ELEVEN : The Canto of Ulysses

This particular chapter was the most difficult for me to understand thoroughly. As a result, I had to think deeply while reading to analyze and understand what Primo Levi was portraying through this chapter. Then, I came to realize why Primo Levi would use the Canto of Ulysses in part of his story of survival in a concentration camp. In the chapter before, he already stated that he was ripped of not only his possessions, but also those of his pride and hopes. Ironically, this chapter depicts something more than suffering from physical labor and hunger. The content of the chapter gives off a different aura than the others and in turn impacts the reader in a different way.

Mainly, the chapter discusses about the days after the examination where there was no specific job related to chemistry but rather similar to what was done before. It also states about different comrades and how they would rest when there was no guard to watch the prisoners’ work and how they had the advantage of working out of the sun. But halfway through the chapter, Primo Levi has the chance to leave the worksite to retrieve rations for the day with Jean.

From this moment on, he describes how they were able to have a decent conversation of life in the past and find many qualities that were similar as well as different. And during this time, Primo Levi begins to teach Jean Italian. Throughout this period, Primo states how different two languages can be and that it is somewhat difficult to translate one language to the other perfectly. He states that during the process of translation, perfect words could not be found because of the fact that some meanings are just not the same even though the word might be similar. What I mean by this is that even though the meaning of the word might be same, the feeling to what the word gives off can vary.

This case is evident in languages around the world. As in English, “apple of my eye” may mean to cherish something above everything else, but translated into Korean; it doesn’t make sense that there is an apple to an eye.

Different qualities are often hard to overcome. It is inevitable to avoid these disagreements between cultures and languages. There are some phrases that might impact someone in one language but may mean nothing in another. I think Primo Levi had felt this way trying to teach Jean a language and phrase that meant something powerful in Italian and yet not that powerful in French.