Option 1: Examples of dehumanization

Throughout the novel, the Jewish prisoners are dehumanized to the point where they lose all the human qualities that separate them from animals. This process started with small steps when the Hungarian police invaded Sighet. They provide the Jews with three rules: they could not leave their house, they were forbidden to own any valuables, and most importantly, they all must wear a yellow star. The yellow star forced them to be seen different than all other people and unequal. Once the Jews leave Sighet forever, they are pushed into cattle cars that are filled with one-hundred people. In the cars, there is barely enough room for one to sit. The incredibly full cars are used to carry animals, and the Jews are being resembled as them. As the Jews arrive camps, they witness people murdered before their eyes. At first they react as any other would on the inside, but on the outside, they remain calm. This is one of the first signs of the prisoner’s dehumanization. As the novel goes on, their dehumanization continues to increase. It reaches the peak when the prisoners are in the cars again. Bread is thrown into the cars and an old man grabs a piece. His own son then kills him for the food, but is soon killed for that same piece of bread. This shows that one will do anything for their own survival in times like this, and all human qualities will be lost. Their dehumanization is the result from the conditions at the camps.