Question

My very last resistance broken, I let myself be pulled, pushed, and kicked, like a deaf and mute sleepwalker. I could see everything, grasp it and register it, but only later would I try to put in order all the sensations and all the memories. How stunned I was, for example, to discover another time outside time, a universe parallel to this one, a creation within Creation, with its own laws, customs structures, and language.

Read the text and study the image from Spiegelman’s Maus.
(image)

Which theme is addressed in both excerpts?
A. Ignorance of reality is preferable to awareness.
B. Memories can be just as painful as the event itself.
C. People can be worn down to the point of giving up.
D. Reality can be inexplicably cruel and unfair.

Answer 1

Reality can be inexplicably cruel and unfair.

Answer 2

Answer: D. Reality can be inexplicably cruel and unfair.

In this excerpt, Wiesel describes the feeling of giving up. He tells us that his last resistance was broken, and that he let himself be carried through horrible events without any feeling or sensation. The image similarly describes a horrible reality by showing the abuse and fear that the Jewish people faced. Both of these support the theme that reality can be inexplicably cruel and fair, as the characters are being led through horrible events with no explanation.