Anne Frank Still in the Attic: Ethics of Forgetting in Shalom Auslander’s Hope: A Tragedy

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines Jewish-American author Shalom Auslander’s 2012 novel Hope: A Tragedy, whose main character Solomon Kugel is ‘sick of the Holocaust’ and dreams of moving to a place ‘unburdened by the past, unencumbered by history.’ Desperately trying to escape the images of concentration camps imposed on him since he was a child, Kugel finds himself trapped in memories of the Shoah, especially when he finds a malodorant, angry, and ‘terribly old’ Anne Frank living in his attic. The following article focuses on the ethics of forgetting explored in the novel, in relation to Björn Krondorfer’s 2008 article ‘Is Forgetting Reprehensible? Holocaust Remembrance and the Task of Oblivion,’ which argues that ‘deliberate performative practices of forgetting might benefit communities affected by a genocidal past.’ I reflect on how particular forms of oblivion (or lack thereof) are explored in Auslander’s text, as some characters are paralyzed by their inability to forget and others destroyed by the guilt of wanting to forget. I argue that this text illustrates several contemporary Jewish writers’ desire to break away from the trauma of the Shoah, highlighting the detrimental effects of an overwhelming, painful past on younger generations.