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Summary: Mel sees some approachable Nazi soldiers enjoying a carnival. He mingles with them, until one threatens to kill him.
Event Classification: It was a positive turning point. Mel learns not to blindly trust everyone he meets.
Theme Relevance: The theme was to always try to stay alive and to never give up hope. The Nazis used bread and false promises to lure out hiding Jews, and when they came out of hiding, the Nazis gunned them down. Mel didn't trust them, and lives as a result. -
Summary: When Mel is assigned as one of the camp's "police," he is told to whip an old woman under the threat of death. He refuses, and thankfully is able to keep his life.
Event Classification: It was a positive turning point. Mel refused to let go of his morals, even if though it almost cost him his life.
Theme Relevance: This actually goes against the theme, which is to always try to stay alive and to never give up hope. He refuses to whip the innocent woman, even with a gun to his head. -
Summary: Mel's body is failing him, and he starts to slack in his work. His friends know that he will be killed if he gets caught, so they try to snap him out of his funk.
Event Classification: This is a positive turning point. Mel's friends keep him from being killed.
Theme Relevance: Mel's friends keep him alive, which relates to the theme of always trying to stay alive, and never giving up. -
Summary: When the camp doctor inspects Mel, Mel tells him that he isn't fit enough to work anymore, knowing that if he can't work, he'll be killed. Mel just wants it all to end.
Event Classification: This is a negative turning point. Mel has given up on trying to live, and just wants to die.
Theme Relevance: This actually goes against the theme, which is to always try to stay alive and to never give up hope. He wants to die and has given up hope at this point in the story. -
Summary: American soldiers liberate Mel and the rest of the survivors from the Buchenwald concentration camp.
Event Classification: This is a positive turning point. The horrors of the Holocaust are finally over and Mel has survived.
Theme Relevance: After all he had been through, Mel is finally liberated. This is what the theme was about, to always try to stay alive, and to never give up. -
Theme: Never give up, always try to stay alive.
