Primo Levi, in his novel Survival at Auschwitz (2008), illustrates the atrocities inflicted on concentration camp prisoners by the Schutzstaffel, through dehumanization. Levi describes "the denial of humanity" constantly imposed on prisoners through similes, metaphors and images of animal and mechanistic dehumanization ("Dehumanization"). It educates its readers about the cruel reality of concentration camps in order to help them examine the psychological effects of dehumanization not only on those who are dehumanized, but also on those who dehumanize. He adopts a serious and thoughtful tone with his audience eager to understand the reality of the genocide. In Survival in Auschwitz, Primo Levi laments that men become “hollow” when deprived of everything they “love [and] possess” (Survival 27). He uses several similes comparing men to animals, which proves how their brutal treatment by the Schutzstaffel dehumanized them. As Levi describes how he and the other inmates laboriously work in the Chemical Kommando, he states, "Elias climbs like a monkey" (Survival 96). Comparing the way Elias climbs to a monkey, on all fours, we see that he has lost his humanity. His behavior is likened to that of an animal which depicts the psychological damage suffered by the inmates. A fight takes place in the camp and Levi describes Elias' punch "as powerful and precise as a catapult" (Survival 96). This form of mechanistic dehumanization interprets Elias “as cold, rigid, [and] interchangeable” due to their oppression (“Dehumanization”). Additionally, Levi frequently refers to the inmates as "beasts" throughout the novel, particularly when they are subjected to the brutal violence of the Schutzstaffel (Survival 117). ...... middle of paper ...... lyses the internal and external problems of man which reflect the human condition of humanity. Survival in Auschwitz conclusively describes how humanity responds to the deepest and most tortuous oppression of our past. It proves beyond doubt that the majority of men will fall into corruption or completely fail and lose all hope in the struggle for survival. His rather appealing account of how to truly survive in the camp and his “documentation…of certain aspects of the human spirit” trace the process of their dehumanization (Survival 9). Levi ultimately considers man's response to oppression and the backlash to his means. Works Cited “Dehumanization.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, May 1, 2014. Web. January 1, 2014. Levi, Primo. Surviving Auschwitz. New York: Classic House, 2008. “Schutzstaffel” print. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, April 1, 2014. Web. January 8. 2014.