Literary Analysis Essay on The Prisoners

Introduction

The new captives were always filled with curiosity of the surrounding and the consequences of what would happen had they been found in mistakes. The captives were shocked when they were made to sleep in beds constructed in tiers and every nine men who slept on boards were made to share two blankets. Captives slept on their sides because of insufficient room and used shoes as pillows. The captives did not clean their teeth and wore the same shirt for half a year and which they were unable to wash them due to the frozen water. The closeness and danger of death loomed over the captives on a daily basis which led to hopelessness and suicide had now been thought of with the most common form being running into the electric fence. The captives to survive needed to shave, look fit for work and manage hard labor. However, a prisoner in the phase of shock due to the events did not fear death and even the gas chambers did not horrify him since it was an alternative to committing suicide.

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The author describes the second phase of psychological alteration was where captives experienced tortures of emotional death. Prisoners longed for their homes and families and were disgusted by the new ugly environment. The prisoners wore rags compared to that of scarecrows and were made to work on filth to which any attempt to remove or any sign to show disgust of the filth would be punished by a blow. The Prisoners could not afford to watch the punishment of other prisoners as they marched for hours and driven by blows.

The second phase, however, is also characterized by blunt emotions as the prisoners could now watch a comrade being knocked down, get punished and receive improper treatment at the sick bay. Pity, horror and disgust were no longer present in the prisoners. Captives could steal a corpse's shoes, coat, and even strings. The author without much pity experienced mishandling of a corpse as he watched a nurse remove a body.

The blunting of feelings and emotions made the prisoners get used to the hourly and daily beatings. Prisoners found the mental agony caused by unreasonableness to hurt more than physical pain and the most painful part of a beating to be the insults. Prisoners were disturbed by the lack of reasoning of the guards. The author describes a time when he has been working hard in mending a track, and he tries to get a breath and lean on the shovel only for the guard to throw a stone at him. The author also describes a time where they were carrying heavy girders and a friend of his slipped and as he went to assist him, he was hit on the back and was scolded. All emotions and efforts were centered on preserving one's own life.

Prisoners were afraid of being late to line up in the morning as they had the impression that the guards picked people from the back rows for unpleasant jobs. Prisoners dreamt of cakes, bread, warm baths, and cigarettes. Undernourishment made the desire of food to be the major aspect that the mental life centered on such that when not closely watched, they would discuss food. The prisoners would plan how after release, they would have a reunion and cook their favorite meals. Prisoners found diet inadequate, considering their manual work and cold temperatures. The author mentions that he had to trade his belt for a piece of bread. The watery soup was served to inmates. The author describes that one would trade a cigarette for twelve soups which according to the prisoners would be a relieve of starvation.

The Prisoners, for the love of food, formed two different schools of thoughts. One suggested that it was better to eat the ration at once while the other group suggested that it was better to divide the ration. Food was inadequate and caused the death of prisoners. Bread and soup for the sick were reduced in quantity. The seriously ill patients received half a tablet while the desperately ill received no medication. The quarters which catered for the sick were inadequate which also lacked medicines and attendants.

The author describes that the sex urge was absent in the minds of prisoners. Not even in dreams did prisoners think of sex. Anything that did not serve the purpose of saving one's skin was disregarded. Values possessed by prisoners were put into doubt. The Prisoners felt that human life and dignity had been robbed of them and that they were only objects to make full use of until the last piece of their physical ability. The prisoners lost the feeling of having a mind with freedom, personal values and lost the feeling of being a human. The prisoners thought themselves as animals or being a part of a large mass of people. They thought themselves as being a flock of sheep without the will to do anything, driven back and forth, being kicked and receiving blows. The prisoners, therefore, only thought of how to avoid the cruelty of guards and how to get something into their stomachs.

Prisoners hoped that their wives were better off in other camps and did not know what was happening to them. The author at one time thinks of his wife and whether she was alive or not, ceases to be of importance. The author converses with his wife silently, imagines responses from her and imagines that he is touching her and that they are holding hands.

Prisoners when idle would only imagine past events however minor and unimportant they were. The imagination would help find refuge from the emptiness and spiritual poverty of existence. The prisoners lacked a view of the beautiful surrounding that the world possessed. The prisoners' attention could be caught by a mere sunset.

Prisoners believed that they could be rewarded through applauding and entertaining others. The author describes that he would applaud hard to become known to the Capo in order to win protection or favors. The moods of the prisoners would change when no crematorium or gas was present. It happened when the prisoners were taken to Dachau camp and were informed that there was no chimney and this, of course, made them joyful. The absence of chimneys made prisoners pleased, despite punishments being imposed on them.

The prisoners classified happy life as having toothbrushes, mattresses, clothes brushes, having opportunities to take baths and receiving mail messages of the whereabouts of relatives. Prisoners envied the opportunity to work in a sheltered room. Prisoners classified the work of wading in the mud and emptying tubs of a field railway as having a lot of accidents and they envied those who did not have to take up this task. Prisoners found much more relief when a siren to stop working would sound. The author describes that the siren could not even be compared to that of a boxer being saved from a knockout. The prisoners believed that occupying the center during formations would help save their skins. They believed that the center offered protection of the bitter winds and protection against the blows from guards. The author describes that one of the most annoying times was the morning awakening which was characterized by three loud whistle blows and prisoners also had to wear wet shoes.

The Prisoners believed they were important only because they had a prison number. However, they believed that the life of a number was of no importance. The name, history, and fate of a number did not matter and that they were lucky to their bodies. The prisoners felt that their lives depended on the moods of guards and they felt that the situation made them less human than the circumstances they were already experiencing. The prisoners were at times sold as slaves to construction companies and to which the camp authorities would receive and keep the payment. The transfer of sick patients to other camps was considered dead by the prisoners. The author describes a moment when his name is put on the transportation list and he clearly thought it was a farewell from life. The author even begins making his will to his hut friend as he is unsure of survival.

The prisoners were afraid of taking initiatives and decisions. The prisoners believed that fate should be the master of life and they must not try to alter its course. The prisoners only encountered lightning decisions, especially where one thought of whether to escape or not. The prisoners suffered tortures when trying to make up their minds of whether to take the risk of escaping or not.

The Prisoners felt inferior. They had once fancied themselves as important people but the picture changed and now saw themselves as non-entities. The ordinary prisoner felt degraded compared to famo...