What moral issues are discussed in Primo Levy's The Drowned & The Saved?

The moral issues discussed in Primo Levi's The Drowned & The Saved all have to do with measuring the methods people use (both then and now) to deal with the tragedy of genocide that the Nazi’s proposed (and carried out) through the Holocaust.

A simple discussion of the title can serve to begin the thoughts about moral issues. The title stems from the idea that someone can be “saved” physically, but not be “saved” spiritually....

The moral issues discussed in Primo Levi's The Drowned & The Saved all have to do with measuring the methods people use (both then and now) to deal with the tragedy of genocide that the Nazi’s proposed (and carried out) through the Holocaust.

A simple discussion of the title can serve to begin the thoughts about moral issues. The title stems from the idea that someone can be “saved” physically, but not be “saved” spiritually. Those that survived the Holocaust, then, were not necessarily better off than those that were slaughtered in concentration camps.

One of the interesting ways these moral issues are presented is by the publication of letters from German citizens both living then and living now. This is one of the most interesting ways that the surviving people’s thoughts about reconciling the Holocaust are implied. By including these letters, Levi tries to continue the moral discussion through the ages (in that these real letters can be discussed again and again), to make the Holocaust impossible to forget, and to make the facts apparent.

In regards to the discussion of moral issues, it is the central chapter entitled “The Gray Zone” that should cause the most interest. Why? This is the chapter that shows the range of responses from the German people from guilt and regret and from pride to concealment. Rightly so, Levi calls this section the “ultimate drainage site of the German universe.”

In conclusion, discussing this moral issues revolves around Levi figuring out people’s choices. Is the person vocal or not? (Is the person communicating?) Is the person putting stock in his or her religion or losing his or her faith? Is the person happy to conform or defiant? These moral ideas, Levi delves into great detail in the sections entitled “Communicating” and “Useless Violence” and “Stereotypes.” In a sense, these are all ways to deal with the moral problem of genocide that existed within the Holocaust.