Analysis Of City Of Thieves By David Benioff

City of Thieves – David Benioff

How has David Benioff explored the dehumanising aspects of war in his novel?

City of Thieves is historical fiction set in the besieged Russian city of Leningrad during World War Two. Lev Beniov, a Jewish seventeen year old, details his story as the protagonist through his first person narrative perspective of the siege. Benioff’s focus is the desensitized attitudes and behaviour shared by characters throughout the novel as they contend with dehumanising situations which would appear horrifying under circumstances that have been unaffected by war. Through the utilisation of techniques such as characterisation, plot and first person narrative, Benioff explores the dehumanising aspects of war in his novel.

Benioff’s

This is first evidenced by Lev’s encounter with a cannibal who lures unsuspecting patrons into his apartment where they are then murdered and eaten. The act of cannibalisation in a normal functioning society would be condemned and punished swiftly, however in war torn Leningrad where any means of survival are necessary, when Lev informs the authorities of this heinous act he is met with disdain. The only response is, “there are cannibals in every building… welcome to Leningrad.” Benioff additionally includes scenes that depict the discriminatory persecution of Bolsheviks as less than human by the Germans. After being captured and placed into a forced procession of prisoners travelling to a local German camp, Lev witnesses the Einsatzkommando’s trick the literary men in the group to identify themselves. They are then lined up against a wall and met with a hail of gunfire until they “lay splayed and shredded on the ground”, murdered simply because they are educated and as a result pose a potential threat to German dominance. Lev remains seemingly unfazed with little emotional response, remarking instead on the response of others. “I looked at Vika, but she was staring off into the distance, refusing to watch.” Lev has become desensitized to these graphic scenes of dehumanisation, due to the regularity of their occurrence as a result of the desperate and cruel behaviours that have been exhibited by those in authority and power during the