Otherness In Primo Levi's If This Is A Man

If This Is a Man is the memoir of Primo Levi and chronicles his time spent as a prisoner in Auschwitz until its liberation in 1945. Otherness is defined as an individual being different from you in terms of culture, appearance, native tongue or religion. The concept of otherness has been used prevalently throughout many ages and governments as a means to control in populations by making them fear a specific group or “other”. It was widely used in Nazi concentration camps as a strategy to keep prisoners separate, not simply through physical means, but rather in constant mental state of confusion. One of the most common ways people define the other is not just by race or religion but by language. This state of otherness has transcended into many

This documents Levi’s blunt reality with no ambiguity, essentially using scientific vocabulary, similar to Levi’s weekly lab reports. In a particularly effective segment, Levi stated: “no one has time here, no one has patience, no one listens to you”. Levi employs anaphora by the repetition of “no one”, thereby placing greater emphasis and severity on each clause, transforming the tone from matter of fact to an authoritative order. Due to the strong internal rhythm, short and stressed syllables an almost tangible marching beat is created, further emphasizing Levi’s point. This ties in with the abundant use of commas which further breaks up the sentence into distinct sections of command, further layering on a dictatorial tone of authority. This echoes orders from an SS guard or a more experienced prisoner, grounding the reader back to the setting of Auschwitz. Furthermore, Levi’s intentional use of simplistic language and the invocation the pronoun “you”, directly grabs attention of the reader and forces you to face the stark, and yet, decidedly simple reality that nobody had the time or patience to listen to you, just as Levi and other prisoners had to come to terms with. JUXTAPOSITION TO