
were just numbers with no past (Ch.5, page
68) no future and even with no names. They
were just a counter race, not really human
at all. Tattoo is also a symbol of the new
life of prisoner, forcefully marked on them
with permanent ink of inhumane treatment
by Nazi Germany which would haunt them
trough out their lives.
II.The supply bag: The supply bag of the
tattooist is one of the unconventional
symbols in this Holocaust novel.
Actually,Lale was forced to work at the
camp. Fortunately, he got the easier job of
tattooing the fellow prisoners. So, one can
ISSN: 2581-8333
think that, the bag of tattooist could be the
negative symbol slavery and pain but
actually we can see it as the symbol of
protection and safety throughout the novel.
Lale’s supply bag indicates him as the
worker for the political wing of SS and the
added protection the job of tattooist affords
him. It also gives him a kind of permit of
going everywhere in the camp. No Nazi or
SS guard would bother him going anywhere
in the camp with his bag. So, he helped
many fellow prisoners and also managed
his survival using this privilege. The supply
bag becomes a hidden source of help, hope
and limited freedom for Lale.
III.The character of Tattooist: The character
of tattooist in Auschwitz is also symbolic.
The tattooist Lale Sokolov, protagonist of
the novel represents Mordecai, the famous
Biblical character of Old Testament.
According to the book of Esther, Mordecai
saved the life of Jew community exiled in
Persia. He used the privilege and
intelligence to save the lives of Jews from
the destructive plan of Haman the Agagite,
wicked courtier of Persia. Lale’s motto ‘To
save one is to save the world’ (Ch.2, page
35) also resembles his humanity and
sublime nature, like Mordecai. The job of
tattooist gave Lale extra privilege and
relaxation. He was unintentionally giving
pain to the prisoners while tattooing
because it was his assigned work but still he
managed to provide them extra food from
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SP Publications
International Journal Of English and Studies (IJOES)
An International Peer-Reviewed Journal ; Volume-3, Issue-4, 2021
www.ijoes.in
ISSN: 2581-8333; Impact Factor: 5.421(SJIF)
RESEARCH ARTICLE
his ration and used his position to help them
and also to save the lives of many prisoners.
IV.
The currency: Money or currency is
the symbol of trade for survival in the
novel. Usually the currency gets no value in
the place like Auschwitz where the
prisoners were subject to starvation and
malnutrition and the life was uncertain.
Nazis used to take away the jewellery,
money and even the clothes and shoes of
prisoners after their admission in the
concentration camp. Getting enough food
and surviving in the hell of Auschwitz
camp was the main concern of any prisoner
in the camp. There was a sure death
sentence to the prisoners who get caught
with money or expensive things. So, it was
not possible to use and carry any currency
in the camp by any prisoner. But still the
currency plays a pivotal part in the novel.
Here, currency is the symbol of the only aid
of successful survival in the Auschwitz
where no basic needs of food and
medication for prisoners provided by Nazis.
Lale used gold, gems and jewels and
sometimes food too as currency in the
concentration camp. Lale’s only link with
the world outside the Auschwitz camp was
Victor and Yuri, the paid polish workers
who were living near the camp. He used to
give them Gems, jewels and gold for
smuggling extra food, chocolate and
medicines, etc. for him because there was
no any currency available in the camp for
prisoners. Currency symbolises here not
ISSN: 2581-8333
only a mere exchange of money but the
exchange of precious jewels for saving the
more precious, priceless human lives.
V.
The chocolate: The Chocolate
symbolises love and commitment of Lale
for his beloved Gita. He used to smuggle
chocolates in the camp with the help of
Victor and Yuri. Chocolate was also used
as the bribe offered by Lale to the lady
Kapo of Gita’s block. So, it also serves as
the currency for prisoners starving in the
camp and gives another layer of meaning to
the symbol of Chocolate in this novel.
VI.The American Plane: The American
plane is a symbol of hope in the novel. One
day, suddenly the American plane flied
over the camp. Prisoners saw the plane and
started directing it towards the camp. They
became happy and got the hope for life and
freedom. It symbolised them the attention
of world towards their misery. It filled their
heart with hope and thought of freedom.
They started celebrating the attention of the
world who was opposing Nazi Germany.
They thought that Americans would help
them soon to get free from this hell,
humiliation, slavery and pain. Prisoners
suddenly started running and directing the
plane
toward
the
crematorium.
Unfortunately the plane filed away and
Nazis started open fire on the prisoners. But
the incident not gone in vain. Soon the
world had its attention toward the
concentration
camp
and
inhumane
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SP Publications
International Journal Of English and Studies (IJOES)
An International Peer-Reviewed Journal ; Volume-3, Issue-4, 2021
www.ijoes.in
ISSN: 2581-8333; Impact Factor: 5.421(SJIF)
RESEARCH ARTICLE
programs of Hitler and Nazi Germany and
also it gave a ray of hope to the protagonist
and fellow prisoners. So, the American
plane becomes the symbol of hope for the
prisoners in the novel.
VII. The Castration of Leon: Testicles
are
symbols
of
masculinity
and
reproduction and the castration of Leon, the
fellow prisoner and assistant of Lale
symbolises the emasculation of the
European Jewry by Nazis. This also
symbolises the inhuman behaviour and
atrocities of Nazi Germany on the Jew
community. Leon was a sensitive young
man. Dr Mengele castrated him. He
returned demoralised and hopeless and
frightened. This symbolises the mental
emasculation of the Jew community as well
as the castration of power and masculine
virtues like protest and agitation of a
community by Nazi Germany.
VIII. The character of Cilka:Cilka is a
fellow prisoner. She was very beautiful
young girl with a special privilege of
keeping long hair. Her head was not shaved
like the other female prisoners because she
was forced to become the mistress of
Schwarzhuber, the top commandant of
Auschwitz II- Birkenau concentration
camp. Maintaining such a long relationship
with a Jew lady prisoner by a high ranked
SS officer seems difficult to many critics.
But our aim is not to find the truth and
historicity of this character but the symbolic
ISSN: 2581-8333
meaning of it. Cilka too resembles a
biblical character like the character of
‘Tattooist’ in the novel. Cilka symbolises
the extraordinary beauty which saved the
lives of her people like Biblical Queen
Esther. We get the story of extraordinary
beautiful Jew girl Esther who became the
queen of Persia in the book of Esther of the
Old Testament of Holy Bible. She saved the
lives of her people exiled in Persia using
her charm and position as a queen of King
Ahasuerus. Cilka serves the same role for
Lale in the novel. She saved his life by
requesting Schwarzhuber for reposting him
to his previous job of tattooist. So, she
symbolises the character of Biblical Queen
Esther in the novel.
Conclusion:
It can be concluded that this novel –
‘The tattooist of Auschwitz’ has many
symbols in it. These symbols are not only
decorating the novel with different colours
but also giving it a deep meaning. These
symbols have complex meanings and they
indicate bigger ideas. Symbols also have
given a new dimension to the story. The
protagonist and some other characters too
have symbolic meanings and it is seen that,
we can connect them to the famous Biblical
Jew characters too. The character of Lale
and Cilka resemble the qualities of Biblical
characters of Mordecai and Esther. We can
see some traditional or common symbols in
typical holocaust fictions, like: Wagon,
Fences and Gas chambers etc. But Heather
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SP Publications
International Journal Of English and Studies (IJOES)
An International Peer-Reviewed Journal ; Volume-3, Issue-4, 2021
www.ijoes.in
ISSN: 2581-8333; Impact Factor: 5.421(SJIF)
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Morris has used many unconventional and
new symbols in this novel which give
uniqueness to this novel among the other
Holocaust fictions. So, from the symbol
analysis above, it can be concluded that the
novel has various symbols in it and author
has used them to add deeper meaning in the
story. These symbols support the central
theme of ‘Survival and Love’ of this novel
and connect the modern readers with the
real spirit and pulse of Holocaust survivals.
These symbols help reader to understand
the unconquerable desire for life of the
protagonist and his fellow prisoners and the
extraordinary love story of ordinary Jew
prisoners of Auschwitz.
References
Levin, Gerald. “Holocaust Literature as a
genre: A description and a
bibliography.” Journal of
Social
Philosophy, Vol. 13, Issue 3, pp. 5269.
ISSN: 2581-8333
Cuddon, J.A. “Dictionary of Literary terms
and Literary theory.” 5th Edition.
Penguin Books,
2013.
Morris, Heather. “The tattooist of
Auschwitz.”Bonnier Books UK,
2018.
Spivey, Tyler Grey. “The coldness of Hell:
A theoretical reading of Holocaust
fiction and the
Holocaust as
the
deconstructive
event.”Southeastern
University,
2017.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia.
"Book of Esther”. Encyclopedia
Britannica,
20
May.
2020,
https://www.britannica.com/topic/B
ook-of-Esther.
Berenbaum,Michael."Holocaust."Encyclop
edia Britannica, 22 Oct. 2020,
https://www.britannica.com/event/H
olocaust.
The
Family
Devotional
Study
Bible.“Esther.”India
Bible
Literature, 2011.
Copyright © 2021 SP Publications
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