The whole world has gone through some tough times, but not many things have been as horrible as the tragedies that happened during the Holocaust, not many things have been as harsh and heartbreaking as the events during the Holocaust. One of the pieces of writing that explains the almost unspeakable cruelty that we call the Holocaust is in a Scholastic Scope article “Betrayed by America” by Kristen Lewis. It was about an eleven year old boy who was in a concentration camp, he went through a hard time but when the war was over and done with they gave him money and let him go.
Another narrative on this event was about a young boy Ben and his Holocaust experience who went through a really hard time and saw things we could only imagine. One of the many historical fiction pieces was by Jane Yolen who wrote The Devil’s Arithmetic about a girl who traveled back to the Holocaust to an internment camp and experienced the cruelty of the Nazi soldiers. Finally, John Boyne wrote about a boy who lived next to an internment camp and was interacting with a kid his own age on the other side of the fence.
Writers of all genres have a different and unique way of onveying their thoughts, messages, and ideas to the reader to get a point across and make their effort worth reading. Both the historical pieces by Jane Yolen who wrote The Devil’s Arithmetic and John Boyne who created The Boy in the Striped Pajamas use the power of relationships between characters to transfer the message about the Holocaust and the barbaric nature of the events. The connection between the characters is shown on page 159 in Yolen’s book when the protagonist states, Run for your life Rivka. Run for your future. Run. Run. Run.
And remember. The author made the relationship between the characters so strong that it showed how hard it was to be in the camps and the sacrifices you had to make for loved ones. It proves that some people in the situation during the time of the tragedy were cruel but others were really good at heart and caught in a bad situation. The novel The Boy in the Striped Pajamas used the same technique as Jane Yolen, the message the reader gets through friendships. It was conveyed on page 44 when the young child Bruno states, ” Father returned to his office which was out of bounds at all times and no exceptions.
This little boy is so young and it is hard for him to comprehend why people are on the other side of the fence held hostage and why his dad is always working. Through his eyes it doesn’t make sense, which is what many people think of the Holocaust, but when you’re a little kid it is even more jaw dropping. You can see how the lack of relationship between the protagonist and his father, impacts the feeling you get about the situation and makes you realize how we can never ever let it happen again.
It is common that many of the historical fiction books have the ame way of proving their point to the reader such as displaying the importance of relationships but some do differ. One of the effective techniques used in the book The Devil’s Arithmetic is repetition. The restated line that is said numerous times throughout the book is said on page 4, when Hannah says, ” | remember. I remember. ” This quote is stated multiple times to show the reader the heartache that comes with remembering the Holocaust.
It is stated so many times that it sticks in the reader’s mind and shows how hard it is to come to realize the how harsh of a time it was. While The Devil’s Arithmetic had repetition, Boyne utilized the impact of point of view in his writing. One line that demonstrates this in on page 71 when the narrator states, ” Bruno wasn’t entirely sure why but knew that he didn’t like Lieutenant Kotler. ” When we get to hear and understand what is going through each of the characters mind you get so many perspectives on the tragedy that is going on. It shows how people view things very differently and one person’s gain could be another person’s lost.
Just like authors that write historical fiction writers of narrative ieces have their ways of making their writing have a lasting impact that sticks in the reader’s mind and stays there. One of the significant and strong styles used in both, Scholastic Scope articles “Teens Against Hitler” by Lauren Tarshis and “Betrayed by America” written by Kristen Lewis is the real life accounts that are described, which make it even more heartbreaking to read.
One of the real life accounts in ” Teens Against Hitler” that is really eye opening is on page 8 when the narrator states, ” His entire family was dead. You can read something and know right rom wrong or bad from good, but when you read non- fiction and realize that this is a real live person with a real life story that is the most has the strongest impact. You can only imagine going through what someone has been through but even thinking about it can give a heartache. Tarshis also uses a real life account on page of her article which makes the article have a whole new aspect, ” He hated bathing in the one room shower, with its eight showerheads and no privacy. ” Picturing what people went through during the Holocaust is almost impossible and something that hopefully will never happen gain.
All the heartaches people had and all the cruelty is awful. So many people in our world today take advantage of all the things we have and don’t realize how hard it was for people during the tragic time. Both the pieces have real life accounts which adds a whole other level to the writing but both have there own unique strategy. The article by Lewis does littles things that really impact the writing, such as when she has the heading of a paragraph on page 7 be, “ Get ‘Em Out! ” These three words set the tone for the entire paragraph and explain xactly how it was in the 1940’s during the Holocaust.
While ” Betrayed by America” has strong headings “Teens against Hitler” uses strong facts such as on page 6 when it states,” By 1945, 6 million jewish men, women, and children would be dead. ” When you have facts like the Tarshis uses, it just shows and proves with compelling evidence that the Holocaust was one of the most tragic times in history. You can know that it is bad, but when you have prove that is when you truly understand. As you can see, when authors use techniques such as real life accounts nd powerful headings it can help you comprehend the eye opening events of the 1940’s.
Every writer has a different technique of writing, narrative writers use historical accounts and historical pieces might have repetition, but each technique leads us to the conclusion that the Holocaust is very tragic time. Narrative writing is very powerful and one of the strategies that makes it that way is the real life accounts that are explained. ” Betrayed by America” and ” Teens against Hitler” use real life accounts which opens that readers eyes and makes them realize that what happened as not by any means a couple of people dying it was millions of lives gone and our society now can not that it be repeated.
While the narratives have real life accounts, Jane Yolen and Kristen Lewis both utilize the compelling technique of relationships in their historical pieces to prove that the Holocaust was no picnic and something we have to remember and respect it enough to not repeat. There are so many things that are horrible and almost hard to think about during the Holocaust but it is good to learn about it and know how harsh it was so we know never to do that again.
