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Epigraph
Summary
Primo Levi begins his memoir with a challenge to his readers. Those who live in comfortable houses, with plenty to eat, surrounded by loving families, must consider his story and think about the words on its pages. “Carve them in your hearts,” he insists. He entrusts readers with his words for posterity. Remembering entails making something part of your daily life. Finally, he issues a warning about the disintegration of safety, comfort, prosperity, and loving relationships when people become complacent.
Analysis
With a poetic epigraph (a short statement at the start of a book that suggests its theme), Primo Levi serves notice that his book represents more than a memoir. The fifth line of the poem contains the original title that Primo Levi gave his memoir, “Consider if this is a man.” The book’s greater purpose beyond informing is history. To impress on readers the importance of never forgetting, Levi paraphrases scriptures from the Torah in the epigraph’s lines. The instruction Moses gave the Jews when God rescued them from Pharaoh’s slavery was as practical then as now. People must actively maintain their commitment to the truth. The imprecation in the last four lines cautions against the curses people bring on themselves by forgetting their history.
