I’ve just finished After Dachau and am very perplexed and taken back by it. NO ONE CARES. This seems to be its message. Have you given up the awe-inspiring ranting you published in the past? Have you lost faith?

The message of After Dachau is not “no one cares.” This is the message of Jason’s ADVERSARY, “Uncle Harry” Whitaker, which Jason is forced to guess when he is imprisoned in the desert.  Obviously, it’s untrue, since JASON cares—and he acts on his care.

He uses his resources to make others care: an uphill battle, to be sure (just as ours is). And it’s obvious by the end of the book that he’s making progress (since someone has been sufficiently moved to throw a brick through the window of the Croatan Gallery). And the hint is in plain sight that his publication of the diary of Anne Frank is likely to awaken even more “caring.”

ID: 635
posted:
updated: 14 Jul 2003