Survival In Aushwitz

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             He saw opportunities and, in the face of danger, took them for the sake of his wife and child. His quick thinking and cool use of intellect gives faith to his wife and child, ultimately pushing them to go on, in much needed times. He yells out to his wife on the loudspeaker, just as he and his son were walking by and the soldiers walking away, "buongiorno pricipessa!" He lets the son, Joshua, speak to her, whom she earlier thought was dead. He also does the same, at a later time, just as she began to loose faith again. By thinking quickly while he is working in the presence of the Nazi regime he finds a song to play for his wife. It is a song taken from the opera that brings them back, for a split moment, to their fist date in Venezia when times were blissful. Both of these instances encourage her, in a time of need, and gives her the strength to go on, and not fall prey to tyranny. .
             He takes whatever opportunities become available at that instant, and by thinking on his toes, uses his intellect to overcome his many trials. In doing so he also saves his sons life, in many ways and many times over. First, by sheltering him from the bare reality of what is going on around him, he in fact turns it around to the opposite, a game a child can understand. He goes to great lengths to make this game a reality for the child. He tells the soldier he speaks German in order to relay his rules to Joshua and make them believable. He hides his son everyday, making his believe it is a game, keeping him alive. He manages to make it possible for Joshua to enter into the German dinner, and by thinking on his toes again, provides Joshua with a nutritional dinner. Lastly, in accordance with the game scenario, he hides his son at the gravest time of need and makes the ultimate sacrifice. Even before he is about to die, he manages to keep smiling, for his son.
             The main character of the story La Vita e Bella is very similar to the main character, Primo, in the text Se Questo e un Uomo, in his oppositional approach to tyranny.