By the end of the novel Elie had most definitely changed in character. That is a big deal, too. Your character is who you are. It's what you believe and how you act, what you feel and who you know. When we first met Elie he was a young, independent, very driven 15 year old boy. As the novel progresses and we read the torture that Elie goes through we can kind of predict that he isn't going to be the same. He comes out of the Holocaust a survivor, but had lost all hope in what he knew. In this final section of Night I felt as if I was there with Elie going through the death march, throwing out the dead bodies of the men that have died, and being tormented by German townspeople as they cruelly throw little pieces of bread into the street just so they can watch the Jews fight over it. Reading about the bread being thrown into the street made me sick to my stomach. You would think I would be used to reading about this sort of treatment by now, but I guess I kept thinking to myself that things couldn't get any worse; and then I kept reading and saw that. We learn that this instance changed Elie's perspective on mankind, and if I was in his position, I think I would have questioned that a long time ago. In this last section we also read about the death of Elie's father which broke my heart. On the journey to Buchenwald, Wiesel becomes very weak, so weak that he doesn't have the ability to push through the pain any longer. His son does the best he can to try and take care of his old man but because of the fear of being scolded and hurt by an officer he has to let his father go. That night, January 28, 1945 when Elie finally falls asleep the last words that he had heard come out of his father's mouth was his name. "Eliezer..." he weakly said. Janury 29th, the next morning, he did not see his father lying down in his cot. Instead there was another soon to be dead Jew.  "I did not weep, and it pained me not to weep. But I was out of tears. And deep inside me, if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: Free at last!..." (112). This quote, in my opinion, was when I knew that Elie did not care about anything anymore. His only goal was to try and live, although he did not know what to live for. He had nothing to believe in. The time he spent at that camp, he learned that it was every man for himself. No one was there to look out for each other, so how was anyone supposed to survive? It as almost as if everyone that was part of this disgusting Holocaust turned into lifeless souls. But then again, I would probably be the same way. What really got to Elie, I think, was just before his father died what one of the Blockalteste said to him. "In this place, it is every man for himself, and you cannot think of others. Not even your father. In this place, there is no such thing as father, brother, friend. Each of us dies and lives alone" (110). Elie was alone. Without a mother, father, sisters or friends. But that did not seem to phase him in the end. Nothing did, not even being alive really. This boy went through a series of very unfortunate events along with millions of others; but he was able to survive. He left the concentration camp knowing he did not have a father or a mother or anyone for that matter. The poor boy had nothing, nothing but his dreadful, sickening past that will forever haunt him.

Let me start by apologizing for my posts being a little late. While reading pages 47-84 of the novel Night there were certain parts that I took note on. The group that Elie and his father were with stayed in Auschwitz for three weeks. While they were there Elie's father, Wiesel, was beckoned by a relative of his who he did not recognize. And to be honest, I don't think that Stein (the relative to Wiesel) even recognized Wiesel. I think he so desperately wanted to see someone that he might know, that could possibly give him some information. Stein wanted to know if his wife and kids were okay. Elie had no idea if Reizel (Stein's wife) and their children were safe and sound but to spare Stein the depression and possibility of suicide he told him otherwise. He had told the long lost relative of his that Reizel and the children were alright. After hearing that Stein was filled with joy. "'The only thing that keeps me alive,' he kept saying, 'is to know that Reizel and the little ones are still alive. Were it not for them, I would give up'" (45). Reading that made me so sad. Because even though I wasn't sure if Reizel and their children were okay, I had a good feeling that something bad had happened to them, and this poor man was going to have to find out eventually. And sadly, he did. It made me think about how many families suffered through this different kind of pain. The kind of pain that wasn't inflicted on them, but that drained the life out of them because of worry. Stein along with many others had to deal with not only his work that could possibly kill him, but thinking about how his innocent wife and children were going through the same thing, and there was nothing that he could do, as a father or husband to help them. One quote that stuck out to me while reading happened right before Elie had to go see the dentist (where he had his gold crown ripped from his mouth). "Ten minutes later, we stood in front of the warehouse. A German employee, a civilian, the Meister, came to meet us. He paid as little attention to us as would a shoekeeper receiving a delivery of old rags" (50). That quote alone can tell any reader that didn't know how the Germans were treating the Jews. They were being compared to treating the Jews to how a shoekeeper would be receiving a delivery of old rags. They obviously didn't care about them at all, or what happened to them. And why? Because they were different.. not even that different. Just Jewish.  It honestly disturbed me to read what was going on to these poor people. The little boy and his father being hung. That was one of the worst. And what made it worse was that the kid was just a young boy. There's something that makes a young boy being hanged worse than an adult. The young boy was not heavy enough to make the rope choke him immediately making him die instantly. So he suffered, and was there on display for everyone to see. The Jews went through so much pain and it really does discomfort me to have to read about it and imagine a world where this happened.

In the last section of Night, we learn about the cruelty between the inmates and how they will do anything to survive. It's no longer the Jewish people against their oppressors. It is now every prisoner against one another. They had left Auschwitz after rumors of the Red army closing in. Men were shot if they could not keep up with the rest of the men running. Elie ran next to a young boy who he worked with in the factories. The little boy couldn’t keep up but Elie was begging him to keep going. He insisted on stopping and lowering his pants. That was the last image Elie had of him. Elie didn’t know if he was shot or trampled to death by the hundreds of men running behind him.   All the prisoners took a train to Buchenwald. They were put 100 per car. Even with them being so emaciated, they were still cramped inside. When they passed through German towns, people would just look at them like they expected nothing more. The townspeople began to throw bread into the cars just to gawk at the men fighting over the little food. One man had snuck food into his shirt for his son. The next thing Elie sees is a group of men jump the old man and his son. When the men finally walk away all that is left is the old man and his son dead. Elie was 16. Could you imagine being 16 and watching a father, trying to help his son, and his son beat to death for a small bite of bread? Or how about watching a son turn a blind eye to his father losing pace with the rest, leaving him left for dead? Elie prays to the god he no longer believes in. "Oh God, Master of the Universe, give me the strength never to do what Rabbi Eliahu's son has done"(p.91). When the men reach the gates of Buchenwald it is almost like they have reached the gates of heaven. They trample each other to get within its gates. Inside the walls, Elie's father becomes ill. He doesn't want to live. Elie's father talks to Elie "Elizer… I must tell you where I buried the gold and silver… In the cellar… You know…"(p.108).  Elie's father dies by the crematorium or so he believes. On April 11 Elie was liberated along with the other prisoners. What would your first thoughts be if you were free? Would you seek revenge or seek nourishment? Not the Jewish prisoners. They didn’t seek revenge, 2, 3 or even 20 days later. They were just happy to be alive. How would you act in that situation?

"As for me, I had ceased to pray. I conjured with Job! I was not denying His existence, but I doubted His absolute justice"(p.45). At this point in the book, Elie has given up praying to God because he sees him as silent and not lifting a finger to help His people. Elie is not alone in believing God has gone deaf to their prayers. There are those who still have faith in God. Akiba Drumer is just one of those people. "God is testing us. He wants to see whether we are capable of overcoming our base instincts, of killing the Satan within ourselves. We have no right to despair. And if He punishes us mercilessly, it is a sign that He loves us that much more…"(p.45). Elie doesn’t believe faith will help him now. He has become independent of God. He still believes that God is there but that he is just not helping any. Later on Elie's foot began to swell to the point where he couldn't stand on it. He went into the infirmary where he found out that he would have to have surgery to remove a sack on his foot. A rumor was going around camp that the Red army was racing toward Buna and it would be only a few hours before they reached the camp. Elie had the chance to stay in the infirmary with the others while everyone else left. The doctor said that he could pretend that Elie's father was either a patient or a doctor. Elie and his father had decided to leave the infirmary and go off with the others. Later on Elie learns that everyone in the infirmaries was liberated. Another chance for freedom was gone.  Before they left the Blockälteste order the men to clean their blockade. He said "For the liberating army, let them know that here lived men and not pigs"(p.84). Elie and the others have been treated like nothing more than dirt their entire time at the camps and now all of a sudden they are considered men?

In the last section of Night, watching Elie and his father's relationship becoming weaker and weaker as Elie's dad approaches his death upsets me greatly.  After running for hours, both Elie and his father are exhausted.  The father says, "Don't worry, son.  Go to sleep.  I'll watch over you," (p89).  Here, although exhausted from running, both of them are physically okay (meaning they aren't sick).  Elie's dad is still the one taking care of his son.  After this they get on a train.  There are 100 people in each car.  The train stopped at one point to rid of those who had died during the ride.  Elie's dad was thought to be dead until he was beat on by Elie to prove otherwise.  If you saw two men approaching you and your father ready to throw your dad out of a train, how do you think you would react?  Would you beat him as Elie did until he woke up?  I honestly don't know if I'd do this or simply sit there and watch them carry his body out.  This was only the beginning of his father's down fall, though.  Through another selection, Elie's dad was chosen to go to the left, which would eventually send him to the forsaken crematoria.  Desperately trying to stay with his father, Elie went after him, causing confusion, which allowed them, and others, to sneak onto the right side.  He was still with his father.  Knowing that his time is almost up, Elie's father says to him, "Eliezer...I must tell you where i buried the gold and silver...in the cellar..." (p108).  How would you react if your father is telling you the things he wants you to know before he's gone?  I would react angrily, knowing that he is giving up.  I would feel like he is giving up and abandoning me.  He began suffereing from dysentery.  He yells out to Elie, "My son, they are beating me!"(p109).  He was delirious. He was seeing things and putting himself in situations that weren't actually there.  It must be very difficult watching someone so close to you slowly losing a battle such as this, ultimately leading to his death.  Hence, Elie's experience of watching his father eventually die must have been heartbreaking and traumatizing.

"As for me, I had ceased to pray. I conjured with Job! I was not denying His existence, but i doubted His absolute justice"(p.45). At this point in the book, Elie has given up praying to God because he sees him as silent and not lifting a finger to help His people. Elie is not alone in believing God has gone deaf to their prayers. There are those who still have faith in God. Akiba Drumer is just one of those people. "God is testing us. He wants to

     What is it like to have you whole world flipped upside down in the blink of an eye? What is it like to say good-bye to your family, not knowing if you will ever see them again? Those questions and many more were running through my head as I continued to read Night. Elie Wiesel, and every other Jew in the concentration camps had to spend their New Year's Eve fearing for their lives. He is left not believing in the god that he used to pray to everyday, "In those days I fully believed that the salvation of the world depended on every one of my deeds, on every one of my prayers. But now, I no longer pleaded for anything... My eyes had opened and i was alone terribly alone in a world without God," (68). To completely change a 15-year-old's view on not only religion, but the whole world in a matter of weeks is truly astonishing.  A time that is supposed to be a celebration for them, was something far different. Also, Elie ends up running for his life, literally. Every Jew in the concentration camps are forced to endure selection. They are examined by doctors and forced to run to see if they are still "fit" enough for the camps. I was enraged while reading this; it made me think to myself, Who are they to decide whether someone gets to live or die? How can a person's life be put into the hands of someone who despises them? When Elie learns that his father did not pass the first selection, all he can do is worry about his father's life. Being the same age as Elie, I can't even put myself in that position to think about what it would be like to lose my parents.
     On the other hand, it amazes me that the others in the concentration camps have stopped caring about the lives of others; the camps have become an every man for themselves type of situation. For example, while Elie is recovering at the doctors, the man in the bed next to him tries to convince him to leave, "But then perhaps my faceless neighbor, afraid of being among the first displaced, simply wanted to get rid of me, free my bed, to give himself a chance to survive," (78). I understand that everyone there is scared for their life just as much as the next person, however it became clear that they are now only fighting for themselves. I also couldn't help but notice that the veterans of the camps treat Elie and his father like they don't even care about them. I would think that they would be the ones are are the kindest, because they know what the newer people are going through. It surprised me how clear it was that they didn't even care to show just a little compassion. The concentration camps are so blatantly changing everyone's outlook on life, that no one could ever be the same.