Elie Wiesel has certainly experienced an astounding amount of hardships in his life, especially during the holocaust that draw readers' attention from the first page. During the reading, I noticed that the Wiesel family had the chance to escape and go with a friend, but they stayed. I know they didn't know exactly what was going to happen to them, but why stay to find out? It perplexes me that they wouldn't take the chance to get away when they had one. While reading Night, I noticed many examples of disturbing actions that were taken against the Jews by the Nazis. I strongly disagree with that they did to those poor human beings. They were stripped of anything and everything they know; their heads were shaved, their clothes were taken from them, and anything of value they had with them was stolen. Elie, and everyone else, was forced to separate from their beloved family members, not knowing when they would be seen again. I find it especially horrifying how no one cared at all their lives. For example, when Elie's group first arrives to the camp, they are threatened to be "shot like dogs" if any of them try to escape (24). Here they are being forced against their will to cooperate with the Nazis, and they have no clue of what's going on, and their lives are being threatened. Another example is, Another inmate is talking to Elie and his father telling them, "Do you see the chimney over there?... Over there will be your grave... You will be burned! Burned to a cinder! Turned into ashes!" (31). I can't even imagine what it's like to stare death in the face like that. Being faced with a situation like that seems so unbearable. Children and adults alike were thrown into the flames as if it was nothing (32). At only age 15, Elie Wiesel was considering suicide to escape what lie ahead. To make a 15 year old think about ending their own life is atrocious, and something no one should have to experience. How does a human do something like that to another human with feelings of no remorse? Elie was belittled to the point where he felt worthless. To go from being someone with a life and a family to an unknown being in the matter of a day is just unimaginative and so unfathomable, but it is what happened to more than 11 million people that were forced to live in the concentration camps.
A link that I found that gives more information on what exactly happened during the holocaust is: http://frank.mtsu.edu/~baustin/holocamp.html
I agree with everything you said. I am in awe that Elie's family had the chance to escape with someone they knew, a friend, but decided to stay. I can't blame Elie for not wanting to leave his family behind as just a teenager, but it makes me upset that his father refused to leave. His excuse was that he couldn't start a new life anywhere else, but had he left, his life wouldn't have changed for the worst as it did once they arrived at the camps. Also, I'm sure everyone can agree with you when you said you disagree with the actions taken against the Jews. They stripped them of their identities. Wiesel also mentioned that infants were thrown into the air and were shot as target practice. I can't even picture that kind of event in my head. You also brought up an excellent point about Elie considering suicide to escape burning to death. He considered running into the barbed wire to make his death quicker than it would be by burning. He was about my age when these thoughts came to mind. To end your life out of fear at just 15 years old really upsets me. Hence, I agree with everything you mentioned from what we have read in Night so far.
ReplyDeleteI also agree and have the same feelings about everything you said. The quote that you wrote that really stuck out to me was the one where the inmate was showing Elie and his father where they will die. Showing them without a care in the world where their lives were going to end. I felt the same as you did. It is horrible to make a kid think about taking their own life. I am around the same age that Elie was at this time and what he tells us about what he went through, really makes me think about what I would have been doing. I don't know if I was the only one doing that? I would assume probably not. And that part of the story was around the same part that Elie was witnessing babies and young toddlers literally being thrown into a pit of fire. These actions were beyond cruel. And to think this all happened just because these poor innocent people were Jewish..it shocks me to have to read what they went through.
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