Final Review: Still Alive

17. (92-93) The section on the discussion of claustrophobia is crucial to understanding the book. Why is this socially awkward for her? Where does she see connections between her memories and theirs?

For Kluger, her memories are not connected to anyones besides the Germans she feels have destroyed much of what they have. When she visited friends in Germany, the subject of their talk ends up on claustrophobia. While the company talks about their confrontation with the subject, like childhood air-raids and elevator problems, Kluger keeps silent about her confrontation with claustrophobia at Auschwitz. For Kluger, she realizes that had she said anything, the rest of the company would have been "bothered, troubled, sympathetic, and thoroughly uncomfortable." They would have resented her for being a spoilsport. The reason why she feels socially awkward is because her situation is more severe then the rest of the people around her, and because of the gravity of it, they would end the conversation about the subject because their situations are in no way close to hers: an elevator is no way comparable to what Kluger felt in Auschwitz. There is no connection between what she went through to these people. The only people who would understand are the Germans who she says has a common language and culture as her because they both went through it, although from different sides.