The Little School Analysis

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In “The Little School” by Alicia Partnoy, Alicia shares brief memories from her time as a prisoner in an Argentinian concentration camp. These memories share the experiences and thoughts of Alicia as she spends her time blindfolded with other prisoners in a room,Waiting for anything to happen, with the constant threat of torture and death lingering in the air. In these experiences, Alicia demonstrates the recurring idea of “helping those who need it is more important than helping yourself”. An example of Alicia helping others is shown in the chapter “Latrine”. In this chapter Alicia explains the bathroom routine and events that happen on the trips to the Bathroom. On one of these trips the guards purposely push another inmate, Hugo, into Alicia, When this happened the guards told Alicia to slap Hugo in the face or be punished. When Alicia was faced with these two choices she remembered that Hugo had been tortured far more than she had, she also didn’t want to hurt a friend. Alicia then chose to defy the guards and be punished so Hugo could have a break from being beaten. …show more content…

Benjas first day at the little school is hard and brutal, filled with beatings both physical and mental. When benja finally arrives in the cell for the first time, Alicia feels bad for him so she makes attempts at distracting the guards long enough for them to stop beating benja. This is shown when Alicia says “Right now the main thing is to make time pass”. Another example of Alicia helping benja is when later on in the night alicia has an idea to pass her left over bread and cheese to benja, She does this by sliding the bread and cheese to her feet and pushing it towards benja, Alicia does this without being caught by the guards or else she risks being punished herself. This shows that Alicia is willing to risk her own safety and give up the little food she has to help someone who needs it more than she