Europa Europa and The Pianist are both amazing stories of survival from the Holocaust. In both these remarkable stories, the main character stays true to himself in times of struggle: in Europa Europa Solomon Perel struggles with his identity as a Jew and in The Pianist it is Wladyslaw Szpilman staying true to his identity as a musician that saves him. These movies are both hopeful stories that tell amazing stories of not only survival but of identity.
Europa Europa is the amazing story of Solomon Perel, a young Jewish boy, who overcomes incredible circumstances during the Holocaust. He is separated from his family and ends up in a Soviet orphanage in Grondo when Germany attacks Russia. When he is discovered by Nazi soldiers he hides his identity and spends the rest of the war pretending to be a German among the Nazis named Josef Peters. Solomon does well everywhere he goes, easily adapting to whatever situation he finds himself in. Living as a Jew hidden in the Nazi world, Solomon’s story gives one a chance to examine his hardships as a young man: of course his survival is a continuous worry, but he is able to focus on other issues that many people in the Holocaust did not have a chance to face because their sole focus was to survive and Solomon was able to also face other issues.
Sex was a big theme explored in Europa Europa, Solomon Perel is an
…show more content…
Both are driven by their need to survive, but they have very different experiences. Once Solomon is forced to leave the orphanage in Russia, he is cut off from his family and his entire identity, and only carries on because his mother told him he must survive before he left her. Contrastly, Wladyslaw Szpilman keeps his focus on keeping his family alive, and spends his time doing all he can to ensure their survival. He only carries on after they 're taken on a train out of the ghetto because he believes it is God 's will he
The Holocaust was one of the darkest times in history. Both Night, by Elie Wiesel’s, and Roberto Begnini’s film Life is Beautiful, are set in the time period of the Holocaust. The Holocaust is portrayed very differently in the two pieces. Night has a much more serious tone. It tells how it really was. Life is Beautiful has a happier tone. It uses humor to explain what is happening. Night and Life is Beautiful are similar in the strong emphasis on the father-son bonds formed in each. Also, even though they were written in the same time period, the way that they portray the Holocaust is very different. Lastly, in each the boys are affected by what happened to Jews during the Holocaust. These pieces present themselves as powerfully magnificent and moving, but when it comes to the question of which is more effective in telling the story of the Holocaust, the answer is simple. Night.
A story of a young boy and his father as they are stolen from their home in Transylvania and taken through the most brutal event in human history describes the setting. This boy not only survived the tragedy, but went on to produce literature, in order to better educate society on the truth of the Holocaust. In Night, the author, Elie Wiesel, uses imagery, diction, and foreshadowing to describe and define the inhumanity he experienced during the Holocaust.
In The Piano Lesson, written by August Wilson, Boy Willie devises a scheme for buying Sutter’s land. Boy Willie has one part of the money saved up. He will sell the watermelons for the second part. Then he will sell the piano for a third part. The only debating issue in Boy Willie’s scheme is the piano. Berniece does not want to sell the piano. This is the only reason for a defense in Boy Willie’s scheme. Therefore, I will defend Boy Willie’s issue of selling the piano and how that liberates him in reference to his scheme for buying Sutter’s land.
Holocaust survivor Abel Herzberg has said, “There were not six million Jews murdered; there was one murder, six million times.” The Holocaust is one of the most horrific events in the history of mankind, consisting of the genocide of Jews, homosexuals, gypsies, mentally handicapped and many others during World War II. Adolf Hitler was the leader of Nazi Germany, and his army of Nazis and SS troops carried out the terrible proceedings of the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel is a Jewish survivor of the Nazi death camps, and suffers a relentless “night” of terror and torture in which humans were treated as animals. Wiesel discovers the “Kingdom of Night” (118), in which the history of the Jewish people is altered.
Boy Willie is the protagonist in the play The Piano Lesson, which is written by August Wilson. He is a foil character to his sister Berniece. He wants to sell the family piano. His biggest obstacle is his past, and his sister. Berniece wants to salvage the piano and keep it as a namesake. The quarrels revolving around legacies is the central conflict of the play. Boy Willie’s “Super-objective” contains two parts: fear and legacy resulting in memory.
The mood of Night is harder to interpret. Many different responses have occurred in readers after their perusal of this novel. Those that doubt the stories of the holocaust’s reality see Night as lies and propaganda designed to further the myth of the holocaust. Yet, for those people believing in the reality, the feelings proffered by the book are quite different. Many feel outrage at the extent of human maliciousness towards other humans. Others experience pity for the loss of family, friends, and self that is felt by the holocaust victims. Some encounter disgust as the realization occurs that if any one opportunity had been utilized the horror could of been avoided. Those missed moments such as fleeing when first warned by Moshe the Beadle, or unblocking the window when the Hungarian officer had come to warn them, would have saved lives and pain.
In The Piano Lesson by August Wilson, Berniece and Boy Willie are siblings who both want the piano that belongs to their family. Berniece wants to keep the piano because it holds their family history and it reminds her of the hard work her mother put into the piano. However, Boy Willie wants to sell the piano to buy land from Sutter’s brother because to him the land, like the piano, are both a part of his family’s history and both represent being free from Sutter. Both siblings fight over who has more rights to the piano and deserves it. In August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, Berniece struggles with being able to embrace her past and acknowledge its importance. Which reveals that instead of hiding the past we should embrace it and let it help
Yahil, Leni. The Holocaust: The Fate of European Jewry. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.
The 1990 film Europa, Europa, directed by Agnieszka Holland, is an incredible story about a Jewish boy named Solomon Perel who adventures through Europe during the time period of World War II. Europa, Europa takes the viewer on a journey of survival, as Solomon must hide his true identity time and time again throughout the movie, in order to ensure his survival from the Nazi’s. Solomon is faced with internal struggles, he first hides his Jewish identity in order to survive, then as his life continues, he struggles with new ideals that conflict with the ideals he was brought up with. For Solomon, his racial identity is his curse, as he wishes he could change who he is, but cannot due to his heritage. The film Europa, Europa embodies the struggles that Jewish people have had to endure throughout World War II in order to survive by disregarding their past lives and beliefs, re-inventing themselves with new identities, and assimilating into different societies by embodying the norms of a particular society, all while keeping their Jewish heritage astray.
The piano—originally known as the fortepiano or pianoforte—is one of the most globally recognized instruments in history. Its unique timbre distinguishes it from preceding keyboard instruments and even from modern keyboard instruments that attempt to imitate it. The pianoforte has made many changes and contributions to music, which can be seen through how it came to be, what composers first thought of the instrument, and how it affected orchestral music.
Classical music can be best summed by Mr. Dan Romano who said, “Music is the hardest kind of art. It doesn't hang up on a wall and wait to be stared at and enjoyed by passersby. It's communication. Its hours and hours being put into a work of art that may only last, in reality, for a few moments...but if done well and truly appreciated, it lasts in our hearts forever. That's art, speaking with your heart to the hearts of others.” Starting at a young age Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven have done just that with their musical compositions. Both musical composers changed the world of music and captivated the hearts of many. Their love of composing shared many similar traits, though their musical styles were much different.
This book left me with a deeper sense of the horrors experienced by the Polish people, especially the Jews and the gypsies, at the hands of the Germans, while illustrating the combination of hope and incredible resilience that kept them going.
Director Mark Herman presents a narrative film that attests to the brutal, thought-provoking Nazi regime, in war-torn Europe. It is obvious that with Herman’s relatively clean representation of this era, he felt it was most important to resonate with the audience in a profound and philosophical manner rather than in a ruthlessness infuriating way. Despite scenes that are more graphic than others, the films objective was not to recap on the awful brutality that took place in camps such as the one in the movie. The audience’s focus was meant to be on the experience and life of a fun-loving German boy named Bruno. Surrounding this eight-year-old boy was conspicuous Nazi influences. Bruno is just an example of a young child among many others oblivious of buildings draped in flags, and Jewis...
A film bursting with visual and emotional stimuli, the in-depth character transformation of Oscar Schindler in Schindler’s List is a beautiful focal point of the film. Riddled with internal conflict and ethical despair, Schindler challenges his Nazi Party laws when he is faced with continuing his ambitious business ideas or throwing it all away for the lives of those he once saw as solely cheap labor. Confronted with leading a double life and hiding his motivations from those allegiant to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, Schindler undergoes numerous ethical dilemmas that ultimately shape his identity and challenge his humanity. As a descendent of a Jewish-American, Yiddish speaking World War II soldier who helped liberate concentration camps in Poland, this film allowed for an enhanced personal
We see it in homes, schools, restaurants, and in various other places, but not many people know the changes it had to go through to touch our hearts with the endless possibilities the piano provides. Not many people know the origins and changes the piano has gone through to get where it is today. The truth is it was invented around the year 1700 by Bartolomeo Cristofori DI Francesco. For example, not many people know that the average piano started with sixty-six keys and changed to the average eighty-eight keys. One thing is for sure, pianos have gone through some major changes since they were first made.