t there is a great display of mental violence shown, which ischaracteristic of the topic. World War II had a lot to do with internal violence. Grantedthere was plenty of external violence, even to a nightmarish extent, but the worst damagewas done to those who lived through the entire ordeal. The story shows how theprisoners themselves were degraded to a point where they no longer felt sorry forthemselves. Instead they felt anger towards those in their same situation, and those in aposition much worse than their own, though it is not their fault. The external, and internalviolence they had to deal with ruined them internally and made them cynical and angry. Borowski writes: “‘Listen, Henri, are we good people?’ ‘That’s stupid. Why do youask?’ ‘You see, my friend, you see, I don’t know why, but I am furious, simply furiouswith these people -- furious because I must be here because of them. I feel no pity. I amnot sorry they’re going to the gas chamber. Damn them all! I could throw myself at them,beat them with my fists...’” Henri responds that the easiest way to relieve hate is to turnthat hate against someone weaker (Charters 186). This is part of how internal violenceworks. Henri and Tadeusz have been in the camp for a while, and have been themselvesabused the whole time. Now they are on the loading ramps, being worked to exhaustionand they have nowhere to vent their anger than at those being sent to their deaths. Theythemselves are limited to internal violence. The external violence is left to the Nazis, whouse it not for its own power, but because the endless external violence acts as internalviolence, which is stronger in many ways the external violence. You can only whip a manso long before he stops feeling the pain, but if you attack his emotions, if you wear himdown, he will be in your power, because there is nothing he can do. The prisoners can ...
