By: Etgar Keret
Critique and Summary by: Max Lenett
Once in generation, people go free. But only for a day at the most. For Anna, working every day and never seeing the same people twice is devastating. Besides the old, the only people she ever sees are the strangers- the tourists. Those who come to Hell and yet can escape. They are seen often but every time they come back, they are somehow different than before. Why, she can't seem to figure out. But it seems like they come from Hell, just so they could go visit Hell.
I do feel connected to the story. It reminded me of all the people I ever had in my life and of how I lost them. And if and when I saw them again, both of us were different, for good or for worse, I do not know; but we were different.
I believe Mr. Keret was symbolizing the War of Attrition. People leaving all the time and sometimes never coming back. Those who came back, were flooded with war memories and became a contrast to their former selves. And those who had to go and defend Israel, they cried. But not because of what was happening around them; but from the knowledge that if they go, they might never come back the same.
This story could be shown as Israeli literature in a way which it shows the history of the early established country. It shows Israeli culture during a time of struggle, confusion, anger, and Zionism.
From what's been described, I feel as though the story kind of hints at how we choose to see things and how we live our lives. It's a matter of perspective, she sees everything as the same and in doing that she sees how things are endlessly cycling and with each stranger gone another will take it's place. To me that seemed like a hellish eternity. I agree as well with what Max said, I don't relate to it as much though. I think the message of the story is exactly as Max puts it. I feel that the author is depicting what it was like in the eyes of the Jews throughout history. How the same bad things keep repeating in a cycle and even if they differ at times there's always a general vibe to what happens.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of the hell tourist is really interesting for me. I think that they could symbolize the foreigners who manage to work themselves into situations without actually having a stake in any sort of conflict. Perhaps they represent the UN, who try to bring about positive change in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but don't know enough to do so because they are neutral observers, rather than active participants. Throughout Israel's history there have been countless foreigners who have tried to make sense of the situation and come out with a overly simplistic understanding. Just a few years ago, for instance, Banksy went to do an art project in Gaza that was meant to demonstrate the extent of Israeli oppression. Was it a truthful representation? No.
ReplyDelete-Noah Arnold