Schindler's Ark Themes

“When trying to determine a novel’s place within the canon we have to determine whether its message and themes deal with fundamental concepts or understandings about the world or offer a unique perspective or opinion on our humanity. What we are asking is, does this piece of writing matter? If there is any novel which might fit this criteria, Schindler’s Ark would certainly be a candidate. The novel portrays in graphic details the atrocities of the Holocaust, an event in history when the Nazis in Germany attempted to annihilate the Jewish race. “The Final Solution” was carried out at the end of a truncheon, the boots of the SS and the teeth of their dogs. It occurred by the tens of thousands as massacres in ghettos and by the hundreds of
Another facet of great literature is its ability to reach beyond the plane of entertainment and deal with what are known as the great ideas. Mortimer Adler, an american philosopher and renowned author, defines these as, “those ideas that are basic and indispensable to understanding ourselves, our society, and the world in which we live.” His list of 103 great ideas including good and evil, truth, desire, duty, honour, justice, have been the topic of debate for many of the great works that define our world today. Schindler’s Ark covers some 44 of these great ideas in the plethora of themes Keneally analyses throughout his novel. Some key examples are Good vs evil, the paradox of virtue, choice and its effect on humanity, the triumph of the human spirit and the good one can achieve in the midst of impossibility. Above all, the story of Schindler forces us to engage in deep ideas and themes by transposing us to an actual time in history and causing us to witness, experience and question our morality, humanity and future. Schindler’s Ark is an essential component of the literary canon because it is a link to a real event and powerfully explores the human experience in a setting that amplifies the deepest truths and realities of who we