They are showing their arms. It is always interesting to notice the deeper meanings of a title. From Chapter 2, I tried to connect the title with the summary to understand the story with depth. First “On the Bottom” reminded me of the chambers located underground. As the Auschwitz Video showed us, the Germans located the gas chambers under the ground to avoid the painful screams of the Jews. To me, the underground chambers were “breath-taking” in a negative way. How painful would the Jews feel when they just enter to the underground chamber, which is large, empty, and chilly? I can feel my heart shivering whenever I imagine about it. It is creepy to notice that it is possible for the Germans to make the Jews end up their lives in that empty room. In overall, the Jews might leave the world behind, with daunting memories placed inside their hearts. How intimidating is that to imagine? However, only the underground chambers did not satisfy the deeper meaning of the title (which might be only my opinion).
From the Chapter 2, as the Jews entered the room, they had to be naked in order to shave their hairs and wash their bodies. They were dying of hunger and thirst but no one cared about it. Later, they also had to endure the pain of their new names, which are actually numbers, “carved” on their arms. “Nothing belongs to us any more; they have taken away our clothes, our shoes, even our hair; if we speak, they will not listen to us, and if they listen, they will not understand. They will even take away our name: and if we want to keep it, we will have to find ourselves the strength to do so, to manage somehow so that behind the name something of us, of us as we were, still remains (pg 27).” Now, they did not have any more precious possessions. They lost everything inside the concentration camp, including their clothes, shoes, hair, and even their names. Now the Jews were sank on the bottom of their lives. Not only they had traveled to the bottom of the chambers, their lives were also located on the bottom, with nothing to lose anymore. In my opinion, "On the Bottom" not only meant about the journey to the bottom chambers, but it was also the starting point of the Jews sinking to the bottom in their lives.
From the Chapter 2, as the Jews entered the room, they had to be naked in order to shave their hairs and wash their bodies. They were dying of hunger and thirst but no one cared about it. Later, they also had to endure the pain of their new names, which are actually numbers, “carved” on their arms. “Nothing belongs to us any more; they have taken away our clothes, our shoes, even our hair; if we speak, they will not listen to us, and if they listen, they will not understand. They will even take away our name: and if we want to keep it, we will have to find ourselves the strength to do so, to manage somehow so that behind the name something of us, of us as we were, still remains (pg 27).” Now, they did not have any more precious possessions. They lost everything inside the concentration camp, including their clothes, shoes, hair, and even their names. Now the Jews were sank on the bottom of their lives. Not only they had traveled to the bottom of the chambers, their lives were also located on the bottom, with nothing to lose anymore. In my opinion, "On the Bottom" not only meant about the journey to the bottom chambers, but it was also the starting point of the Jews sinking to the bottom in their lives.
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