Elli's 'I Have Lived A Thousand Years'

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1.) Throughout “I Have Lived a Thousand Years”, there is a universal theme that the physical and emotional strength gained from undergoing a tragedy is unbelievable. Elli has gained both, physical and emotional strength throughout her time in the Holocaust. Elli and the other prisoners experienced misery and hardships which made their bodies weary, but gave them the strength to survive. This is present in the following quote when Elli describes the reactions of the girls after being stripped of their clothes and losing their hair, “A burden is lifted. The burden of individuality. The burden of associations. Of identity. The burden of recent past. Girls who had continually wept since the separation from parents, sisters, and brothers, now keep giggling at their friends’ strange appearances—shorn heads, nude bodies, faceless faces” (78). At this point, the girls didn’t have anything else to lose. Finally, they were all equal. Rather than worrying about their appearance, it was an opportunity for them to breathe and come together as a whole. Now, all the girls had to worry about was survival and the other misfortunes they would face along the way. While being in the concentration …show more content…

In the following quote, Elli describes the difference between the wilderness and the boxcar, “It is a gay, lighthearted day of spring out there. In the boxcar it is airless and dark, and the scent of apathy is suffocating” (185). Being surrounded by hundreds of women in small boxcar is beyond unacceptable. Further on in the memoir, Elli describes how women were fighting and unable to move. Many died in the boxcars and other inmates would come around and discard the bodies to make room for the living. Having to look at the beautiful scenery inspires hope, but also torture. This allows the audience to see the brutality and harsh conditions which made the prisoners

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