Night by Elie Wiesel Chapters 7 through 9
Jon, since you haven't been able to post in a while, I will continue to discuss the topic of hate that you talked about in your first post, especially since it can be seen even at this point in the book. Although hate is usually thought of as against the Jews by the Nazis during the time of the Holocaust, the story told from the point of a Jewish prisoner shows many other aspects of the topic. Of course, the hate Hitler had for the Jewish people, or the discrimination in his mind against them in that case, was a HUGE factor for bringing the story to where it is, but there are trivial fights that come in when people are fighting for survival and life is a race, and these fights can change a lot in a situation.
A drastic example of trivial matters turning into major events that occurs is that Eliezer's father is beaten by his camp mates for his food while he is ill and dying. Maybe this can be seen as just for the other men in Elie's father's cabin who thought that stealing from a dying man to stay alive themselves would not be a bad thing, but one most likely only thinks that way only when his or her own life is in danger. By depriving the Jewish people of food and their homes, the Nazis have succeeded in turning them against each other without really even trying to do so, and this has turned into a hate for survival. There are many times when Elie himself feels that he should abandon his dying father so that he can save food for himself and loosen his burdens, and to even think about leaving your father proves that desperation brings with it selfishness and hate that can separate you from everyone else or simply make you an exact replica of the people around you. Even though Elie decides to stick with his father throughout, the death of his father is something that makes him wish he had left when he had the chance so that he would not have had to hold onto his burden. "But I had no more tears. And, in the depths of my being, in the recesses of my weakened conscience, could I have searched it, I might have found something like-free at last!" (pg. 106). Selfishness and desperation go hand-in-hand when it feels like there is nothing left to fight for but life, and they can both make one turn on his or her own kind, and to an extant, make him or her hate those he or she has to face to live.
As for how this book turns out, it is not enough to say that experience changes a person, for good or for bad, but to also point out that change is very big. When Elie learns he is saved, at a time when one should be exploding with relief, this boy has nothing to go home to, and the only thing that sums up his whole ordeal is this frail body he sees when he looks into the mirror.
Jon, since you haven't been able to post in a while, I will continue to discuss the topic of hate that you talked about in your first post, especially since it can be seen even at this point in the book. Although hate is usually thought of as against the Jews by the Nazis during the time of the Holocaust, the story told from the point of a Jewish prisoner shows many other aspects of the topic. Of course, the hate Hitler had for the Jewish people, or the discrimination in his mind against them in that case, was a HUGE factor for bringing the story to where it is, but there are trivial fights that come in when people are fighting for survival and life is a race, and these fights can change a lot in a situation.
A drastic example of trivial matters turning into major events that occurs is that Eliezer's father is beaten by his camp mates for his food while he is ill and dying. Maybe this can be seen as just for the other men in Elie's father's cabin who thought that stealing from a dying man to stay alive themselves would not be a bad thing, but one most likely only thinks that way only when his or her own life is in danger. By depriving the Jewish people of food and their homes, the Nazis have succeeded in turning them against each other without really even trying to do so, and this has turned into a hate for survival. There are many times when Elie himself feels that he should abandon his dying father so that he can save food for himself and loosen his burdens, and to even think about leaving your father proves that desperation brings with it selfishness and hate that can separate you from everyone else or simply make you an exact replica of the people around you. Even though Elie decides to stick with his father throughout, the death of his father is something that makes him wish he had left when he had the chance so that he would not have had to hold onto his burden. "But I had no more tears. And, in the depths of my being, in the recesses of my weakened conscience, could I have searched it, I might have found something like-free at last!" (pg. 106). Selfishness and desperation go hand-in-hand when it feels like there is nothing left to fight for but life, and they can both make one turn on his or her own kind, and to an extant, make him or her hate those he or she has to face to live.
As for how this book turns out, it is not enough to say that experience changes a person, for good or for bad, but to also point out that change is very big. When Elie learns he is saved, at a time when one should be exploding with relief, this boy has nothing to go home to, and the only thing that sums up his whole ordeal is this frail body he sees when he looks into the mirror.
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