The Radiant Freedom of Selflessness “Selfishness has a life of its own” (Ten Boom 213). In the midst of the horrors of the Holocaust, Corrie Ten Boom chooses to fight against the evil root of selfishness. Ten Boom's biography The Hiding Place tells the fascinating story of triumph and faith during difficult circumstances that Corrie experienced during World War II. Corrie and her family witness the invasion of the Germans in Holland, and live through German occupation. Corrie sees the brutality that Jews are shown, and she decides to make her home a safe haven for Jews to hide in. This leads her to become a member of the underground in Holland, and her own home becomes headquarters of the operation to save Jewish people. Sadly, Corrie and her family were arrested. After …show more content…
This change shows the theme of selfless thinking being more rewarding than selfishness. Secondly, Corrie’s change of heart shows the theme of selflessness being more satisfying than selfishness in The Hiding Place. During the colder months at the concentration camp, Corrie starts to think selfishly. Ten Boom reflects, “Oh, this was the great ploy of Satan in that kingdom of his: to display such blatant evil that one could almost believe one’s own secret sins didn’t matter. cancer spread” (214). Corrie looks at the brutality of the German guards and believes that her little selfishness would not do much harm. Instead, her selfish mindset poisons herself and those around her. She realizes that selfless thinking is freeing, and starts to change. Soon after, Corrie reads the Bible to a small gathering of women, and repents from her sin of selfishness. The author writes, “And so I closed the Bible and to that group of women clustering close I told the truth about myself-my self-centeredness, my stinginess, my lack of love. That night real joy returned to my worship” (Ten Boom 215). Corrie immediately sees joy return to her
We learn from conflict that sacrifices must be made to help others. In the novel The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen, Hannah was an altruistic person that always put others before herself. Because of her heroic nature, she often risked her life for other people. For example, when Commander Breuer visited the concentration camp to choose who would be killed, Hannah risked execution by attempting to save Reuven. When he was caught, Hannah desperately tried to convince the commander to let the child go. The commandant took Reuven away in spite of her pleas. She was unsuccessful; however, this selfless act could have cost Hannah her life. These dire situations force people to jeopardize their own safety for someone else. Hannah’s protective instincts
The religious imagery in Flannery O'Connor's 'The Life You Save May Be Your Own' gives the story a cynical undertone along with a healthy dose of irony. O'Connor uses allusions to Jesus and Christianity to examine the hypocrisies of the religion and its adherents. Her character Tom T. Shiftlet is portrayed paradoxically as both the embodiment of Christ and an immoral, utterly selfish miscreant. By presenting these polarities side by side within one persona, O'Connor shows the dichotomies between so-called Christian morality and the reality of the Church.
Corrie ten Boom writes a book called The Hiding Place, and it explains how she and her family helped Jews during the Holocaust. It took a lot of bravery and courage for the ten Booms to put their lives on the line to save the lives of nearly 800 Jews. The ten Booms show that instead of disregarding the jews and not helping them, they open their home for anybody who needs help. Even through the dark times, the ten Booms always have a strong feeling that something good will happen and continue spread the love of Jesus. The ten Booms hope that Jesus can deliver the soldiers from evil and keep spirits of everyone who is suffering from the Holocaust. The ten Booms respond to their environment by providing a temporary home for Jewish people and
The descriptions of the action and characters provided by the authors of Corrie Ten Boom: Keeper of the Angels’ Den creates a vivid story of great courage and faith. The biography’s vitality was shown through Geoff and Janet Benge’s usage of vivid descriptions. Action was thoroughly described from Corrie’s point of view, giving the reader a thorough understanding of what she experienced while imprisoned by the Nazis. For instance, the text illustrates, “… Ravensbruck was running out of food to feed all the prisoners, so it had been decided to reduce the number of prisoners in the camp by gassing the older ones (Benge & Benge, 1998, p. 164).” This quote is an example of the horrors that took place in the concentration camps in which Corrie
“There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deep still.” Corrie Ten Boom once quoted. Corrie Ten Boom was a follower of God who believed God’s love was like no other, and followed his commandments at the best of her abilities. Corrie Ten Boom, the most well-known lady during the Holocaust for hiding Jews, was admirable not only because of her bravery, determination, and leadership skills, but also inspired many different people in a lot of different ways. Corrie Ten Boom breathed her first breath on April 5, 1892 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
... the middle of the tattered city sits Mr. Frank, reading Anne’s diary. He is the only one who survived after being sent to a concentration camp. Wind was blowing in the pages he was barely holding. Determination settled in his face as a thought of publishing the diary to let everyone know the life of being drowned in silence, the life of perpetual fear. Anne Frank may be gone, but her legacy is left behind. Although everyone else died in different concentration camps they were sent to, Mr. Frank organized the hiding to the best of his ability. Mr. Frank demonstrated his great leadership qualities by thinking of others before himself, keeping a constructive and encouraging attitude, and making hard decisions. The play would not have been possible without Mr. Frank’s effort in getting Anne’s diary published. Through thick and thin, Mr. Frank sewed everything together.
Her father biked with co-workers five blocks from the entrance but then disappeared before reaching back home. Lauren and a search party went to find Reverend Olumina ’s body but failed to do so. He was pronounced dead. After the death of her father she considers moving away from the neighborhood realizing how much worse the lack of safety is in the community. Lauren finally preaches what she feel the community should do. Lauren states, “I preached from Luke, chapter eighteen, verses one through eight: the parable of the importunate window. It’s one I’ve always liked. A widow is so persistent in her demands for justice that she over comes the resistance of a judge who fears neither God nor man. She wears him down. Moral: The weak can overcome the strong if the weak persist. Persisting isn’t always safe , but it’s often necessary ” (Butler 134). Lauren is trying to explain that despite the tragedies that occurred, them as a community should stick together and stay strong. She explains to the community about the current cycle that her father and the adults created is not going to work out forever. While being under the current cycle, many outsiders snuck their way inside the community and stole money and food. Not only that, the watchers noticed that the thieves carry
During World War II, the Ten Boom family took action against the Nazi movement and began an underground hiding system, saving over 700 Jewish lives. (Contemporary Authors, 470) They were discovered and sent from their Haarlem, Holland home to Scheveningen, a Nazi prison. Ten Boom, in her 50’s, was placed on trial for leading the underground system and sent to a German work camp. There she witnessed her father and sister’s death as well as the birth of her inner strength and hope for the future.
Throughout the novel, crucial family members and friends of the girl that died are meticulously reshaped by her absence. Lindsey, the sister, outgrows her timidity and develops a brave, fearless demeanor, while at the same time she glows with independence. Abigail, the mother, frees herself from the barbed wire that protected her loved ones yet caused her great pain, as well as learns that withdrawing oneself from their role in society may be the most favorable choice. Ruth, the remote friend from school, determines her career that will last a lifetime. and escapes from the dark place that she was drowning in before. Thus, next time one is overcome with grief, they must remember that constructive change is guaranteed to
Anne Frank was a 13-year-old Jewish girl who was thrown into one of the worst periods in the history of the world; the Holocaust. Though she went through awful things that many people will never experience, she always kept the faith that there was still some good in everyone. She once said, “Despite everything I still believe people are truly good at heart.” Her diary, which she kept while her family was in hiding from the Nazis, shows the triumph of her spirit over the evil in the world even through the pain of adolescence. The Franks and Van Dans were hiding and they suffered many hardships, mentally and physically. Many people in Anne’s situation would have become bitter and resentful, but Anne never would despair.
Have you ever read the play “The Diary of Anne Frank?” She wrote in a book during the Holocaust. She hid in a place called the “Secret Annex” Mr. Kraler was the man who let the Franks and Van Daans stay in his attic. The theme was “Which characters contribute to them theme people are good at heart.” In the play “ The diary of Anne Frank”, the theme people are good at heart is developed through the characters Miep Gies, Mr.Kraler, and Anne Frank.
One’s true self is only ever revealed in times of great desperation or hopelessness, and only then can the true extent of their morality be determined. Within Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett’s play The Diary of Anne Frank, the eight inhabitants of the aptly proclaimed “Secret Annex” were forced into close quarters for an extended amount of time. During this period, Petronella Van Daan proved herself to be the worst, personality-wise, of them all. Such is easily seen throughout various conflicts within the play, in which Mrs. Van Daan slowly reveals herself to be reactive, materialistic, vain, and generally antagonistic to both the reader and the occupants of the Annex.
... Now, because Editha remained naïve about the issues of war and the loss of her husband, she resumed to believe that sending George off was the right decision. “If Editha had changed her views, she would have had to admit to herself that she sent George off to die in a war and fought for the wrong reasons. Why live with the guilt when there is the ability to pretend that George died for very noble purposes” (Belasco and Johnson 113-24). Editha limits her fault by remaining unaware and therefore feels innocent of the harm she’s inflicted on the people she cares about. The significance of the stories is to appreciate life for what it’s worth. We are given a chance to create something extraordinary and trying to change those around us will affect us for the worst. The accepting of others for who they truly are is what defines the character of one person from the next.
There exist only two types of people in a time of war and crisis, those who survive and those who die. Elie Wiesel’s novel, Night shows how Elie, himself, faces difficult problems and struggles to survive World War II. Wilfred Owen’s poem, “Dulce et Decorum Est”, tells a story about a young soldier thinking of himself before others during World War I. The poem “Mary Hamilton” shows how a mother killed her child so she would not get into trouble. Sir John Harrington writes about a sad truth in the poem “On Treason”; the poem reflects humanity’s selfish tendencies during tough times. When people face difficult times they often care about only one person, themselves; the need to survive clouds people’s moral and judgment.
Some major themes that the author deals with are innocence, suffering, warfare, and family. When Daisy arrives in England, she is surprised by the innocence of her cousins in the English countryside. She enjoys being a part of untouched and pure lives. She has an innocent relationship with her cousin, and all this is ruined because of the war. By the time the war ends, all the innocence has disappeared. For Daisy, she mainly suffers from starving herself. However, the war introduces new kinds of suffering, such as death, destruction, illness, loneliness, fear, and