Post #3: Due Sunday 5/17 no later than 5 p.m.
FINAL REFLECTION
1.) Answer the following questions in your post:
-identify the most important passage from chapters 7-9. Explain its significance and relate it to:
-character and/or plot development
-common theme(s)
-vivid imagery
-narrative voice
(Cite PAGE NUMBER(S) of passage)
-what can you make of Elie's character by the end of the book? What kind of person is he now? Explain.
2.) Respond to someone else's post no later than 5/17 by 5 p.m.
Washington High School
located in Tacoma, WA
Elie Wiesel
"Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair"
Auschwitz entrance gate reads: "Work Makes Us Free"
The most important passage in the book is when Weisel is being saved from the camp Buchenwald along with 20thousand other interned. Being liberated from years of oppression and heartache must of been the best feeling of the world. "At six o'clock that afternoon, the first American tank stood at the gates of Buchenwald" (115). As one looks through Elies life, he changes in his personalities and his beliefs. After the liberation, elie went to the hospital and was on the brink of life and death. the brink, that could of killed him.
ReplyDelete"pressed tightly against one another,in an effort to resist the cold, our heads empty and heavy, our brains a whirlwind of decaying memories. our minds numb with indiffernce. here or elsewhere, what did it matter? die today or tomorrow, or later? the night was growing longer, neverending"(wiesel,98). this relates to everyone in the camp because they were all in the camp with people that wasnt even alive anymore, at least not mentaly. i think the plot of this part of the book was everyone finally giving up hope in theirselves and everyone around them. a common theme of this book that i keep reading is death. throughout this book all i have read about was death and how it dimalished everyone inside and out. in the begining of this passage it gives you a image of all the half dressed skelictal shped men piled on top of each other. this relates to how everyone just gave hope up hope on theirselves. i think the narrator has a very strict and harsh voice,but kinda sad because ie doesnt really want relive that moment. elie charcter has changed tremendously because in the begining he cared and wanted to help everyone around him,but now he changed to better himself, to make it able for him to be able to live another day or even another second.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Spring's:
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with her standpoint on the common theme. The common theme was truely death, and the lack of hope. Hope not only in being liberated, but hope in their God. The vivid pictures of death all around the prisioners really did leave a lasting impact upon their lives, something that they will never forget. All throughout the book, hope was being lost in the pain inflicted upon them. the physical pain, and the indifference.
Michael Thayer-
ReplyDeleteI believe that the most important passage was when his father died. This is a big part of the plot because I think that the plot is how people stick together in a time of need. The narrator makes this part of the story seem slow and you get the whole visual and pain that he endured at this time. Ellie said, " When I came down from my bunk after roll call, I could see his lips trembeling; he was murmuring something...I woke up at dawn on January 29. On my fathers cot lay another sick person." (wiesel 112)This is significant because you just imagine his pain and you can feel the fear of being alone.
in response to valenzuela: i agree, that was a image to remember when he was rescued. also his attitude toward everything changed. he changed the way he thought, act,and lived. i do have a quetion for you though, how do you think the narrator felt when he was first taken to Buchenwald.
ReplyDeleteThe most important passage from chapters 7-9 is when they are on the run from camp to camp and then they are on the train and the men wanted to take his father and kick him off the train becuse he was almost dead. and when they got to the camp his dad was takeing and we dont know what happen to his father(101-115). this paints a pic into my head that who ruthless people were during this time in place. another part in this place in the book is when they were on the train and the german worker tossed the bread onto the train and the Jews fought over the bread and there was 2 bodys lay next to him dead (102). that is what i think the most important part of the book
ReplyDeletei think after the end of the book Elie's character is very sad. no one knows what happen to his dad. but now after reading some of his new works i fill like he is a better person after faceing indefrences in his life.
ReplyDeleteThe most important passage in chapter 7-8 was when he realized that cruel treatment can make good people in animal-like. For example on page 110 in Night Blockalteste told Elie “In this place there is no such thing as father, brother, friend. Each of us lives and dies alone.” This makes Elie realize what the concentration has made good people into savages. After hearing Elie tone of voice changes. “It was only a fraction of second, but it left me feeling guilty” (Wiesel 111). This plays a big role in the character development of Elie because after living his teen years in concentration camp he his emotions changed his father death was the last of this innocence he had and that really changed his view on his life he no longer had hope he just wanted to eat. Chapter 7-8 really go into detail so that you get an image in your mind how people had changed and that’s why I think the important passage in chapter 7-8 is how the terrible treatment changed good people into animal-like beast. This in fact I believe is was the common theme is the testimony of his memories of what happened in the concentration camps and his message that this type of horror actions mustn’t never be allowed to happen again.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the book Elie’s character was as a very depressed man who had no reason to live. He has all the reason to be depressed his whole family got killed and everything he ever believed was tested to the limited. I believe at this point Elie is an honorable man that is upright about what he experienced.
The most important passage to me was when the Blockalteste was talking to Elie about his father. He was telling him that his father was going to die, and that Elie could be having his share of his father’s food instead pf the other way around. The passage that I choose was what he felt and thought after the guy said this. ‘I listened to him without interrupting. He was right, I thought deep down, not daring to admit it to myself. Too late to save your old father… You could have two rations of bread, two rations of soup…
ReplyDeleteIt was only a fraction of a second, but it left me feeling guilty. I ran to get some soup and brought it to my father. But he did not want it. All he wanted was water’ (Wiesel 111). The people that were in the holocaust did all they could to survive. In other words they truly defined, ‘Social Darwinism, term coined in the late 19th century to describe the idea that humans, like animals and plants, compete in a struggle for existence in which natural selection results in “survival of the fittest.”’ (MSN Encarta). Elie felt that he was becoming like Rabbi Eliahu’s son. He was starting to think that his father was becoming a burden to him. In the end he did all he could for his father. When his father was calling out to him before he died Elie was mad because he was drawing the attention of the SS man. People were picking on his dad because he was almost dead. His father was crying and always asking for water, the last words before he died was Elie’s name. Elie in the end did what most people did which was suppress his feelings and did not look to deep in his self for he didn’t want to think about what he might find in himself. He was a dead man walking.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCarissa Cabrera--The most important passage that I read through chapters 7 and 9 was when there were two "gravediggers" who were coming around to who ever did not wake up or laying there looking dead, or even dead. Then they took the people and threw them in the wagon like they were just a piece of trash being thrown away!On page 99 beginning of chapter 7 this really caught my eye when the gravediggers came around and said,"Leave him alone. Can't you see he's dead?" But then Wiesel qouted,"No! He's not dead! Not yet!" and hit him harder so he would wake up..and so he did which made the gravediggers go away and find another victim, this made me stop and think for a minute...this shows how his character developed over time and how he really truely cares for his father. Even though in the beginning he cared for his father he never really showed that he cared until now! When I picture this in my mind I think of the sadness in Wiesel's eyes and how bad he wants his father to wake up then when his father does wake up I can see him taking a deep breath and a sign of relief(which is good). Just think if he would have been indifferent his father would have been dead!!
ReplyDeleteBy the end of the book Wiesel's character is ofcourse hurt because he doesn't really know what happened to his father and how his father just disappeared in a way! But now I would have to say that he is a great person who has moved on from the past and has realized that life goes on with or without loved ones around!!!
Michael Thayer-
ReplyDeleteI am responding to Alex V I agree with your main theme with the book. But I dont think that it is the main theme of the book. I think that the main theme is when his dad dies because he realized that it was just him now. Even though he did change I think that it was not all in a good way because he lost his faith and had nothing so I think that nobody would change in a good way after that.
I think the most important passage in the book is when Weisel is being saved from the camp Buchenwald along with 20thousand other interned. "At six o'clock that afternoon, the first American tank stood at the gates of Buchenwald" (115).
ReplyDeletewhen one would look through Elie's life, they would see that he has made drastic changes in his personalities and beliefs. After the liberation, Elie went to the hospital and was
between life and death, the matter in which could of killed him.
the theme that showed up the most was hope for you and the people around you and all of the death happening everyday in the camps. "pressed tightly against one another,in an effort to resist the cold, our heads empty and heavy, our brains a whirlwind of decaying memories. our minds numb with indiffernce. here or elsewhere, what did it matter? die today or tomorrow, or later? the night was growing longer, neverending"(wiesel,98).
When his father died the narrator made it seem so slow so we could feel what Ellie was feeling and more dramatic for the readers.
In response to Michael Thayer,
i totally agree with you,because when his father died he felt so much better knowing that he didn't need to take care of his father anymore and as the book went on slowly more and more people started losing faith and hope in their selves and people around them as well.
Danielle Slade--
ReplyDeleteI think the most important passage between chapters 7-9 was when Elie and his father had to make a choice between staying at the infirmary with the sick and possibly be sent somewhere in Germany, or evacuate the camp with all the other "healthy" Jews. For the first time in a long time, they were able to make their own
choices, "We could decide our fate for ourselves. To stay, both of us, in the infirmary..."(Wiesel 82). There was however, a rumor going around that the Russians were close by and that there was a chance that they would make it to the camp, before the camp was to be evacuated. But Elie had heard that many times before, and no longer believed it. Therefore, Elie had decided that he and his father should not stay in the infirmary, and go along with the other Jews. That decision of his, was decision that I'm sure many people would regret because soon after those who stayed in the infirmary were saved. "After the war, I learned the fate of those who had remained in the infirmary. They were, quite simply, liberated by the Russians, two days, after the evacuation" (Wiesel 82). If Elie and his father had decided to stay, then maybe all the physical turmoil and pain would have ended, maybe, Elie would not have to of had watched his father be beaten while Elie did nothing to stop it, and just maybe his father would still have been alive.
Elie by the end was a boy who had to grow and mature faster than a typical teenage boy. He had encountered more than what a boy could ever imagine, and it did not do any good to him, at the time. Elie felt liberated when his father had died, because he could now focus on taking car of himself, an act that to any other person would seem selfish.
Danielle Slade--
ReplyDeleteIn response to Jackie Blesoch: I agree with you when you said that the prisoners in the holocaust were defining Social Darwinism." It was the survival if the fittest, every man for himself sort of deal in the camps. Fathers and their sons were being torn a part literally and emotionally. And Elie was becoming a lot like the Rabbi's son. Taking care of his father felt like a chore, and he was beginning to get tired of doing it.
In response to Spring-- Even though we didn't agree on the most important part of the story, I totally agree with what she is saying. Like how the theme is "Death" because throughout the book it always seems like people are always dieing! Dieing was one thing that lead to hope; it seemed like more people had lost their hope than gained it because there was nothing good that was coming from hope. Either they were dieing or barely living. But I also agree on how Wiesel's character has changed tremendously throughout the book, because he was worried about others but he later realized that others can't help him in the long run it's just HIM!!
ReplyDelete[GOOD JOB SPRING!!LOL]
In respond to spring
ReplyDeleteSpring I totally agree with you. The Jews at the concentration camps were no longer alive like you said just at least not mentally. I too think that the main part of chapter 6- 8 was that the people at the concentration camps no longer had hope to continue and how Elie gave up on helping others. Elie did change through the book and I think in the beginning he was more of a young kid who never thought these sorts of events could ever but at the end like you said he was had lost all hope to help others and knew he had to fend for him self... So yeah Spring I agree with what you thought the main plot was, the changes in the character and some what of the theme of the book the night
"When they withdrew, next to me were two corpses, side by side, the father and the son. I was fifteen years old" (Wiesel 96). A boy killed his own father over a piece of bread. The boy was then killed by the other prisoners. the prisoners killed each other even their loved ones just to have a piece of bread. The important passage from chapters 7-9 was the hope that people have and doing their best in order to survive. this is about their test of faith. at first, they have been praying but got no answer from God. I think the plot of the book is when people lost their faith in God because what has been happening around thm hasn't stopped, it got even worst.
ReplyDeleteElie has changed immensely. At first, he was devoted to God and cared about his father. But in the end, he didn't care anymore. "i did not weep, and it pained me that I could not 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!" (Wiesel 112). He no longer thought of his mother or father.
In response to Spring:
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. The Jews who were alive were living with those who were already dead. Corpses were everywhere. The jews no longer put their hopes up because they knew they couldn't stop what was happening in front of them. they no longer see the future, only their deaths.
This book was a very unbelievable part of our time back in history to even bare to listen, but it was the truth. "Night" an unbarable night mare for the jews to just wake up from a dream. Elie had full faith towards his god and thought that he will be saved because that's how much he thought that his god can do. People wondering if god can make things happen, then why isn't anything happening to us? a question they thougt couldnt be answered.
ReplyDeleteEllie's father seems to fade away each day and as it comes to an end elie relized it's so hard for him to even take care of his father because he is the only one taking care of him, no one cared obviously, but as a guard tells him on pg#110" Listen to me kid. Don't forget you are in a concentration camp. In this place, it is every man for him self, and you can not think of others.Not even your father, in this place there is no such thing as fathers,brothers,friend. Manly pointing out the major impartant concept in the camp "Each of us Lives and Dies alone" whens the doctor was giving him an example he wanted to admit to himself that it was true. When his father died he no longer thought anything else important, he didnt care he just wanted to save him self.
His father was no worried because in these places it not. His characted changed from taking care of his father to keep himself just alive and not caring so much.
In Response to Chritine Rosario:
ReplyDeleteWhen she talks about the faith they had in god. That was the most important thing these people had they had a god to look up to and thought that they were going to be saved, but in the end Many died and still remembered but few remained and to some god still remains a MYSTERY? if there is really a god who will help when something like the this happens again so yeah christine has the same concept as me.
The most important passage to me is in chapter 9, page 110 when Elie's father's life is coming to an end and Elie has to survive without caring for anyone else. Ever since they enter the concentration camps, Elie and his father would help each other survive until they got rescued. But as time progresses, the living conditions they were in was getting worse and Elie's father became ill. Elie used most of his food to feed his father and did whatever his father told him to do to help him survive. Elie asked the doctor of the camp to help him but the doctor told 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 lives and dies alone (110)." Elie now knows he has to abandon his father in order for him to survive. Just when his father from beaten to death, Elie did nothing to help him or come to him when he request it. By the end of this book, he feels sick that he survived knowing that he let his father die knowing he wanted to see him but abandoned him so he can be free from his orders. Now he may be a man who regrets all the things that happened in the past like doing things he had to do to survive by basically abandoning his father to survive. Which by the way he help throughout the years in camp.
ReplyDeleteIn response to spring abron:
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you said about the story. Throughout the story I never fully realized that most of the people in camp were already giving up. Most of them were just waiting to die or be killed to end the torture of being in the camp. Elie was so concerned about keeping his father alive that he needed to keep himself alive also. So he now has to go through life knowing that he let his father die just to let himself live. You showed great details on the point of the stories that help us understand what's going through the author's brain.
What I think to be the most important passage in the book is when Eliezer begins to realize, to go by what every inmate tells him, "..you are in a concentration camp. In this place, it is every man for himself (110)". From earlier on, his thoughts are deviating, should he follow the route of indifference? Or continue relishing his father's presence? Helping him elude death. Giving him his rations while he clearly tells Elie, 'Leave me, I cannot go on anymore'. But he persists. Although, deep in his subconscious, Elie feels as if he is enslaved by two persons. Being rattled by the atrocity of the Aryans, and by his father.
ReplyDeleteDuring the roll call incident, when his father is bashed over the head and calls for him needingly, he ignores him. Worrying about what would happen if HE takes action. "I was afraid, my body was afraid of another blow, this time to my head (111)."
Even so, after the roll call his father is still alive, but this time, he has made up his mind. He will no longer care about his father's death. "Free at last! . . ."
The significance is why he lets go of his father. Elie transforms, or moreso, he unveils what his heart truly felt. That doesn't mean he did not love his father. He just felt that he was bringing him down. Until he let go.
Indifference, therefore, can be a weight.
Blahblah, take that last part out haha.
ReplyDeleteTinaDeasis!, I agree!
ReplyDeleteI like how you included that passage when the doctor tells him it is every man for himself.
It shows that some people, or most people, thought of themselves earlier than Elie did. And how you had God, being relevant to his life. Because that ultimately was why people lost hope: God was being indifferent.
SAMUEL HAYWOOD --
ReplyDelete"_'They didn't give us anything...They said that we were sick, that we would die soon, and that it would be a waste of food... I can't go on...'
_I gave him what was left of my soup. But my heart was heavy. I was aware that I was doing it grudgingly.
_Just like Rabbi Eliahu's son, I had not passed the test" (Wiesel 107).
This one idea in this passage is the one that has given me a face-to-face challenge on my choices regarding showing love for one another. Rabbi Eliahu's son deserted his father to dispose of the dead weight that slowed him down he no longer cared about what happened to his father, he was indifferent of the consequences of his choice to leave his father behind - it was relief. Elie obviously realizes the foreshadowing to the same effect once he reluctantly gives his father his soup - HIS soup, it wasn't just his father's soup that he routinely got for his father, it was Elie's own soup. Elie mentioned that he "had not passed the test," just like the Rabbi's son, he would place himself first instead of helping his father(107). This turning point of _Night_ is the reason why Elie is so passionate about indifference as we read in his speech at the White House; he himself was looking for someone to help him some hero like the Russians or the Americans. Yet despite his own needs he overlooks the desperate needs of his own father that needed some food one would assume Elie would notice the comparison to his needs and have compassion for his father. Because he was indifferent to his father for the few minor times, his frail father had died and because he had not chosen to put just a little more effort to help his father in HIS time of need and that decision lasted forever and he couldn't take it back. The theme of this book is not just an idea, it is a call to action to never quit fighting for those who cannot fight for themselves. Pity has no power to save someone, pity is indifference, but those choices to abandon your own comforts and bring hope to someone in taking action, that is what can save them.
SAMUEL HAYWOOD -- In response to -->armandoramz(Armando)<--
ReplyDeleteI am always surprised at how we both see things the same way all the time, we even use some of the same concepts such as weights and relation back to indifference. It is very true at the fact that Elie had unveiled his true feelings about his fathers situation, he wanted it to happen, he needed it to happen and that was just how he had to express it, by allowing his father to die.
I believe that the main theme of the book was survival and dedication. It takes a lot of patience and determination to over come such a dramatic experience. Eliezer was not only fighting for his life but he was also fighting for his right. Despite the conditions that came along the side walk he always managed to find a detour. mean while he was not the only person that was fighting for what was morally right. Despite everyone's efforts to hold on strong not everyone could mentally commit like Elizer. "I can't go on,Shlomo!....I cant help it....I cant go on..." groaned Meir Katz(102). This was a point in the book when i fell like all the endurance he had managed to endure may be in vain. After his comment he began to cry and break down like he just realized his worst nightmare was a reality. unfortunately his physical abilities couldn't compare to his mental sustainability, he became weaker everyday until the last day when he could no longer continue to walk to his grave.
ReplyDeleteElie is an individual that everyone should long to be. In the begging of the book his observant ways often got him in trouble but molded him to remain alive. Early in the book when Elie was inside the synagogue and questioned Moishe a man that was determined to spread the news to all jews about the future turmoil to come. His voice was never heard but always noticed, Elie didn't even believe him but this was the begging of his lesson on life. Elie managed to keep his father by his side until he was physically able. This fact alone explains the remarkable man that Elie was forced to become based on unfortunate events in his life that will never be forgotten.
In response to Smaueal-
ReplyDeleteI believe that Elie did have to fight indifference in order to survive. He used every muscle in his body to ensure that he would never leave his father for the well being of his own gratification. I find him more than worthy of his rescue from the horrible nightmare that he was being trapped in. I would love to stand and say that i would be just like Elie and never leave my father for the better will of myself. Despite my wishes it comes to my concern that most wouldn't be able to stand by their word unless they were thrown in the situation. Elie is a strong man and helped me realized that i can't under estimate any one.