This passage, taken from the final pages of "If this is a man" by Primo Levi, describes the last days in the concentration camp. To put it into context; the Germans, eager to save themselves, abandoned Levi and the others, too ill to travel, to fend for themselves. Levi focuses on the irony of their situation; after suffering the horrors of the camp Levi and his abandoned fellow prisoners are finally free, but in reality they do not receive the benefits normally associated with freedom, in fact they are in many ways worse off than before. In this passage Levi highlights how, despite the frost, there is a thaw in human relationships. «I have a ration of bread under the sack. Divide it between the three of you. I will never eat again” These are the first words of this passage, they are important because they clearly show that this man has lived through countless horrible experiences and as a result has lost the will to live. He has accepted that death is around the corner, and so he chooses to give up his ration of bread, to help his fellow prisoners. The act of kindness of giving up one's bread shows that these men are still capable of being kind to each other, they still have their sense of decency. Which is quite at odds with what was seen from these men throughout the book and in their time in the camp. One would have expected that, over the time they spent being abused, they would lose the ability to be kind. Instead there is evidence that the rules of the Lager, where everyone is for themselves, are no longer respected, they have chosen to remain respectable men, offering to help each other, and not accepting the bread offered to them, shows that they still have the... ... half of the paper......to become part of the greyness. Charles takes off his cap as a sign of respect; respect is another human trait that these men have managed to convey. Primo Levi regretted not having a cap to pay homage to, consequently he felt regret. Regret is also a trait of man, in the sense that Levi managed to remain a man. This passage is effective as the final passage of the book, because it shows that there is warmth in the established relationships and the rules of the Lager are no longer followed. It reflects how everything has changed, their compassion for each other and the beginning of returning to being "normal" human beings. The passage also summarizes what these men experienced and shows the transformation of some from man to machine, allowing the reader to truly feel the struggle these men had to go through to survive and ultimately remain men..