Survival in Auschwitz

by

Primo Levi

Arthur Character Analysis

Arthur is a Frenchman whom Levi meets in the infection ward in the ten days between the Germans’ evacuation of Auschwitz and the Russians’ arrival. Arthur helps Levi and Charles to care for those in their hut too sick to get out of bed, helping to forage and cooking food for everyone. Alfred survives the war and is able to return home after the Russians liberate Auschwitz.
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Arthur Character Timeline in Survival in Auschwitz

The timeline below shows where the character Arthur appears in Survival in Auschwitz. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 17. The Story of Ten Days
Dehumanization and Resistance Theme Icon
Adaptability, Chance, and Survival Theme Icon
...cigarette lighters, which he can sell for several rations of bread each. Two pleasant Frenchmen, Arthur and Charles, are also in the ward, having only arrived in the camp days before.... (full context)
Dehumanization and Resistance Theme Icon
Adaptability, Chance, and Survival Theme Icon
Moral Relativity Theme Icon
...narration switches to the style of dated diary entries. January 19: Levi wakes up with Arthur and Charles at dawn, feeling ill and weary and frightened. All the other prisoners in... (full context)
Dehumanization and Resistance Theme Icon
Adaptability, Chance, and Survival Theme Icon
Moral Relativity Theme Icon
Oppression, Power, and Cruelty Theme Icon
One of the prisoners who remained inside while Levi, Charles, and Arthur foraged, makes the agreed-upon proposal that each man who did not forage should give a... (full context)
Dehumanization and Resistance Theme Icon
Adaptability, Chance, and Survival Theme Icon
...Levi rises to light the stove in the morning, joints still aching with fever, and Arthur boils three potatoes per person for breakfast. Having remembered a trench were vegetables were buried,... (full context)
Dehumanization and Resistance Theme Icon
Adaptability, Chance, and Survival Theme Icon
...21: Although Levi is exhausted, Charles calls him to work again in the morning. As Arthur sets whichever men of the infection ward can sit upright to peeling potatoes, Charles and... (full context)
Dehumanization and Resistance Theme Icon
Adaptability, Chance, and Survival Theme Icon
...will arrive any moment now. Although they are still weak and Sómogyi’s chattering is incessant, Arthur, Charles, and Levi spend their evening speaking excitedly on all manner of subjects around the... (full context)
Dehumanization and Resistance Theme Icon
Adaptability, Chance, and Survival Theme Icon
January 27: Although Arthur, Charles, and Levi keep each other feeling sane and human, around them the dying survivors... (full context)
Dehumanization and Resistance Theme Icon
Adaptability, Chance, and Survival Theme Icon
...five more die in the Russian mobile hospital established in Auschwitz. Five, however, survive, including Arthur, Charles, and Levi. Charles and Levi write letters back and forth long after the war... (full context)