It is the year 2001 and not much has changed in our society from the time the Holocaust occurred. A lot of people still believe that the Holocaust did not exist or they try to forget that it did. The Pawnbroker is a film that expresses these feelings. This film also depicts how one man tries to forget his past by becoming a hermit. The Pawnbroker uses some images to show some points about how a survivor is affected by the Holocaust.Cynthia Ozick wrote a book called the Shawl. I will discuss what similarities the book has to the film The Pawnbroker. I will also discuss how the movie compares the life of the pawnbroker in Harlem to that of his experience with the Holocaust. Finally, I will state what images are used in the film to depict the Holocaust.The Shawl and the Pawnbroker have a lot of similarities, mainly within the main characters. The main characters in both stories are survivors of the Holocaust. The main characters both own there own stores in NY. The pawnbroker owns a pawnshop and Rosa owns an antique store. They are both hermits. They both hate conversation. They do not want to talk to anyone about anything, especially their experiences or pains of the Holocaust. The pawnbroker and Rosa have someone in their lives that wants them to express those pains and memories. Rosa has Simon Persky and the pawnbroker has Marylyn. The main characters in the film and the book also have in common other things. For instance, both the pawnbroker and Rosa are racist. The pawnbroker in the film tells Jesus that those creatures should stay out of his store. Jesus asks a question to the pawnbroker about who those creatures are. He asks “Who the colored?” “’It was a store. I didn’t like who came in it.’ ‘Spanish? Colored?’ ‘What do I care who came?’” (Ozick, 27). Rosa and the pawnbroker both claimed that their lives were stolen. “’You ain...
