Analysis of Works From Art from the Ashes edited by Langer Essay

Analysis of Works From "Art from the Ashes" edited by Langer How can a person reach back into the past and retrieve the criminal events of sixty years ago? Read the works provided in â€Å"Art from the Ashes,† and wait; wait for words to explode onto an emotionally unprepared mind with enough force to awaken previously dormant areas of one’s psychological capacity. One can then begin to understand. Lawrence L. Langer’s introduction provides keys to open doors of impossibility, to expand sympathy, and to venture into the dark corners of an individual’s capabilities. He reminds us not to mistake true experiences for â€Å"an alien world of fantasy† or to look for triumph of love over hate (Langer 4). The stories he has selected for this anthology â€Å"gaze[] into the depths without flinching† (Langer 5). They must also â€Å"discover and accept the twisted features of the unfamiliar without searching for words, like ‘suffering’† (Langer 6). His main principals of selection, how ever, include â€Å"artistic quality, intellectual rigor, and physical integrity of the texts.† The works chosen by Langer must be academically appealing but still be able â€Å"to liberate responses on the deepest levels of psychological, mental, emotional, and aesthetic concerns† (Langer 8). The following stories represent the approaches and difficulties put forward by Langer: â€Å"The Key Game† by Ida Fink, â€Å"Spring Morning† also by Ida Fink, and â€Å"Poem About a Herring† by Abraham Sutzkever. In these works, characters yearning to exist fully are placed in critical situations where they are always faced with the constant anticipation of death. The striking shortness of time is an always present force facing the characters. Ida Fink’s short story, â€Å"The Key Game,† begi... ...e taking place somewhere else in the dark depths of someone’s imagination. Unfortunately, it must be taken â€Å"in literal, not metaphorical, terms† that the child had â€Å"a bloody herring in his mouth† (Langer 5, 581). Secondly, it â€Å"gazes into the depths without flinching† (Langer 7). Sutzkever, to the best of his ability shows the truth of the situation. His provides images of child dying of fatal gunshots – when most would try to avoid that image. Reading these works without the help of Langer’s introduction would be enlightening, but his statements should be considered and remembered during the â€Å"venture into disorientation† of mind and soul. Since the writers of these works were brave enough to release their experiences using an art, the reader should be brave enough to briefly imagine their experiences without transforming them into a type of fiction.