Plot as a Piece of the Whole

There was once a television show set in New York City that opened with a line explaining that the story being presented was only one of the millions of stories that could be found in that big city. Holocaust stories are like that. Millions of people were imprisoned in the concentration camps, and each one had his/her personal story. When a playwright chooses one episode out of a bigger story, there is more of a sense that the characters are victims of forces beyond their control. For example, the marriage of Romeo and Juliet was only one episode, albeit the final episode, in a long-standing family feud. Consequently, they were subject to all of the problems brought on by other people and less able to make choices that would determine their own future. In like manner, Max, Rudy, and Horst are...