ABSTRACT
From the moment we are born we belong to an unspoken, self-evident covenant that is nonetheless always overshadowed by the fear that it will be violated. It is a covenant that binds us to protect each other’s wholeness. However, in traumatic situations one of the most fundamental components of a person’s life that is damaged is this structure. Not only does the individual reveal that his own integrity is in danger or has been desecrated, he has also to face the fact that he has been damaged by one of the most profound covenants – the covenant to ensure mutual integrity. In Semprún’s book we see how just as the erasure of the actual presence of the other or of the self constitutes an act of ethical harm, reparation is enabled through the reader’s referral to literature and his identification with the hero from whose eyes the full visibility of the other is reflected and repaired.
