The victims in The Boat is Full were in the same scenario, but all responded differently. The young woman fought and fought till the ultimate destiny she faced came about, and she then crossed the bridge with all the dignity she had left, still fighting to not be broken down by her oppressors. The old man, however, could not expend the energy to carry on in the same way. While he was terrified by the possibility of what might wait for him on the other side of the bridge, he went across, and though not with the same grace as his friend, he still maintained his dignity.

An interesting moral dilemma comes about in the scene where the young Jewish boy trades identities with the AWOL Nazi. While it was an act of survival, and there were few other options, the ethics of such an act are questionable. As the cliche goes, desperate times require desperate measures, and we are not to judge. This dichotomy arises in a more central position in Europa, Europa, where the main character takes the act to a dif

ted on the other side of the border. No one did anything, either way. As policy mandated, the boat was full, and no room could be made, so the weakest, the most defenseless were tossed to the sharks.

The Garden of the Finzi-Continis shows us the sad consequences of selective blindness. The Finzi-Contini family, though wealthy and prominent, could not use their influence to save themselves and made no effort to save any others. In fact, they showed no interest in politics at all. As the university expels all Jews they barely bat an eyelash, and simply send their children elsewhere to study. One wonders if they were aware of a world outside their soap opera mansion. Comparing their family the other family of primary characters in the story, we see stark differences. The family with less wealth shows more interest in the politics of the time, and are forced to deal with them. Per haps it is because they interact more openly with the community, while the Finzi-Continis stay inside the walls of their fortress.

The only clue we have in reference to the general Italian frame of mind is when the brothers are in the dining hall of the boarding school, and hear a story of concentration camps. The elder brother could hardly believe such tales, and thought they were imagination. He came to realize suddenly, tragically that they were fact. Their father knew enough to send his family away to safety, but not to save himself while there was an opportunity. He hoped his status as a loyal Italian Fascist would save him, negating the fact that he was Jewish. This is another example of disillusionment that led to tragedy.

In Transport from Paradise we move from seeing how people dealt with the annihilation around them to seeing how they dealt with the extermination of themselves. The primal instincts of survival not tapped into for centuries must be dredged up and made familiar again, while still trying to maintain dignity. But how much fight can be left in a broken spirit? Day to day survival for those in this film took such effort that resistance would have required more than anyone was capable of. As in the readings, the characters survived by taking care of themselves, and rarely afforded to expend energy in taking care of another. In a more civil scenario, guilt might have wrecked and ravaged a soul who knowingly all

Some topics in this essay:
Transport Paradise, Nazi Nazis, Garden Finzi-Continis, Jew Identity, Enfantes Instead, , Les Enfantes, AWOL Nazi, Europa Europa, Laize’ Faire, expend energy, civil scenario, sacrifice dignity, concentration camps, swiss couple, taking care, les enfantes,