In today’s society, it is easy for one to lose their sense of identity. However, it is just as easy to develop identity through varying factors. This is shown through the work of Helena Jockel’s We Sang in Hushed Voices and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, portraying the theme of identity. Similarly, both works reveal societal expectations that Jockel and Hamlet experience despite their gender and religious differences. While the lives of Helena Jockel and Shakespeare’s characters are contrasting, they share the experience of grief. Surviving the Holocaust, Jockel reminisces and grieves her loved ones who have died, including her mother, most of her siblings, and her students. Much like Jockel, Hamlet lost a major figure in his life– his father.…show more content… This is due to the fact that religion is composed of behaviours, actions, and beliefs– all of which make up a person. When resting at Dresden, Jockel, along with her group, sing a Jewish prayer together: “The Shema is the Jewish declaration of faith. It is the first prayer that a Jewish child learns and, traditionally, the last words a Jewish person says before he or she dies. [...] each one of us joined in singing the prayer with her, each in her own language and voice, yet unified by our suffering. It was the single most hopeful moment of my ordeal in the Holocaust.” (Jockel 39). Revealing the importance of religion, Jockel and her group collectively sing a prayer they have known since they were children. Through singing the prayer in what they believe to be their last moments, the group presents how religion is a part of their identity as they follow a practice– portraying their great belief in their religion. Furthermore, Jockel experiences development as this event allows her to find hope despite the situation she is in and the traumatic events she
