“I weep and weep. I weep for my classroom, which is no longer my classroom. For the school that will never be my school again. I weep for my life, which will never be the same.” -Elli, I Have Lived a Thousand Years, Chapter entitled “ Hey, Jew Girl, Jew Girl...” , p. 24 (MARCH 25 1944)
I think that Elli says this because she feels like there is nothing she can do. I think that so far in the book Elli is feeling loss. I think that she feels like she can never have her old life again because everything is slipping away. She said she loved to study and go to school so when she was being made fun of at school because she was a Jew. I think that is when it really hit her that she couldn’t have her old life back. She wants her old life back and she doesn’t like that she has to give away her stuff or wear a symbol saying that she is a Jew or not being able to go to school, a place that she enjoys going, without being made fun or teased.
A real life example or connection that I can relate to with this quote is that I too have felt the feeling of loss. When I had to move from California away from my whole family because my parents got divorced, I felt like Elli. I felt like there was nothing I could do but just watch everything slip out of my grasps. I couldn’t really make my parents love each other again and I think that Elli feels that way too because she can’t make the kids stop teasing her or the Germans to stop taking away her rights. A song that can kind of relate to this is Down to Earth by Justin Bieber. I think that song goes along with this quote because the song is saying that he wants his old life back and he doesn’t want to live the life that he is living if it can’t be the way it was before. At first I didn’t know how to deal with the feeling of loss, and Elli doesn’t either. How would you deal with this pain? What would you do?
When I read this quote I had very similar reactions to yours. I thought it was very unfair and sad that the Jews had to leave their school and leave everything behind. I liked your connections to Elli's experience.
ReplyDeleteThank you and it is very sad that the Jews did have to leave everything behind.
DeleteI completely agree with your interpretation of the quote. A lot of people went through this experience during the Holocaust, and your personal experience is a really great connection. Many people of the Holocaust had to either conform or form a new life with the identity that the Nazis gave them. Though I've never left anything behind in another town, I imagine this is what it was like for you-trying to put together a new life in a different environment.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. And yes I did have to leave many of my things in California that I didn't want to leave. But I think that it must have been worse for the Jews because they had so many memories that they had and wanted to take with them but couldn't because Nazis wouldn't let them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you and your connections, I think that you went personal and that is what really drew me into you blog.
ReplyDelete