Extrinsic Analysis on Un Sac De Billes, by Joseph Joffo

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Un Sac De Billes is an autobiography written by Joseph Joffo, a French writer. The story is based on the life of Joseph Joffo and his family during the early nineties. The Germans invaded Paris in 1941 and the Jews happened to be affected the most. The Germans made it mandatory for the Jews to put on an étoile jaune (yellow star) in order to be distinguished from the others. The Joffo family was in distress since they were also Jewish. Thereafter, anytime Joseph, 10 years of age and his brother Maurice, 12 years old went to school with the star on their uniforms, their classmates scoffed at them; even their teachers treated them in a prejudiced manner. Joseph’s dad, Mr. Joffo reasoned with his boys to abscond from Paris to a secure zone, Zone Libre where Henry and Albert, their older brothers resided. Joseph and Maurice affronted a lot of hardships at that vulnerable age; they fled from city to city in order to survive. After the Germans left, the brothers returned to Paris. The Joffos were reunited except their dad who lost his life in the hands of the Germans.
Texts can be analyzed both intrinsically and extrinsically which are various techniques used for analysis. Contrary to the intrinsic analysis, the extrinsic attitude lays emphasis on what is outside the text and how the language used can be related to the issues that happen in our societies. Extrinsic analysis has a broader surface because it consists of diverse theories including Marxist Literary Criticism, Post Colonial Theory, and Feminist Literary Criticism, just to cite a few.
Analyzing Un Sac De Billes extrinsically brings to mind, Post Colonial Theory which is the after effects of colonialism. It entails various aspects such as race, mimicry, ambivalence, hybridity ...

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...rilous and they in turn saw the Jews as menials. Joseph Joffo used his family to give a vivid example of how the Jews were mistreated when Germans were dominating France. Un Sac De Billes was based on Joseph Joffo’s true life story which makes it an extraordinary piece. It educates us about events that took place in the early 90’s and how racial discrimination and the loss of their native land altered the lives of thousands of Jewish families. Joseph and his brother Maurice found means to survive and flee from the Germans throughout that period. As it is popular said, ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ and undeniably, the Joffo brothers became tough and indifferent to hardships.

Works Cited

Joffo, J. (1973). Un sac de billes. Paris, France: Retrieved from http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Un_sac_de_billes_(roman)
http://www3.dbu.edu/mitchell/postcold.htm

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