This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen – Sumi Paul

A tall, grey-haired woman who has just arrived on the “transport” whispers, “My poor boy,” to our narrator.  What does she mean? 

• I believe when the old woman tells the narrator “My poor boy” she is expressing compassion. She understands that it was not his choice to be a part of this monstrous act, but was merely following orders. I believe she knows that death is awaiting her at the gas chambers and knows that he is not to blame for leading her to her death. She feels bad that him being such a young man has to experience this tragedy and take part in it. She knows that he is only following orders.

“Are we good people?” asks our narrator.  What is this exchange about? What do you think?

• I believe the narrator questions if they are good people because he understands that what he is doing is wrong but he cannot help but feel glad that it is the jews going to the chambers instead of him. He feels angry at the Jews and blames them for being the reason that he has to work in these cruel circumstances. He says “I am not sorry they are going to the gas chamber. Damn them all!” He questions why he is feeling so much hatred towards the Jews. However, Henri reassures him that it is normal to point fingers on the weaker individuals. As opposed to the Jews, they have a little more power because they are not the ones going to the gas chambers. By questioning if they are good people, he is conflicted in his feelings because on one hand he knows that the Jews should not be killed, but on the other hand he is glad it is not him that is being killed. 

Explain the significance of the story’s title, “This Way to the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen.”  What seems strange about it?

• The title is strange because it seems very light and friendly by saying ladies and gentlemen even though they are being led to their death. It is welcoming the Jews but only to their death. It seems as though they are being led to a place where they can begin a new life, however that is clearly not true, from reading the story. The Jews bring luggages filled with their belongings in hopes of starting life elsewhere, because they did not really know where the trains were leasing them to. In the story, the narrator tells us “People… inhumanly crammed, buried under incredible heaps of luggage, suitcases, trunks, packages, crates, bundles of every description (everything that had been their past and was to start their future).” The Jews thought they were being sent somewhere to start a new life, but little did they know they were being sent to a gas chamber to end their life. The title gives off a sense of welcome, which is ironic because the Jews were clearly not welcomed in their own country.