Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful
“We are liberated. It is all over. We are free...They’ve come at last. At last.” (Quote from “I have Lived a Thousand Years” by Livia Bitton-Jackson, page 204). This quote shows that finding hope can pay off, even in the worst conditions. If you stay positive things will turn out okay. The theme, “finding light in the darkness”, is a piece of figurative language meaning to find the positive things even in the worst conditions. Darkness can take over but only positivity can overcome it. Love, family, and forgiveness can all trigger a spark of light when darkness is all around. Finding just the slimmest piece of positivity can get you through the toughest times. There are cases where the best way to avoid the dark is to use the ones you love. In the film, “Life is Beautiful“ directed by Roberto Benigni, the Orifices’ are an example of a family
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finding light in darkness during the Holocaust. The Orifices’ use love from their family to get through the Holocaust. As the family aboard the train to concentration camps the mother and father were worried, they didn't want to disappoint their son, Joshua, because it was his birthday. Therefore, they disguised the concentration camp as a birthday party. Their son was happy and his joy spread towards Dora (mother) and Guido (father). Because love was present, pure negativity and dread wasn’t dominating their time spent in the concentration camp. Even though the concentration camp was a time of devastation and terrifying events they made it a little less petrifying by incorporating a little family love. For example, when Guido and Joshua were doing work outside they spotted a microphone. They sneaked to the microphone and said a handful of love notes to Dora who was in the women’s barrack. The love notes they said were heard all around the concentration camp. They made the camp a slight bit better. Overall, there experience in the concentration camp was not as bad as it could’ve been because a little bit of joy and family love was present. There is also other cases where love is the one endearment that gets you through hard times. In the nonfiction novel, “I Have lived a Thousand Years” by Livia Bitton- Jackson, Ellike, a thirteen year old Jewish girl who has been captured by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps has only one person to count on. That person is her mother, Mrs.Friedman. Her mother was her only light during the concentration camp. What was first a family member who referred to her as her second favorite turned into a lifesaver. At every moment of the concentration camp experience Ellike and Mrs.Friedman depended on each other. Without each other they would have no hope. Ellike shows her sincere care for her mom throughout their devastating concentration camp experiences. For example, when Mrs.Friedman hurt her back badly from a broken bed, Ellike shows support when the text says, “I lie down supporting Mommy’s back with one hand.” (125 Livia Bitton- Jackson). This shows that she cares about her mother’s conditions. Ellike doesn’t wish for her to be broken just because she was her second favorite child, but she holds on to her mother because she is her only hope. Overall, Ellike pulled through the rough experience of the Holocaust because her mother was by her side and there to love each other. One of the ways to use positivity or light to get through dark or rough times is to forgive.
In the article, “It’s For You to Know That You Forgive” by NPR, Eva Mozes Kor shows that instead of suffering through the dark memories of the Holocaust, she forgave the Nazis. She let the terror go, forgave and moved on. In the article, Eva Kor explained her actions when the text says “It is my act of self-healing, self-liberation and self-empowerment" (p.21). In other words, when forgiving, you’re basically taking a couple pounds off your shoulder. However, forgiving doesn’t mean you forget. Eva Kor shows that the Nazis are still responsible of their actions when she says, “forgiveness does not mean that the perpetrators are absolved of their crimes.”(p.20). The Nazis are still responsible for their terrible actions and they should forever remember that they did those horrible actions, but they should not be holding survivors back from their well-being. Overall, forgiveness is a great way to dodge darkness because instead of being distracted from a normal life by remembering terrible events you can forgive and move
on. In conclusion, “Finding light in darkness” is the ultimate theme throughout these three topics. Love, family, and forgiveness bought a positive side to all the torture.The Orifice family and Ellike chose to use love to blind the terrors of the holocaust and Eva Kor chose to forgive. All of their solutions allowed them to have a less terrifying experience during the holocaust. All in all, positivity in the form of forgiveness and love find the light in darkness during the Holocaust.
finding light in darkness during the Holocaust. The Orifices’ use love from their family to get through the Holocaust. As the family aboard the train to concentration camps the mother and father were worried, they didn't want to disappoint their son, Joshua, because it was his birthday. Therefore, they disguised the concentration camp as a birthday party. Their son was happy and his joy spread towards Dora (mother) and Guido (father). Because love was present, pure negativity and dread wasn’t dominating their time spent in the concentration camp. Even though the concentration camp was a time of devastation and terrifying events they made it a little less petrifying by incorporating a little family love. For example, when Guido and Joshua were doing work outside they spotted a microphone. They sneaked to the microphone and said a handful of love notes to Dora who was in the women’s barrack. The love notes they said were heard all around the concentration camp. They made the camp a slight bit better. Overall, there experience in the concentration camp was not as bad as it could’ve been because a little bit of joy and family love was present. There is also other cases where love is the one endearment that gets you through hard times. In the nonfiction novel, “I Have lived a Thousand Years” by Livia Bitton- Jackson, Ellike, a thirteen year old Jewish girl who has been captured by the Nazis and sent to concentration camps has only one person to count on. That person is her mother, Mrs.Friedman. Her mother was her only light during the concentration camp. What was first a family member who referred to her as her second favorite turned into a lifesaver. At every moment of the concentration camp experience Ellike and Mrs.Friedman depended on each other. Without each other they would have no hope. Ellike shows her sincere care for her mom throughout their devastating concentration camp experiences. For example, when Mrs.Friedman hurt her back badly from a broken bed, Ellike shows support when the text says, “I lie down supporting Mommy’s back with one hand.” (125 Livia Bitton- Jackson). This shows that she cares about her mother’s conditions. Ellike doesn’t wish for her to be broken just because she was her second favorite child, but she holds on to her mother because she is her only hope. Overall, Ellike pulled through the rough experience of the Holocaust because her mother was by her side and there to love each other. One of the ways to use positivity or light to get through dark or rough times is to forgive.
In the article, “It’s For You to Know That You Forgive” by NPR, Eva Mozes Kor shows that instead of suffering through the dark memories of the Holocaust, she forgave the Nazis. She let the terror go, forgave and moved on. In the article, Eva Kor explained her actions when the text says “It is my act of self-healing, self-liberation and self-empowerment" (p.21). In other words, when forgiving, you’re basically taking a couple pounds off your shoulder. However, forgiving doesn’t mean you forget. Eva Kor shows that the Nazis are still responsible of their actions when she says, “forgiveness does not mean that the perpetrators are absolved of their crimes.”(p.20). The Nazis are still responsible for their terrible actions and they should forever remember that they did those horrible actions, but they should not be holding survivors back from their well-being. Overall, forgiveness is a great way to dodge darkness because instead of being distracted from a normal life by remembering terrible events you can forgive and move
on. In conclusion, “Finding light in darkness” is the ultimate theme throughout these three topics. Love, family, and forgiveness bought a positive side to all the torture.The Orifice family and Ellike chose to use love to blind the terrors of the holocaust and Eva Kor chose to forgive. All of their solutions allowed them to have a less terrifying experience during the holocaust. All in all, positivity in the form of forgiveness and love find the light in darkness during the Holocaust.