As this classic work shows, adversity can bring out the worst in the human spirit. One character who demonstrates the worst in humanity is Eliezer himself. For example, when he follows the crowd of prisoners to go into the Buchenwald blocks and remembers that he had abandoned his father the next day because he was worn-out from the journey of moving into another concentration camp, he says: "Don't let me find him! If only I could get rid of this dead weight, so that I could use all my strength to struggle for my own survival"(101). When Eliezer regards his father as “dead weight”, this shows that his experience from the concentration camps have left him with selfishness. His betrayal feelings towards his father mean that he wants an easier and independent life without burden. The reason why is that, he is tired of helping his Chlomo overcome obstacle which he will never get through as an old aged prisoner. Furthermore, when Ellie finds out that the Nazis must have taken his father away and carried him …show more content…
Another character who portrays the worst of human adversity is Madame Schachter. For instance, when she is taken in a train with the rest of the Jews for subjection under the Nazis after losing her husband and elder son, she says "Look! Look at this fire! This terrible fire! Have mercy on me!" (25) When Madame Schachter says, “Look at this fire!,” this shows that the trauma she is devastated with, has caused to enter a phase of madness. Her screams wake up the rest of the Jews which are not ready to tolerate her nonsense causing her to get beaten down and her condition to worsen after getting silenced by her own people. She is not ready to accept that her family life has been shattered and that is why her mind has shifted into a whole different direction. She transforms from a healthy normal woman to an ill mentally insane lady within seconds of the beginning of the
In Night, Rabbi Eliahu and his son marched together from the concentration camp in Buna to a different camp in Buchenwald. When they marched to Buchenwald, the son “...had seen [Rabbi Eliahu] losing ground...he had continued to run in front, letting the distance between them become greater” (Wiesel 91). When Rabbi Eliahu’s son sees him fall while marching, the son continues to march forward and leaves his father behind. The son upheld the idea that in dire situations, he must abandon everything except for the instinct to survive. Harsh and dangerous conditions are able to determine affect one's outlook on life as well as their priorities. In The Last Days, Irene Zisblatt witnesses the brutal beating of a small child as his head was bashed against the side of a truck by a SS officer until the blunt force trauma caused the young child to die (Moll). The trauma from seeing the small boy being abused to death traumatizes Irene which prompts her into losing her faith in God. As Irene notices the cruel atrocities taking place around her, she questions whether God is really there for the innocent Jewish people if he does not try to stop such horrible events taking place. The suffering that occurs in Irene’s surroundings cause her to lose her faith in her religion as well as in humanity. People’s perspective may change when they are faced with new or difficult
Self-sufficiency was encouraged throughout the concentration camps, therefore Elie was forced to grow up and leave his innocence behind. Because of this self-reliance, many started to view their friends and family as a burden rather than a motivation.
When asked by Moshe the Beadle the reason why he prayed, Eliezer could not come up with an answer. Even before being deported to concentration camp, Eliezer still prayed. Things begin to change when Eliezer arrives at concentration camp in Auschwitz. After witnessing the incineration of small children, Eliezer expresses deep resentment towards God for remaining silent and allowing this to happen.
Eliezer thinks of his own father and prays, “Oh God, Master of the Universe, give me the strength never to do what Rabbi Eliahu’s son has done” (Wiesel 91). He didn’t want to admit it but he could already feel his father falling behind. He feared that there may come a time when he would have to choose between his father and his own survival, and that was a choice he didn’t want to make. That choice came one night after being transferred by train to another camp. Once off the train they waited in the snow and freezing wind to be shown to their quarters.
Elie Wiesel, a Jewish boy, lives in Sighet during World War II with his mother, father, and two sisters, and he is very religious and wanted to study Judaism. However, there were warnings by some people that Jewish people were being deported and killed. Although no one believes these warnings, Elie and his family are taken to a ghetto where they have no food. After being in the ghetto Elie and his father are separated from Elie’s mother and sister because of selection and were placed in cattle cars where they had no room. They are taken to Auschwitz where they suffer from hunger, beatings, and humiliation from the guards which causes Elie’s father to become weak. By now Elie loses his faith in God because of all he has been through. Lastly, Elie’s father dies just before the Jews are liberated and Elie sees his reflection in the mirror but does not recognize himself because he looks like a skeleton.
Before Elie Wiesel and his father are deported, they do not have a significant relationship. They simply acknowledge each other’s existence and that is all. Wiesel recalls how his father rarely shows emotion while he was living in Sighet, Transylvania. When they are deported, Wiesel is not sure what to expect. He explains, “My hand shifted on my father’s arm. I had one thought-not to lose him. Not to be left alone” (Wiesel 27). Once he and his father arrive at Auschwitz, the boy who has never felt a close connection with his father abruptly realizes that he cannot lose him, no matter what. This realization is something that will impact Wiesel for the rest of his time at the camp.
Her little boy clings to her and cries. Eventually the Jews tied her, gag her, and even hit her. They finally make it to Auschwitz at what seemed to be midnight, and see the flames Madame Shächter was yelling about. A tall crematorium spewing flames and smoke loomed over them. INTERESTING WORDS:.
Eliezer’s horrible experiences at Auschwitz left him caught up in his sorrows and anger toward God. His loss of faith in God arises at Auschwitz. He doubts arise when he first sees the furnace pits in which the Nazis are burning babies. This horrifying experience ...
Madame Schachter She was one of the ladies on the train to Auschwitz that was having illusions and screaming out loud on the train that there was fire outside of the windows. Every time she did that, the other people, being gullible as they were, would look out the window. They soon tired of this, so they tied her up and gagged. The ordeal continued as she was able to free herself from her restraints and began yelling again.
Eliezer loses hope, trust, and his beliefs. He begins to rely on himself because he knew that only he can help himself and he could not depend on anyone else. "Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever..."(pg 32). Elie's father was struck, and that was when he realized he was afraid of death, and he felt guilty because he did not help his father.
Upon entering the concentration camps, Eliezer and his father demonstrate a normal father and son relationship. In a normal father son relation, the father protects and gives advice to the son, and the son is dependent and reliant on the father. Eliezer and his father demonstrate this relationship to extremes throughout the beginning of their time in the camp. Eliezer reveals his childlike dependency upon entering the camp. Eliezer displays this dependency during first selection by stating, “The baton pointed to the left. I first wanted to see where they would send my father. Were he to have gone to the right, I would have run after him (Night 26-32) ” . Eliezer’s determination to stay with his father was constantly present. Eliezer reflects on a time in the camp which is all that he could think about was not to lose his father in the camp. Eliezer also requires his father’s protection during their stay in the concentration camps. Unintentionally demanding this protection, Eliezer remembers, “I kept walking, my father holding my hand” (Night 29). Eliezer continues to show his need for his father’s presence. Eliezer’s actions and thoughts reflect his
Once again minor Nazi soldiers are to blame for the Holocaust because they didn’t question decisions, they ultimately pulled the trigger, and separated families. It was madame Schachter imagined the fire, fire that was lit by soldiers. It was that fire that soldiers used to murder millions of people. We must never forget these crimes that humanity has committed, we must never make these mistakes
The motivation Eliezer has to endure is to keep his father alive. Even though his father is a constant burden, Eliezer is determined never to desert his father like Rabbi’s Eliahou’s son attempts. Even when Chlomo becomes sick with dysentery, Eliezer stays by his side. He gives his father his own soup, forfeits his own bread, and even tries to get a doctor to help. “For a ration of bread, I managed to change beds with a prisoner in my father’s bunk…� (1...
At the beginning of the book, Eliezer was in the higher levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This hierarchy starts at the bottom with physiological needs, and progresses upwards with safety needs, belonging and love, esteem, and finally self-actualization. Eliezer was working with his love and belonging needs with respect to his religion. He was obsessed with the Jewish scripture. He wanted to learn. He was an extremely intellectual teenager. He would study the Jewish scripture with Moche the Beadle. "We would read together, ten times over, the same page of the Zohar. Not to learn it by hear, but to extract the divine essence from it." His views on the divinity of God do not endure through the Holocaust and the concentration camps.
Eliezer stays in Buchenwald for almost a year and nothing seems to matter to him after his father died. One night, American tanks are seen and all the men grab food. Eliezer obtains food poisoning and goes to the hospital. Upon recovering, he looks at himself in the mirror and sees a corpse – this vision stays in his mind forever.