Purpose
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GroupLit |
Eisenstein states (when asked about the structure of her memoir):
The book is not an autobiography of my life...it is a memoir of sensibility, a relationship to the Holocaust that integrally informed that sensibility. And that means it is not one thing, not based on facts and numbers, but on individual lives and my understanding and feelings for them. (personal communication, 2011)
It seems that Eisenstein’s wrote her memoir in order to understand many aspects of the world around her. Her exploration of herself, her family, and the Holocaust are expressions of sorrow and remembrance as well as acceptance and understanding. Although she explored the Holocaust as a child, it was in doing portraits of her father that she would come to a new level of understanding. In an interview (Panmacmillan), she states that: “I found that while involved in capturing his likeness... the process kept me close to my father, as I remembered him, and how I had missed him since he had died”. In another interview, Bernice delves even deeper and explains: “I knew that I didn’t want to just paint him in a realistic manner.... I wanted to describe and place on paper what I felt was inside of him – a distillation” (Eisenstein, personal communication, 2011). It would seem then that for Eisenstein creating these portraits and this memoir was an act of sorrow and remembrance as well as creating something that evoked a feeling from that person, whether it is sorrow or joy (in that way the viewer connects to those people).
Although Eisenstein admits that she, and perhaps even her own parents, will never know “...the full extent of their loss” (I was a child of Holocaust survivors, 2006, p. 178) she states that (when asked about her process) “my book is about a process of memory into not only my past, but the past of my parents and their friends. For me, the time I spent writing and drawing was a place of discovery” (personal communication, 2011). In many ways, Eisenstein did come to an understanding about her parents. She knew that they had pain, but she also saw their joy. Perhaps it’s not about understanding everything, but about just having an understanding, that is the most important.
In this sense Eisenstein’s memoir inspires others to understand their own families and others around them. When asked about her intentions in writing this memoir, Eisenstein states (personal communication, 2011):
My intention? Only to say it was important. There is so much to learn about our own hearts. I had learned from the hearts of others. Rather than "intention"--there's a beautiful Jewish saying: there is no heart more whole than a broken heart. And that's where I travelled. I journeyed in their company for a while.
Eisenstein, B. (2006). I was a child of Holocaust survivors. Toronto, On: McClelland & Stewart Ltd.
Panmacmillan (2009). [Interview]. Retrieved October 18th , 2011, from http://www.panmacmillan.com/displayPage.asp?PageID=4247
Please note: Panmacmillan site no longer seems to be working as of October 28th, 2011.
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