Dehumanizing Imagery
The ways in which the Nazis dehumanized the Jews and broke them down into machines that did as they were ordered until they died is the major theme of this book. What images does Levi use to get th...
The Chimney
While Levi never describes The Chimney, it is mentioned several times by other prisoners, and in very ominous tones. It is usually mentioned in terms of a prisoner being "ready for the Chimney." Fa...
The Last One
Toward the end of the book, Primo describes an execution: a man is hanged for having taken part in a rebellion among some prisoners in Birkenau, the adjoining death camp. Notice how this man's last...
Shoes
Primo seems a bit obsessed with shoes, don't you think? He talks about them constantly, from the ceremony of the Exchange of Shoes to telling us about the bleeding sores he got on his feet from his...