Faith Is Enough
“This is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see” (p. x). Not a single person on the earth can honestly and surely declare that they have never failed or suffered. During these moments, especially during these moments, people question why they are hurting and what purpose their pain serves. In The Hiding Place, a chilling autobiography written by Corrie Ten Boom, these emotions are shown in their rawest form as World War II stopped the world. As the life of Cornelia “Corrie” Ten Boom progresses, there are an abundance of adversities but also many miraculous solutions. When the Nazis invade Holland, the Ten Boom family,
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“A truck was parked in front of the fish mart; into the back were climbing men, women, and children, all wearing the yellow star… ‘Father! Those poor people!’ I cried” (p.85). So many Jews were struggling to survive wherever she went, and that was the main catalyst that spurred Corrie into action. She wished to spread courage and hope to all those suffering and that was the main goal in her life. In the end, the optimism that all the prisoners of the concentrations camps needed was distributed. “At last either Betsie or I would open the Bible… And then we would hear the life-giving words passed back along the aisles in French, Polish, Russian, Czech, back into Dutch. They were little previews of heaven, the evenings beneath the lightbulb” (p.213). Even in the showers or in the darkness of the night, Bible verses were shared and empowered the captives there. Afterwards, the Americans liberated the survivors of the camps and Corrie goes to evangelise until her death. Pain and suffering were a significant part of her life, but it was all part of God’s plan to help those in the concentration …show more content…
The book was definitely a profound book that every human being should read. It is a story of forgiveness, faith and gratitude although horrible things happen and may change a person’s view on life. Additionally, The Hiding Place inspires people the strengthen their faith, placing their trust in Christ during all situations. Therefore, responding in faith is one of the key themes of the book.Whenever there was trouble in Corrie’s life, the first place she looked to was God, her “hiding place” from the battles of the world around her. Many of the times Christ pulled through for her, giving her the power to carry on while prompting Corrie to do the same for the others. Thus, the autobiography written by Corrie Ten Boom is a must
The strong relationship created between history and memory is one of a vexing nature due to deliberate selection and emphasis. It does however result in a confluence of different representations, that is, personal stories (memory) and public stories (history). Mark Baker’s biography and autobiography ‘The Fiftieth Gate: A Journey Through Memory’, explores his parents’ memories which are both verified and contradicted by Baker’s historical findings, as each asserts their claim through these different theories of representation drawing on such established criteria as evidence, accuracy, authenticity, authority and detail. Steven Spielberg’s horror-psychological thriller film, ‘Schindler’s List’ shows how amongst the abhorrence of the Holocaust, one man can make a difference for the better and leave a legacy of his generosity but it is also a question of what else he did that wasn’t emphasised due to the context of the film. Lastly, the poem ‘The Send-Off’ by Wilfred Owen expresses Owen’s personal feelings towards war which is enunciated through his strong emotive language.
In the play “Poof” by Lynn Nottage , the author creates an overall message on how abuse in marriages are often overlooked. In the play the two main charters are loureen and Florence , they are both in abusive relationships with their husbands until loureen gets out her relationship by her husband just poofing in thin air.
The reality that shapes individuals as they fight in war can lead to the resentment they have with the world and the tragedies that they had experienced in the past. Veterans are often times overwhelmed with their fears and sensations of their past that commonly disables them to transgress and live beyond the emotions and apprehensions they witness in posttraumatic experiences. This is also seen in everyday lives of people as they too experience traumatic events such as September 11th and the fall of the World Trade Center or simply by regrets of decisions that is made. Ones fears, emotions and disturbances that are embraced through the past are the only result of the unconscious reality of ones future.
“…we’ll both claim we want to die. But we’ll mean: Please someone convince us to stick around… Because last night, we stood on top of fourteen floors of suffering—from the maternity to the morgue. Hundreds of bed buckling beneath the weight of legitimate illness, thousands of plastic sacks of donated blood—we stood above all of it and did not leap” (38). The meaningful words of Eireann Corrigan speak volumes about her past experience growing up with an eating disorder. In her memoir she highlights many ideas of how she felt through not only her experiences, but also those of her boyfriend, Danny. The various poetic devices present within the story come together to create a deep and meaningful novel. Eireann Corrigan, author of the memoir, You
The Hiding Place is about a girl named Corrie goes through an experience at the time of world war two, when the Nazis were capturing the Jews, and sending them to concentration camps. The father, Casper, showed that no matter what is happening, that you can still show kindness. Cornelia, the mother, was always trying to make people happy, she also would get to know everyone. It should always be a your mind to help, serve, and to be a kind person.
Regret is something that is apparent in everyone’s life whether they want it to be or not. The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien, is a collection of short stories about his time in the Vietnam War. A common theme throughout all the stories is regret. Although I have never been drafted to war I can very closely relate to the feeling of regret. Regret is not a good feeling. It is something that follows you around for a long time. It hangs over your head like a gray cloud. In one of Tim’s stories On The Rainy River he says “Still, it’s a hard story to tell” (37). This draws you to believe that Tim found it very difficult to tell others about his time in the war, he did some things he was not proud of and he found it best he keep quiet. The decision my parents made eleven years ago to get divorced, was something that will have an affect on me for the rest of my life. I found it very difficult to talk about the divorce,
Often, we find ourselves facing dramatic events in our lives that force us to re-evaluate and redefine ourselves. Such extraordinary circumstances try to crush the heart of the human nature in us. It is at that time, like a carbon under pressure, the humanity in us either shatters apart exposing our primal nature, or transforms into a strong, crystal-clear brilliant of compassion and self sacrifice. The books Night written by Elie Wiesel and Hiroshima written by John Hersey illustrate how the usual lifestyle might un-expectantly change, and how these changes could affect the human within us. Both books display how lives of civilians were interrupted by the World War II, what devastations these people had to undergo, and how the horrific circumstances of war were sometimes able to bring out the best in ordinary people.
With the amount of anti-Semitic activity in Germany, no Jew was safe and Helen realized this quickly. In order to protect her child he had to give her to family to keep her safe. “There we said goodbye as casually as possible and gave these strangers our child.” After this moment, Helen’s fight for survival to see her child once again. Finding a place to hide became very difficult as no one wanted to host a Jewish family due to the fear of the Nazis finding out. “People were understandably nervous and frightened, so the only solution was to find another hiding place.”
Corrie ten Boom was a grown woman unlike Ellie Wiesel when the Gestapo took her away to the concentration camps, and due to her age, she was able to learn how to adapt with the pain that comes from l...
The author of “The Hiding Place” was also the main character, Corrie Ten Boom. She was writing her own experiences through the war and documenting that section of her life. She wrote this book to show what it was honestly like for Jews and people helping Jews during the war. Some of history around what happened to the Jews was covered up, but slowly everyone has collectively uncovered it and made it known. This book was a part of uncovering the truth. It also taught many people what happened without being too gruesome. With the
She spreads the love of Jesus to keep fellow prisoners faith in being released. Without Bestie’s prayers, Corrie would not be optimistic during her sentence at the camp. Betsie ten Boom says, “These young women. That girl back at the bunkers. Corrie, if people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love! We must find the way, you and I, no matter how long it takes. . . .” (Boom 125). This reveals that Betsie sees the goodness in everyone, and she does not believe that the person is evil. The person is surrounded by evil. Betsie and Corrie are taken to Vught, and Betsie sees the opportunity to spread love while they are there. She sees how much hate the concentration camps bring, and the only outcome of hate is even more hate. If Betsie and Corrie spread love, then all of the hate will turn into love for one another. While Betsie and Corrie are prisoners at the concentration camp, they try to help fellow prisoners. They helped the prisoners by comforting them with the love of Jesus. Betsie and Corrie gave the prisoners hope when they did not have any. The narrator says, “In the midst of their agony, each sought to comfort cold and desperately hungry fellow prisoners, often speaking a last word affirming the presence of Christ to those destined for the gas chambers” (Holt 52). Betsie and Corrie are truly good people by nature. Despite being in a bad environment
Although our past is a part of who we are nowadays, we will never be happy if we can never let go of the painful feeling attached to our suffering. In addition, “suffering pulls us farther away from other human beings. It builds a wall made of cries and contempt to separate us” (Wiesel 96). We should not be afraid to let go of our haunting past and grow closer to others because “man carries his fiercest enemy within himself. Hell isn’t others. It’s ourselves” (Wiesel 15). The wise advice this book gives its audience is one reason it won a Nobel Peace Prize. The books are also part of a very famous Holocaust trilogy, which is one reason it has been so widely read. In addition, it blends everyday stories with Holocaust stories.Therefore, readers are very compassionate towards the narrator and readers create a bond with this character due to his hardships and the similarities he shares with us. Lastly, Day speaks to the needs of the human spirit by intertwining a love story. Readers wonder if his girlfriend will change his attitude towards life because he tells the doctor, “I love Kathleen. I love her with all my heart. And how can one love if at the same time one doesn’t care about life” (Wiesel
Susan Griffin’s “Our Secret” is an essay in which she carefully constructs and describes history, particularly World War II, through the lives of several different people. Taken from her book A Chorus of Stones, her concepts may at first be difficult to grasp; however David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky say that, “Griffin writes about the past - how we can know it, what its relation to the present, why we should care. In the way she writes, she is also making an argument about how we can know and understand the past…”
In the story “Home Soil” by Irene Zabytko, the reader is enlightened about a boy who was mentally and emotionally drained from the horrifying experiences of war. The father in the story knows exactly what the boy is going through, but he cannot help him, because everyone encounters his or her own recollection of war. “When their faces are contorted from sucking the cigarette, there is an unmistakable shadow of vulnerability and fear of living. That gesture and stance are more eloquent than the blood and guts war stories men spew over their beers” (Zabytko 492). The father, as a young man, was forced to reenact some of the same obligations, yet the father has learne...
World War II was a grave event in the twentieth century that affected millions. Two main concepts World War II is remembered for are the concentration camps and the marches. These marches and camps were deadly to many yet powerful to others. However, to most citizens near camps or marches, they were insignificant and often ignored. In The Book Thief, author Markus Zusak introduces marches and camps similar to Dachau to demonstrate how citizens of nearby communities were oblivious to the suffering in those camps during the Holocaust.