The Bread of Life- Prisoner B-3087 Sharissa-
Prisoner B-3087 is my favorite book that we have read in this class so far. Not because it was an easy read or that the book was super happy and uplifting. Rather, I feel like I was able to understand what it was like to try and survive the holocaust as a young adult.
The book had me hooked from the first sentence: "If I had known what the next six years of my life were going to be like, I would have eaten more" (Grubner 2). Through out this book, one of the most talked about subjects was food. From the first page, to the last few chapters, we see how food is very important and crucial to Yanek's, the protagonist, survival. More specifically, bread is talked about throughout this book, mostly because this was one of the only food that the Nazi soldiers gave to the Jews in concentration camps. The first page that bread was mentioned in is on page 11 where Yanek describes the rations the Nazis gave to the Jews in his home town. He was given soup, a whole loaf of bread, and cheese. As time progresses, the amount of bread given was less. Bread in the beginning of this book starts of as abundant, fresh, and warm then progresses to small amounts, stale, and cold. I feel like this can be a representation of Yanek and/or the Jews. He goes from a youthful, creative young boy to a robotic, lifeless young man. In the beginning Yanek is a helpful kid but is so changed and hardened by the treatment of the Nazis that he almost steals bread from a dying boy but his conscience got the best of him. He told himself he wouldn't take it, "Not while I could still feel him breathing, not when I could feel his heart beating in his bony chest. He might die by morning... I could wait until then" (Grubner 182). When he woke up the next day and the boy was not dead, he felt anger. Yanek wanted that bread so bad but then came to a realization and said, "I wouldn't steal bread from a living boy, but I would wish death on him so that I could take it without guilt?" (Grubner 182). Yanek even had to face one of the meanest officers nicknamed "Moonface" to get some bread in order to live. In the Bible, God says men cannot live on bread alone, but for Yanek it was key to his survival.
The book had me hooked from the first sentence: "If I had known what the next six years of my life were going to be like, I would have eaten more" (Grubner 2). Through out this book, one of the most talked about subjects was food. From the first page, to the last few chapters, we see how food is very important and crucial to Yanek's, the protagonist, survival. More specifically, bread is talked about throughout this book, mostly because this was one of the only food that the Nazi soldiers gave to the Jews in concentration camps. The first page that bread was mentioned in is on page 11 where Yanek describes the rations the Nazis gave to the Jews in his home town. He was given soup, a whole loaf of bread, and cheese. As time progresses, the amount of bread given was less. Bread in the beginning of this book starts of as abundant, fresh, and warm then progresses to small amounts, stale, and cold. I feel like this can be a representation of Yanek and/or the Jews. He goes from a youthful, creative young boy to a robotic, lifeless young man. In the beginning Yanek is a helpful kid but is so changed and hardened by the treatment of the Nazis that he almost steals bread from a dying boy but his conscience got the best of him. He told himself he wouldn't take it, "Not while I could still feel him breathing, not when I could feel his heart beating in his bony chest. He might die by morning... I could wait until then" (Grubner 182). When he woke up the next day and the boy was not dead, he felt anger. Yanek wanted that bread so bad but then came to a realization and said, "I wouldn't steal bread from a living boy, but I would wish death on him so that I could take it without guilt?" (Grubner 182). Yanek even had to face one of the meanest officers nicknamed "Moonface" to get some bread in order to live. In the Bible, God says men cannot live on bread alone, but for Yanek it was key to his survival.
I like this concept for the symbol of bread, I never really thought of it bringing meaning to the novel until now. Bread also sort of makes the novel relate in religious terms with. Great point, I'm almost eager to go back and reread it with paying more attention to when bread is mention , but I came back to my senses lol.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really cool observation about the bread. I think it definitely ties to the religious aspect of the book, and the anti-Semitism in the Holocaust. It's a symbol that I missed and I think it's a really important part of the novel as a whole, now that you've pointed it out!
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