Journal Entry #10

Journal Entry #10
Chapter 10 : Chemical Examination

This chapter describes the process of the chemical examination where officers choose the talented and educated ones to work on a privelaged workspace. If one is qualified and chosen, they can be exempted from harsh physical labor, but can work using their brains. This chapter may seem boring and pointless, but I think that this chapter sets the turning point for Primo since he finds a glimpse of hope from the job that he earns. Chapters before Primo was accepted in the lab talked about how brutal the work was, and how he had no hope of surviving the camp. Primo's acceptance in this chapter, however, sets off the turning point for Primo to start having hope again.
While reading this chapter, I thought that knowledge was a great tool for people. Knowledge can be obtained by work and studying, and those who try harder will gain greater knowledge. I say that knowledge is a great tool since knowledge can save lives. However, knowledge can be dangerous since it can also kill lives. Like Hitler, his knowledge helped him organize camps and genocide the Jews. For Primo, his knowledge helped him save his own life by being accepted as a chemist. The concentration camp's life, however, was so primitive that it seemed like Primo forgot he had such knowledge. Since life in the camp was a struggle for survival and constant pain, they didn't have time to think about subjects like chemistry or any type of knowledge except for the knowledge of survival.
Because of the chemical examination, Primo gains hope and realizes that his learnings were useful.