Refugee Blues and the Last Night Links

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Refugee Blues & The Last Night Human beings can be extremely cruel and prejudiced, particularly in war. With reference to 2 texts, detail the impact of this cruelty and prejudice to others. People during wars can be very cruel and prejudiced against others. The German Jews in ‘Refugee Blues’ by W.H Auden and ‘The Last Night’ by Sebastian Faulks are facing this cruelty and prejudice during the Second World War. ‘Refugee Blues’ is about a Jewish couple who become refugees because of Nazi persecution of the Jews in the 1930’s; they are most likely to be staying in another European country after the persecution. ‘The Last Night’ is about a mixed group of German Jews, including very young children who are waiting to be taken to a concentration camp. The Jews were being hunted down by the Nazis because of what they believed in. ‘Refugee Blues’ focuses on the misfortune of being Jewish; creating sympathy at the hopeless situation of the Jews, “Some are living in mansions, some are living in holes: Yet there’s no place for us.” While non-Jews are housed with mansions or even holes, the Jews still have nowhere live, not even a hole. Similarly, ‘The Last Night’ also focuses on the misfortune of the Jews; it shows that the Jews, including very young children, are in their last moments of freedom and shows how the misfortune of being in the wrong place, at the wrong time, would lead to their deaths, “Many of the adults refused to drink because they knew it meant breakfast, and therefore departure. The children were at the deepest moments of their sleep.” The use of juxtaposition here creates even greater sympathy and knowledge of the children’s innocence. The adults know what the departure is all about; that is death. On the other hand, the innocent children haven’t got any clue of what they are going to go through. The victims of this cruelty are all Jewish, no

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