Brief Summary Of The Book 'A Lucky Child'

The questioning of why some are luckier than others is a recurring theme in the book A Lucky Child. This quote above illustrates that at the start of Thomas Buergenthal journey, Holocaust survivor, he would be experiencing strokes of luck that help him stay strong, survive, and reunite with his mother during and after Auschwitz. Thomas is grateful for his fate, but often questions why it couldn’t have been the same outcome for the other prisoners. He also becomes confused with the word “luck”, if being lucky means to die and end the pain or having the wits to survive. In addition, Thomas is also faced with learning about all sides to a human, at only the age of ten. Witnessing the different types of prisoners, and the categories they would

As Thomas and the other prisoners arrived in Auschwitz, they all felt as if they were in a nightmare. “In my sleep, while the nightmare was upon me, I would hear myself say, ‘This is only a nightmare; there is nothing to be afraid of.’ My mind would unconsciously transform the outside screams to just a nightmare” (81). This scene in the book took place during Thomas’ first nights at camp. The outside pain and suffering would disturb his sleep. The only way to find peace was to make himself pretend that it was not real. This symbolizes the prisoners life in the camps, and how the terror would force them to have to adapt to the situation. People were dying every minute by the gas chambers, starvation, executions, and disease. Many would fight for their lives by working as hard as they could but as the torture escalated, people soon ended their own lives to end the pain. Those prisoners still alive, would envy them. Through different points of view, the word luck would have meant having the strength to survive the terrible conditions or to die. Different mind-sets affect the meaning of the word luck or who is lucky. Thomas empathizes in the book the significance of point of