Excerpt from "The Pianist"

Wladyslaw Szpilman's profound reflection the psychological effects of Jewish isolation in Warsaw's ghetto:

"I think it would have been psychologically easier to bear if we had been more obviously imprisoned -- locked in a cell, for instance. That kind of relationship clearly, indubitably, defines a human being's relationship to reality. There is no mistaking your situation: the cell is a world in itself, containing only your own imprisonment, never interlocking with the distant world of freedom. You can dream of that world if you have the time and inclination; however, if you don't think of it, it will not force itself on your notice of its own accord. It is not always there before your eyes, tormenting you with reminders of the free life you have lost."