Class Collective Analysis of The

Fiftieth Gate

50 Keys Fiftieth Gate

Thesis: Memory is individualistic and non chronological, it can often
be confusing and disorientating
Quote: Left. Right. Left. Left. Right
Analysis: Baker uses an unusual structure, rhythm and varied
syntax Left. Right to invoke a sense stability and order to the
killing of Wierzbnik. This militaristic type imagery relates back to the
fact that history, as documented evidence in some cases shows
events in a scientific and ordered manner. Rather than being
clouded by the doubt of memory. Also the persons emotion and in
every case impacts upon memory.
Thesis: Memories that cannot be verified by historical scholarship
can sometimes be discounted or disregarded
Quote: Prove it, I heard myself saying
Analysis: Baker uses didactic and evocative language prove it to
illustrate that even memory can be fabricated in Bakers mind and
can be seen to be disproved due to lack of historical evidence. Thus
making it false. Baker in this instance believes his mothers
memories of the holocaust are a product of the mind and that the
concrete documented history he studies is everlasting and right in
comparison to his mo
Thesis 1:
History often is very brief in recording personal experiences and
thus does not convey real understanding and emotion of
experiences of individuals
Quote:
She remembers: screaming, the sound of shots, mothers separated
from their children p.111
Analysis:
Baker uses varied syntax and evocative language screaming, the
sounds of shots to create meaning and emotion behind the memory
of this event, the holocaust. In these instance is shows that history
doesnt value emotions and doesnt convey the real experiences
and emotions of those people involved in that historical event. This
showing that even memory with its fractured structure and
unreliability can have greater substance and accuracy than
documented history. In this sense, being to brief and not accounting
for all little details lost within time.
Thesis 2:

History can sometimes arrogantly assume to record the past more

accurately but by doing this it often robs the individual of their
personal experiences
Quote:
I disappoint him with details of the Polish archives. Instead I try
narrating the stories in his own style, dramatising the conflicts and
scandals as if I were preparing a script for a television soap-opera
Analysis:
Baker uses the metaphor of the television soap opera compared to
the holocaust. He does this to illustrate in his mind the difference
between concrete evidence, against the emotional and forgetful
memory of his father, which describes a constant flow of dramatic
events and terror. In this sense history arrogantly in Bakers mind
becomes the past and until his father changes his perspective and
Baker starts to write a heterogeneous composition, a bricolage of
text types. It robs Bakers father of his experiences, and the general
history of this event becomes the reality of his father.

Thesis: Memories allow a person who experienced the past and

relay their experiences with their own voice
Quote: There were Jews trading memories and poker cards
Analysis: Baker uses Juxtaposition of memories and cards to
illustrate how the Jewish community relay their experiences. In an
almost comical way they illustrate their obligation to their people
due to many memories and experience being destroyed through
death in the holocaust. This play full way also shows how that in
personal history cannot be as tangible as poker cards, and that
memory in a way is that tangible, thus being more effective in
relaying true history than history itself.
Thesis: History can sometimes be important framework to support
memory or fill in the information that memory and personal
experiences might not record or remember
Quote: And after the list of the dead came the analysis
Analysis: Baker uses evocative imagery, list of the dead to
illustrate the need for a detached framework such as history, to
truly indentify the real and calculated history behind an event. In
this case the memories of those dead are long gone and without
history filling in the information on how they died, the personal
experiences of these people will be lost forever.

I begin my search amongst all these scattered

stones p.12

Scattered stones -> metaphor for fragmented and disjointed

memories

Stones -> used as cultural aspect of remembering a dead person

in the Jewish culture

stone -> solid memories that are hard to destroy

begin and stone -> paradoxical, the stones are usually placed as
a way for remembrance of the dead and how one starts searching
for answers when the person is dead.

Against the centurys rootlessness, memory valorizes the aura of

place. The idea of memory is represented through the quote I begin
my search amongst all these scattered stones. The context of this
extract focuses upon Bakers experience at a field where Treblinka
used to be. The scattered stones is used as a metaphor to
recognise remembrance and the idea how Jews remember loved
ones who have gone from the world. It is through the depiction of
the field in which valorises the aura of the place.

This was the deal: I would give them my

knowledge of history; they would give me their
memory. An exchange of pasts.
...

Simon is doing this one

Nightfall is to me sadness and darkness and I just

cant disconnect my past, you know p.108

Nightfall -> negative tone

Memory -> experiences of the Holocaust

Connection between nightfall and darkness -> negative

connotations

As a result, he could not forget his past.

Memory, consists of personal recall and the reconstruction of past

events. The idea of memory is represented through the quote
nightfall is to me sadness and darkness and I just cant disconnect
my past, you know. The context of this quote is based upon Bakers
fathers experience of the Action where he and his family were
captured by the Nazis. The dark tone in nightfall and darkness
used to represent the experience of being in hiding of the Nazis and
how it had affected him.
Page 29.
Memory can be "triggered" by certain details such as sound, music, smell and the five

senses. Yossel remembers a pleasant time eating lollies with his grandfather. When
forgets about the war, he relaxes and is able to remember more of his childhood.
"For a moment he forgets his fear, and allows himself to reclaim forgotten images
from childhood. Once again, it is prompted by the taste of food."
The use of alliteration, forgets his fear, accentuates that fear is almost like baggage
that the father carries with him.
Page 56. (Heath+Doug)
In a forgetful century, memory resists. In an age of archives memory yearns.
Mark baker shows how people are forgotten through the use of a simile in the
quote, the graves look like broken tree stumps, Grown moldy from neglect
and decay which alludes to how people are forgotten by those they used to
know. Baker is using the bucolic imagery of a broken tree stump to show that
memories are forgotten, and as time goes on the memory will decay. The
allusion to the forgotten and the parallelism between the graves and the
Jewish community during the war emphasis how the Jewish people were
treated and the how their lives were cut short.
Page 61. (Heath+Doug)
Memories is the raw material of history, and are used to bring history alive. In
the Book the 50 gate Mark Baker uses Religious allusion seen in,
garden..fruits reveal the secrets of the world to represent that memory
overpowers history. Memories are the secret key to history, the fruit is a
symbol for knowledge. When Baker says this he is intending to create a
rhetorical question in the mind of the reader. This question is intended to bring
to light that history is a maze and that memory is the map.
th

Page 62. (Heath)

History rejects the ambiguity of memory. Mark Baker uses truncated syntax in
the sentence I- his son turned informer - confront him to emphasize that
mark baker is a tool of history whilst confronting his father the tool of memory.
The use of negative language such as confront and informer bring to light the
tone of the sentence. That it is meant to questions the reliability of memory in
relation to history and is meant to highlight the rejection of the unknown by
history.
HISTORY AND MEMORY

Thesis:
The representation of a particular event, personality or situation has
the potential to be shaped by a myriad of depictions. Deliberate
selection of the medium of representation coupled with emphasis on
specific form and structure enables the composer to convey a
meaning or interpretation through this particular representation.
Thus Mark Bakers chosen representation to unveil the mystery of his
parents survival during the Holocaust by unlocking their personal
memories coupled with the raw emotions associated when
recollecting a traumatic historical event negate the possibility of an
objective representation of the past. Thus memory although
fragmented and subjective may provide a deeper appreciation of a
past historical event yet due to the unreliable nature of both history
and memory absolute truth can never be fully ascertained.
_____________________________________________________________________
________________________
Thesis 2:
Memory is repetitive in its fixations, its emphasis upon victimization
and domination, and its passivity and self-contentedness
Quote:
Jews remember with stones. Rocks and Pebbles placed on the
gravestone; impenetrable, mysterious, eternal. P114
Analysis:
The Jews use their memories in contradiction by exclaiming that
memory is more concurrent then history, however they use their
memories to put down stones, rocks and pebbles to create history
so they can remember. The paradoxical nature of this concept is
ironic considering the weakness that they portray memory as
through them placing solid stones, which will not be forgotten.

Thesis 3:
History is often collective and holistic, however memory/testimony
are often intensively personal.
Quote:
His eyes have refocused on my document but his mind has
travelled to another time and place. P87

Quote Deconstructions
Page 89
It is a symbolic site in an inhospitable wasteland
Against the centurys rootlessness, memory valorizes the aura of
place. The juxtaposition between a symbolic site and an
inhospitable wasteland emphasizes how collective memories
overwhelm the darkest times. The irony in the syntax highlights the
impact that the holocaust has had on the memories of the
individuals, creating symbolic sites within wastelands.
Page 131
Where have all the Jews gone
- Rhetorical question
- Factual evidence
- Evocative syntax
Memory and history may play shifting, alternately more or less
contentious roles in setting the record straight. Mark uses truncated
factual evidence within the chapter to emphasize that it is possible
for entire groups of people to be lost in time. The memories of those
survivors are few but the history is none. The rhetorical question
emphasizes the unimaginable loss that has occurred due to the
annihilation of the Jews. Mark uses this evocative syntax at the end
of the chapter to question the audiences understanding of what
happened.
pg 133 Mum, I found something at last

Memory is not found like history, but recorded. Mark Baker uses a truncated
sentence Mum, I found something at last this shows the futility of of
attempting to reveal histories intricate corners. When bakers mum is able to
simply remember what happened to her, baker himself must search for the
facts in the pages of history. The use of the found something at last is a
cliched term that is again further used to portray the frustration experienced
when attempting to discover the truth in histories.
-

It works freely by evocation, similarity, metaphor. Memory

dreams in fragments, gaps and dissipation. It is multiple and
promiscuous. But conversely, history acts as an anchor to
retrieve past events. a Baker uses constant questioning and
interrogation as seen in the quote am I usurping her

memory... Baker uses rhetorical questioning to display a

sense of self reflection and perspective. the responder is
forced to question their very own beliefs and opinions on
Bakers self evaluation of his actions and motivations, creating
a more meaningful text, one that promotes the self refection
of the responder as well as the author. (pg 138)

In a forgetful century, memory resists, where in an

age of archives, memory yearns. Genias memory
has been dismantled by the pressures of time and
shock. In the quote the episode is recorded by her
teacher in handwritten report card (pg 306). Baker
employs imagery to instil a sense of archival history
and documentation in the responder. Through the use
of imagery the responder can create a more intimate
connection with the character and text.

Page 124 It gnawed at me, the feeling that my fathers

narrative had surrendered to forgetfulness
History is solid whereas memory withers away. Baker uses the verb
surrendered as emotive language to create parallels between Yossls
memory and the holocaust. One of Yossls most important
possessions, his memory is failing him. Just as the Jews did during
the holocaust, Yossl cannot help the forgetfulness that comes with
age, and his story is beginning to fade. The alliteration in the F of
feeling father and forgetfulness represent a negative tone, showing
the interplay between Yossls depressing memories, and the hard
facts that history presents us. History is solid, like a tree and
memory is the leaves that age with time. They begin to wither and
disintegrate whereas a tree grows and gets stronger.
Page 197 For every alternative, there is an alternative;
every shadow casts its darkness on someone elses light
Memories are an interesting and engaging way to relate to the past.
Memories are often personal, and as a result of this it is human
nature to try and find the positive issues of previous experiences,
memories and history. The motif of light shows the negativity
brought by the holocaust, and the pain and suffering the Jews
endured, however by contrasting the shadow from darkness to light,
this quote represents the idea that opportunity presents itself during
hard times. This shows memorys connection with personal
experience and emotions and its intimate relationship with the past.

"My parents remember" to the end of the chapter - page 174

a.
What makes up history and memory, respectively, is dependent on the
perception of those who create it.
b.
The use in the chapter of the Rabbi and his "disciples", the allegorical
representation of history and memory through the "letters soaring high".
c.
The Rabbi and his disciples are used in this chapter to exhibit different
views of history and memory. What some people consider to be memory (the
emotive nature of the burning parchment and the "soaring letters" that the
Rabbi could see), the disciples consider to be history.
The allegorical representation of history and memory through the "soaring
letters", symbolizes the eternal, but ever changing, state of memory. In the
same way, the burning is an allegory for both the destructible nature of history,
despite its reliability, and is directly related to the burning of the Jewish bodies
at the concentration camps, symbolizing the impermanence of the history of
the Holocaust, for example, Holocaust deniers.
4.
260 - "Again I find myself peering into memories black hole"
a.
Memory can both be lost, and be lost in
b.
The paradox of "peering into" a "black hole", and the cyclical diction,
"again".
c.
"Peering" into a "black hole" is impossible, as black holes suck in all
light, and can only be found by looking for a swirl of matter being sucked in. In
this way, Baker has made the insinuation that looking into someone else's
memories is impossible. This means that the best that can be done is to see
the impact that memories have on a person and the way that they have been
affected by it, and how they describe it; but it is impossible to actually fully
understand any other
a.
History is more easily manipulated than memory, but memory can be
corrupted from both the inside and the out
b.
The repetition of "maybe", the supposition that she might have "never
existed there", the existentialist allegory that everything may just be "a horrible
nightmare"
c.
The repetition of "maybe", draws attention to the questioning of her own
memory, and adds to the readers questioning of Baker's mothers past, while
still adding to the empathy through the diction, "horrible nightmare". This is
supported by Baker's mother's supposition that she might have "never existed

there", the existentialist allegory that suggests that she was not a victim of the
Holocaust, she is in possession of a memory that is not her own

Page 211 no, not a search an obsession , a raid on my mothers memory, a

sons theft of her past
Memory is a burden for those who experience it and a gift for those who hear
it. In the book The Fiftieth Gate Baker makes the case that people can
become entranced by the memories of others. no, not a search an
obsession , a raid on my mothers memory, a sons theft of her past. The use
of forceful diction such as Raid and Theft bring forward the ideas of a
compelling necessary action to the forefront of the readers mind. This
representation of a compelling act shows the need for memories to be given
as gifts to the later generations. Humans have always been curious about our
past, making it the responsibility of the generation that experienced it to pass
it onto the next as a memory.

Page 205
How many branches have I neglected
- Rhetorical question
- Metaphor
- Bucolic imagery
Memory is the raw material of history, and the discipline of history
nourishes memory in turn. The branches are a metaphor of the
memories of the individuals who suffered during the holocaust.
Marks mother has suppressed her own memories and has denied
others the chance to explain what they went through. The bucolic
imagery of the branches emphasize that the neglect that is
occurring is all part of the same root. The collective memory of the
individuals within the holocaust are being neglected and the
rhetorical question that Mark uses shows the realization that his
mother has come to.
They were two Polish words which my father had not forgotten;
Wielki Piec Page 142
Memory is the raw material of history, and the discipline of history
nourishes memory in turn. This ideology that history nourishes
memory is evident in They were two Polish words which my father
had not forgotten; Wielki Piec. The Polish Jew idiom used, Wielki

Piec, may be symbolic for the relentless memory of Yossl, and

furthermore the relentless Polish Jew history. It is symbolic in
perhaps suggesting that the idiom is a metaphor for physical Polish
Jew History, and Yossls personal memory, as he had not forgotten
the idiomatic words, or metaphorical events. Additionally, the idiom
also acts as a symbolic representation that Polish Jew history has
not devoured overtime from a result of personal memory
augmenting history, as Yossl still remembers the unforgotten Polish
Jew words.
The proclamation serves as the Boys first lesson in history Page
231
Change demands engagement, which entails conviction; conviction
allows debate, which leads to change. But memory cannot be
debated; history can. Baker suggests that history can be taught to
an inexperienced individual, but an individuals personal memory
cannot be taught; The proclamation serves as the Boys first lesson
in history. Here, Baker has given a didactic element to the
proclamation, or document/declaration, where it is a metaphoric
object for teaching history. In saying this, Baker uses an almost
euphemistic voice to subtly convey the idea that history can be
taught, but ones personal memory cannot be taught as personal
memory varies on individual perspectives, and is therefore an
inaccurate source for augmenting and filling in the gaps of history.

Pg. 154 You read, you read. Books, books, everywhere. But
do you know how it feels?
History, it is said, surpasses memory when it comes to making the
past matter. Through the repetition of read and books Baker has
created the idea that history is a physical object, which people can
read and interpret. However, ones memory and experience of a
certain even can affect their memory and how they feel. This
contradicts the notion that history surpasses memory when it comes
to making the past matter.
Pg. 242 Its my story my mother says, he finds the daughter
and brings her home
Memory can be neither dispossessed nor interrogated. Personal or
collective, memory cannot be dictated. It is sacral, innocent and
immediate. The possessive/protective tone of the Bakers mother
claiming that her sons dream is hers, represents the importance of
her memory. Its almost like his mother is holding onto her memory
of childhood and doesnt approve of Baker having a similar dream,
which has become a memory.

Page 249 Perhaps I should give away the shoe, add it to

the mountain of shoes in Auschwitz
Memories are an interesting and engaging way to relate to the past.
The shoe, and the mountain of shoes is used as a metaphor to
represent the Jews during the holocaust. The harsh diction of the
sentence represents the shoes as a collective memory of great
suffering. The shoes are valued as a historical document, a way to
fathom the number of Jews that lost their lives during the holocaust,
contrasted to the importance of personal memory being lucky to
still own shoes, to be alive. In this way, by alluding to the Jews as
shoes, Baker portrays history, and the way in which the Nazis
viewed the Jews as collective, unimportant and impersonal.
An attempt to obliterate not only my parent foreignness, but the
memories attached to it- Page 252
Against the centurys dislocations, memory anchors the self, where
it consists of personal recall and the reconstruction of past events.
Though, it conversely involves forgetting as Baker documents that
an attempt to obliterate not only my parents foreignness, but the
memories attached to it. The harsh diction of; An attempt to
obliterate is perhaps symbolic of Bakers parents harsh
experience in their attempt to forget and disembowel their heritage,
for their sons benefits. Conjunctionally, Bakers parents heritage
has been personified to act as a metaphor for a mental captivity of
holding Yossl and Genia in their memory, of which they wish to
obliterate.
Pg 290
Memory is a personal experience that is unable to be verified in the way that
history is, it must be taken at face value "For her there are no witnesses to
interview... no means of validation" The repetition of "no" shows the futility of
Bakers mother's attempts to make her memories justifiable in the eyes of the
world. The quote allows history to be presented in a logical sustained manor,
but its continuous use of the word "no" highlights the idea that memory is
being blocked and prevented from becoming recognized by the millions, like
history is.
Page 156
"I could not answer her. The final moments can never be retreived by history."
History is a factual account of the past but it does not tell the full story of what
happened to individual people. History could give the dates of when people were
killed at Belzec but it could not capture their emotions or their last thoughts before
they died. I could not answer her. The final moments can never be retrieved by
history. There is a sense of sorrow here as Baker feels he cannot adequately explain

to his mother what happened to the people who were killed at Belzec. An almost
defeatist attitude by Baker is shown through words such as, not, never and
final.

Page 248
I hear them call her Buba and envy the word which I have never uttered, at least not
as something that belongs to me.
An understanding of the past can help us connect to out heritage. Baker learns how his
grandmother Raisl knocked her head in a truck accident and eventually died in a
Berlin hospital. Such a tragic end for a person who had survived the Holocaust. As a
consequence Baker never knows this grandmother and feels sad that he has never had
a chance to use the word Buba in a personal sense. I hear them call her Buba and
envy the word which I have never uttered, at least not as something that belongs
to me. The use of the Polish word Buba for grandmother reminds us that Baker
feels history has robbed him of any memories of having a grandmother. To show this
emotion of loss he uses the emotive word, envy in relation to other people who have
known the love of a Buba.

...it always begins in blackness, until the first light illuminates a

hidden fragment of memory...- Page 316
It works freely by evocation, similarity, metaphor. Memory dreams in
fragments, gaps and dissipation and is multiple and promiscuous.
Memory is individualistic, and is thus difficult to read chronologically.
The first sentence and the last sentence of the book are the same in
the words; ...it always begins in blackness, until the first light
illuminates a hidden fragment of memory. This elliptical nature of
the novel is suggested to be symbolic of each individual memory
which represents a fragment of history, which therefore alludes to
an elliptical construction of the book, but furthermore of history
itself. Additionally, the readers become cognizant that at the
beginning of his journey, Baker is metaphorically in the dark about
his parents identity, where he goes through non-linear and
contradictory memoirs to allude to an end, where a metaphoric
light illuminates a hidden fragment of memory.
1. Memory consists of personal recall and reconstruction of past
events. Necessarily, it also involves forgetting. For some,
losing a memory is like losing a loved one, irreplaceable. The
paradoxical nature of Genias wish to forget her memories and
haunting past is demonstrated by Baker in this quote. What I
remember. What would you remember before you were eight?
I wish I could forget what I remember. The use of Rhetorical
questioning and the defensive nature of Genias statement
against her sons constant interrogation highlight the

necessity for memories to be forgotten and reshaped to

satisfy the agendas of those involved. Additionally Genias
aggressive tone, portrayed through the anaphora of what I
remember, embodies her defensive nature of refracting a
metaphoric spot light away from her memories of the
Holocaust experienced as only a little girl.
2. It works freely by evocation, similarity, metaphor. Memory
dreams in fragments, gaps and dissipation. It is multiple and
promiscuous. But conversely, history acts as an anchor to
retrieve past events. This is evident when Yossl explains; For
sure I will remember bits and pieces if we go back. For sure
the church, the church I will remember. Yossl is in a state of
confusion, or fragment, where his contradictory diction implies
that his memories are non-linear as he can only remember
bits and pieces. Yossls personal recollection of the church is
not only a memory, but here the church is a historical motif as
it is a metaphoric anchor of history which allows for memory
to be created, and to augment the gaps of history.
3. In a forgetful century, memory resists, where in an age of
archives, memory yearns. Marks parents experience the
resistance of memory, as they collectively recollect; the fire,
the parchment burning, the bodies burned, letters soaring
high turned to ashen dust. A redundant motif of death and
fire of Yossl and Genias memory engages with the audience,
and acts as a medium for us to feel a sense of sympathy and
pathos for the victims of the Holocaust, as the harsh and
repressive diction creates a metaphoric bricolage of the
bodies burned. The anaphora of the could be interpreted as
being a structural, or metaphoric, representation of the
physical anaphora, or accumulation, of the bodies burned.

Confrontations of memories of the past can sometimes be very painful.

"Tet yod. The point of light, pouring through the fiftieth gate."
As much as the light pours through the fiftieth gate, so to does the dark come out.
Baker is refering to what would happen if the fiftieth gate opens. Baker uses a
metaphor when explaining how there is a point of enlightenment, point of light, The
syntax of the diction alludes to light being knowledge. Another metaphor is used as
Baker describes what comes out of the fiftieth gate, pouring through, likened to a
waterfall, unstoppable.

The hair you can have. The rest is mine. P.308

Hair -> metaphor, a single strand of memory

Hairs-> number of strands represent memories

Memory, consists of personal recall and the reconstruction of past

events. The idea of memory is represented in the line the hair you
can have. The rest is mine. The metaphor in hair is used to
symbolise the similarities with the idea of memory. A single strand
can be used to symbolise a single fragmented memory of an
individual and so can unlock ones part of their life.