We is almost a demonstration of what it would be like if the concentration camps developed further in the memoir. It seems to be a continuation of the memoir, in a sense. People at Auschwitz are considered to be the ‘impure race,’ if the elimination of these people succeeds, that particular race will become like the One State in We.
If this is a man - In numbering these prisoners, they are treated like possessions, instead of humans, their only values are to work, and it is dehumanisation. Link with We, the ciphers are known by only their numbers.
If this is a man – the prisoners look at each other and see their own reflections in the other (uniform, page 32). We – same unifs, the ciphers are alike.
Page 42 – 43 (If this is a man) – The possibility of a ‘remote future’ is slim, so slim that one cannot maintain his logic. This contrast with We in that everything is fully mathematicised and therefore logical.
‘…it is in the normal order of things that the privileged oppress the unprivileged: the social structure of the camp is based on this human law.’ (page 50) – this relates to We in that there is a Benefactor who transcend above all the ciphers like the Kapo or the Commando and a small group of individuals, the Guardians who act like the Secret Police (SS) in If This is a Man constantly surveilling the general population.
The Ka-Be is described as a ‘Lager without its physical discomforts.’ Self-reflections bring by emotional pain that has been numbed and deadened by the ‘hypnosis of the interminable rhythm’ of the music that sends the people away to and from work. This emotional pain allows for the realisation of a soul, and at the same time memories to resurface. It is painful yet necessary. In We, it is the Bureau of Medicine, it is essentially this that led to the awakenings within D-503 after getting a forged sick-note that exempt him from work for the day allowing him (and I-330) to experience an irrational world in the Ancient House – first encounter.
Dreams is very significant in If this is a Man, the same applies to We.
In both texts, dreams allow for the exposure of the soul of the protagonist. This however exists in varying forms. In If this is a man, dreams represent the ‘longing for one’s home.’ It is a pain that is buried deep inside every one of the people in the Lager, the kind of emotional pain that hides away in the day, ‘[deadened]’ and numbed by the tormenting work and the ‘interminable rhythm’ of the repetitive music played at dawn and dusk. Levi’s dream of his sister reflects his melancholy, his desire to be at home, be with someone he loves. His dream of his sister and others turning away from him, betraying him is a pain indescribable. The reality of the concentration camp is painful, both emotionally and physically, yet dreams are even more unbearable than reality. Levi emphasises that this is hell, one that challenges Man so intently that it gradually eats away his soul and diminishes him as he begin to avoid thinking about such things by placing a wall around him, he is afraid of the future because the prospect of returning home is slim and to live means to survive the present. The dreams Levi experience recur, he feels trapped by his dreams, they are like movies (‘screen of our dreams’ – page 69), they are beyond his control, and he feels powerless. ‘...grey fog’ scared him.
In We, dreams are the first things that lead to D-503’s awakening, as an individual, differentiated from the mass (first mention, yellow Buddha…). It is ‘a painful psychic sickness’ – the realisation of one’s soul. Yet, contrary to If this is a Man, it is essentially this that allows D-503 to gain individuality, to discover his soul and finally the wall which he places around him slowly disappears, he becomes no longer afraid of the infinity, of the unknown. The first dream is brief yet detailed. Initially D-503 is scared of the fog, he does not see beauty in it.
‘“Get up”: the illusory barrier of the warm blankets, the thin armour of sleep, the nightly evasion with its very torments to pieces around us and we find ourselves mercilessly awake, exposed to insult, atrociously naked and vulnerable.’ – page 69 Dreams seem to create a barrier around the people, this disconnects with reality, with the future, though painful, it offers some other kind of relief from their current status within the camp.
If this is a man, page 108 – formations, this links of We, the formations of four as all march to the Auditoriums, from and to work. One accustomed to such does not think but act, to lose his place within the line could potentially be disastrous.
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