Theme One: Indifference
“The opposite of love is not hate, it's
indifference. The opposite of art is not
ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of
faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And
the opposite of life is not death, it's
indifference.”
-Elie Wiesel
Indifference is...
an absence of compulsion (the force to act) to or toward one
thing or another
the trait of remaining calm and seeming not to care; a
casual lack of concern
apathy (disinterest) demonstrated by an absence of
emotional reactions
Theme Two: Bearing Witness
“To forget the dead would be akin to
killing them a second time.”
“I don't want my past to become anyone
else's future.”
~Elie Wiesel
Bearing Witness is...
Bearing witness is a term that, used in psychology, refers to
sharing our experiences with others, most notably in the
communication to others of traumatic experiences. Bearing
witness is a valuable way to process an experience, to obtain
empathy and support, to lighten our emotional load via
sharing it with the witness, and to obtain catharsis (purification
or cleansing)
Bearing witness is being present in the face of injustice and
trying to help.
Theme Three: Identity and
Dehumanization
“Dehumanization isn’t a way of talking. It’s a way of
thinking—a way of thinking that, sadly, comes all too
easily to us. Dehumanization is a scourge, and has
been so for millennia. It acts as a psychological
lubricant, dissolving our inhibitions and inflaming our
destructive passions. As such, it empowers us to
perform acts that would, under other circumstances, be
unthinkable.”
― David Livingstone Smith,
Identity is...
the fact of being who or what a person or thing is.
the qualities or beliefs, that make a particular person or group different from
others
Personal identity is the concept you develop about yourself that evolves over
the course of your life. This may include aspects of your life that you have
no control over, such as where you grew up or the color of your skin, as well
as choices you make in life, such as how you spend your time and what you
believe. You demonstrate portions of your personal identity outwardly
through what you wear and how you interact with other people. You may
also keep some elements your of personal identity to yourself, even when
these parts of yourself are very important.
Dehumanization is...
to deprive of human qualities, personality, or spirit.
To deprive of human qualities such as individuality,
compassion, or civility
to treat (someone) as though he or she is not a human
being
to take away a person’s identity
Theme Four: Choiceless Choices
“There were three of us friends that were together up
to that point. And we swore that we would sacrifice
each other’s life for each other. That we would never
let each other down. Kids, you know, we had this sort
of a dream, that it would be possible. One of the three
had an injury in his knee and had gangrene. And one
of the soldiers noticed him limping so he comes up and
he wants...to shoot him, but we step in front of him. He
pulls out his Luger and he says, ‘I give you three
seconds. Count to three, either you let him go or all the
three of you die.’ Can you imagine?”
A choiceless choice is...
The term was coined by Lawrence Langer to describe the unimaginable and
unprecedented situations of conflict the Jewish people found themselves in
during the Holocaust.
a choice between one abnormal outcome and another. A lose/lose situation.
A choiceless choice is a situation where there is no good, successful choice.
Whichever decision you make the result is going to be bad. Would you
prefer to be executed in the electric chair or by lethal injection? The fact of
the matter is you don't want to be executed at all, your choice would be to
live, but your only real choice in that situation is how to die.
Other themes and motifs:
● Family Bonds
● Questioning faith
● Guilt
● Silence
● Night and darkness
● Words that take on a new meaning