12. The Events of the Summer

But Lorenzo was a man; his humanity was pure and uncontaminated, he was outside this world of negation. Thanks to Lorenzo, I managed not to forget that I myself was a man.” (pg.122)

By reading this passage, I realized the real character of Lorenzo. He is already my role model. Because Lorenzo had such a good character, he became the "someone" that I wanted to look up to. Levi wasn’t exactly living a Christian life, because he would steal, and was ready to do anything in order to survive. But when he saw Lorenzo, he noticed that one could survive in the camp without being corrupted. Just how Jesus showed us love that no one else coud have shown, Lorenzo stood up to be that "someone" to be like a human living in such dreadful conditions and live a godly life.

Through Lorenzo, Primo Levi managed not to forget that he was still a man. Lorenzo's pureness from the world of negation was why Levi felt that way. Lorenzo in the story symbolizes hope and balance that Levi needed to survive. Although Levi knew that trying to read the future was a waste, the fact that he was able to identify himself as a human seems to be the reason he survived. Based on the italicized passage above, I wonder even if now there is a world that is pure and whole. I believe that every single person is seeking for 'trueness'. We are always looking for something better and something that exceeds our limits. This indeed is the nature of human beings. However, the camps blocked men from desiring and hoping for a future.