Saturday, October 23, 2010
Assignment # 5
Finish the novel. Write 3 paragraphs about how the book has impacted your view of relations between people. Think of ethnicity, religion, and nationality in your response. You must incorporate 3 quotes into your response. For you conclusion, think about what we can take away from this book? How can this book make us better people?
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ReplyDeleteThis book impacted me in way of religion cause when you see what the people went throw, it kinda looks like that there no justice, at some times you there is justice it's just a bit complicated.
ReplyDeleteThis book impacted me in way of religion cause when you see what the people went throw, it kinda looks like that there's no justice, at some times you see that there is justice it's just a bit complicated.
ReplyDeleteThis book impacted my life because it tells us how the Jews were suffering from the camp. The Jews and Hitler has some sort of fight, which lead them to this big problem. This story especially emphasizes about death, sadness, and nationality. It is because only the Jews had these harsh camps(maybe the other did but a bit different). "Annihilate an entire people?Wipe out a population dispersed ...twentieth century"(Wiesel 8).
ReplyDeleteAnother thing is that I never knew there a concentration camp in history. And I learned that it was very sad how they were separated withe their families, how they were being treated being, etc. In this time, you can't save your family when they are about to die, and many had to let them die. "I could have screamed in anger. To have lived and endured so much; was I going to let my father die now"(Wiesel 105).
I think we could take out the part about Moishe the Beadle. For me, he wasn't that important, even though Elie respected him, and he saw the liquidation. He only appeared in the first part and never again. I would make it better by putting different people's perspective. I would mainly like to have the father's perspective. Like how he felt when he was about to die. "I see, my son...exhausted"(Wisel 105).
Shiori Hishinuma, B4
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletePart 1
ReplyDeleteAfter I read this book, I had to put it down once in order to organize the jumble of thoughts that went through my head, both horrifying events as well as honorable ones. I think that by reading this book, I have gained more knowledge about the history of Jewish people, as well as sympathetic feelings towards the Jewish victims for being extremely mistreated, as well as the German Nazis for making bad decisions. "It is obvious that the war which Hitler and his accomplices waged was a war not only against Jewish men, women, and children, but also against Jewish religion, Jewish culture, Jewish tradition, therefore Jewish memory" (Wiesel viii). Since the main aspect of the book focuses on ethnicity/nationality and religious perspective, I will discuss these main topics.
I think that many people can agree that the cause of the hatred against Jewish people, or the holocaust, was because Jewish people were different, compared to the Germans. They had their own religion, as well as cultural background. Since the German Nazis, as well as other Anti-Semitic peoples didn't like the difference, they tried to find ways that could restrict the freedom of Jewish people. This is where nationality and ethnicity plays a big role in this part of history. According to what your race was, you could either be mistreated or respected by certain people. As this tells us, what you were as a race back then, was a really big deal. "And how many devout Jews endured such a death?" (Wiesel xx). Hitler also made it really clear of his plan to liquidate all Jews from Europe, and at one point, the whole world, also because of religious differences. The German Nazis enforced the idea of how Germany is superior because of it's "perfect race". This included being a pure German, that didn't practice any aspect Jewish religion whatsoever. Rejecting any part of Jewish culture was also supposedly a part of making a perfect race for Germany. This obviously upset many Jewish people, but they couldn't do much to change any of this at the time. "Someone began to recite Kaddish, the prayer for the dead. I don't know whether, during the history of the Jewish people, men have ever before recited Kaddish for themselves […] For the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for?" (Wiesel 33).
Part 2
ReplyDeleteThe part that I think is unneeded, is the first few pages of the appearance of Moishe the Beadle. Although many might agree with me, I think that this is so because there isn't much mentioned about him later on in the other parts of the book, which probably means that he is unimportant towards the end of the story. "Moishe the Beadle was the exception. He stayed out of people's way. His presence bothered no one. He had mastered the art of rendering himself insignificant, invisible" (Wiesel 3). But since he is talked about by the author, Moishe must have been a significant part of Elie's memory when it came to writing this book.
No matter how much we wish for these tragedies to have not happened, the past is finished. But what we can do is learn from the wrong actions that were committed. This book has taught me how important it is to be able to respect all sorts of people with different ethnic backgrounds, nationalities, cultures, and any other differences in general. With the case of the German Nazis and the Jewish people, I think that those who committed the acts of liquidation didn't take the considerations or feelings of the Jewish people to heart, which probably led to the result of the holocaust; the mass killing of innocent individuals. I conclude that, we as a people must have in mind of what we do to one another, and treat each other with the same respect that we would want to be treated in turn for things to change for the better. "Let us try to imagine what goes on in his mind as his eyes watch rings of black smoke unfurl in the sky, smoke that emanates from the furnaces into which his little sister and his mother had been thrown after thousands of other victims:" (Wiesel xix).
Rina Dishman
B4 Literature
This book impacted my life because this book tells how the jewish people had suffered during world war. Also the book tells me that the jewish has a very sad history because of hitler. My first thought is that it was very unfair, and the book talks about death. "I can't go on...This is the end...I'm going to die here..." (Wiesel 100).
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I thought was horrible is the camp. Its very unfair that the jewish had to survive through a very hard camp with out enough food. If you couldn't catch up then you would die so i think the jewish had pressure to survive. "Trampling over living bodies and corpse, we managed to re-enter the shed" (Wiesel 85).
"Let the world learn of the existence of Auschwitz" (Wiesel 29). I think this quotes tells that people should remember how the jewish people struggled through Auschwitz. Also the sadness without your family and surviving at the camp. I think the Jews want people to remember the history of world war two.
I think Moshe the Beadle wasn't necessary in this book, because even though he was a friend of Eliezar later the book doesn't talk about Moshe the beadle so maybe it wasn't an important part in the book. But maybe the author wanted to add him because Moshe the Beadle was like a teacher to Elie in the first part of the book.
Lisa He A1
ReplyDeleteSince I read this book, my view of relations between people has changed. Before, I did not think that there could be so much hostility between races. Before reading this book, I did not know how callous Adolf Hitler was. After reading this book, however, I realised that such antipathy did exist. After putting down the book, I have thought that the Germans’ unjustified actions towards the Jews were impermissible. “It is obvious that the war which Hitler and his accomplices waged was a war not only against Jewish men, women, and children, but also against Jewish religion, Jewish culture, Jewish tradition, therefore Jewish memory” (Wiesel viii). I still do not understand why Hitler wanted to expunge anything that had to do with the Jewish religion and how Hitler could have had been so cold-hearted as to want to annihilate the whole Jewish population.
I think the relations between people should definitely not be about their ethnicity. The book had me thinking that you should never judge people by their background. Hitler decided that all Jews were enemies because they lacked support for Germany in World War 1. Because all the Jews were “enemies” to him, he wanted to exterminate them. He did not even think about their feelings and treated them as objects, not human beings. If anyone belonged to a Jewish religion, they would be treated as objects. Not all Jews took part in the 1st World War. Some of them weren’t even born, like Elie Wiesel. Why should they be treated like objects? He had no reason to hate them. They did nothing to him. “Annihilate an entire people? Wipe out a population dispersed throughout so many nations? So many millions of people! By what means? In the middle of the twentieth century!” (Wiesel 8).
(continued...)
ReplyDeleteHowever, there are some positive relationships. For example, Elie and his father were strongly bonded. They adamantly stuck together, not letting anything take them apart. Elie never let his father go a different way. He always followed him. “The SS officers were doing the selection: the weak, to the left; those who walked well, to the right. My father was sent to the left. I ran after him” (Wiesel 96). Elie tried to help his father by sacrificing his own food for his father. I have never seen such strong bonds between a father and son. They illustrated the ideal relationship within a family. I was very moved by Elie’s caring and affectionate love towards his father and I think that their relationship should be imitated by everyone.
From this book, we can learn that you cannot judge by their religion or nationality. You can also learn that if you have a really strong relationship with your family, nothing can tear you apart. This book can make us better people by regretting what Hitler had done to the Jews and never to copy his actions. We can make the world a better place by diminishing the number of people like Hitler and we can contribute in helping create a world with understanding people outside our nationality, race and ethnicity.
This book makes me reconsider family relationships and religious points of view. Firstly, for family, I thought I need to respect more and take care. You never know what’s going to happen in this world, therefore I should be cooperative and be concerned of them. “I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his only support” (Wiesel 82). Unlike friends, family is a never ending story. Even if you attempt for insulation, you never will because you are part of family. Elie taught me the purpose of family and it is irreplaceable existence no matter what.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, for religion, I have learned lessons that dedicated to your own religion is a wonderful aspiration. While you have your own faith and belief into something, it keeps you from abstaining and maintains motivation. I would like to but I don’t really follow my religion. However by reading this book, I learned that religions can change our perspective and our visions of life. “You must never lose faith, even when the sword hangs over your head. That’s the teaching of our sages….” (Wiesel 29). I was impressed and became emotional when I read this quote. This quote made me realized that I’m still an intolerant man.
I assume Juliek wasn’t important role. He didn’t participate with the relationship between Elie and his father and the only impression I have for him is just he was a great violinist. I think the scene of Juliek’s appearance was unnecessary.
Lastly, this book urges us to bolster and don’t judge people by their religion, ethnicity, or nationality. “The SS had fled and the resistance had taken charge of the running of the camp” (Wiesel 109). At the end because the Russian army had invaded, the Germans surrendered. The teaching of this book discusses that if someone discriminates against somebody, unfortunate things are going to happen on you as a payback.
I wouldn't say this book impacted me much in a way to change how I think about relations between people, though it did make me think about several things. After finishing the book, Religion was the first thing I thought of. How could religion cause so much pain when it was supposed to give peace to people's hearts in the first place? Then I thought of humanity, the events in the book was honestly hard to believe, we a civilized human race can be so brutal. And then of course the history came into my mind. I've known about World War Two but this book made me go deeper into imagining how life was like during the time. These things I would like to discuss more from the book.
ReplyDeleteReligion can be both a good thing and a bad thing. In the book, all the pious Jews were praising for God in such bad conditions. But, wasn't it because they were Jewish, because they chose to believe in their God that led them to such misery? "'For God's sake, where is God?' And from within me, I heard a voice answer: 'Where He is? This is where-hanging here from the gallows...'" (Wiesel 65). While still praying for God, the author himself didn't believe in him anymore. In my thoughts, religion is supposed to be something that people can believe in to search for peace and love. But I don't see it at all in the book; instead religion brings them to death. If I were one of the victims, I would probably lose faith in God as well. But maybe not losing faith in God himself is how some of the survivors managed to overcome the terror during the time, so in another way religion might had been good bringing strength to those who still believed in it. Though I think not just Jewish but all religions should not be the reason to start off a war since places in the world today still have these problems. Just as religion, i think war started basically of the lack of respect. Just because of the difference of people, by language, nationality, or religion, people were killed. By reading the book, I thought the Nazis had no humanity at all. I couldn't think why someone would want to liquidate human in such brutal ways. I have also made a better understanding in history. How it must have been to be separated from your family. World War Two is a well known history event, but you have to be one of the victims to really experience how it was like.
I gain a better understanding of how people lived during the time, and for a moment put myself into it imagining how I would feel, and look. War really could change people. " All around me, what appeared to be a dance of death. My head was reeling. I was walking through a cemetery." (Wiesel 89). I'm sure Elie would have felt emotionally if he had seen dead people lying around on the roads, but after the war it just seemed normal. To me, I think their hearts were numbed in certain ways. They were been bombed and they felt happy for it, they saw so many die everyday that didn't feel a thing for death anymore. There was so much change in Elie that I saw. I would never want to be in any kind of experience they had, because surely I wouldn't be able to stand it.
(continued...)
ReplyDeleteI would think the book itself was a good one. It has made me think more about people's lives and how easily it could be destroyed. Though I would think the opening of the book where it explains Elie's previous life could be shortened. As a reader, the book tells mostly of the war which doesn't make me want to understand much about the previous lifestyle before the actual events though there still should be some description of it in order to let the readers get and idea. At the last part of the book where the speech Elie made when winning the Nobel Peace Prize is written there are some great things he said. “There is so much to be done, there is so much that can be done. One person- a Raoul Wallenberg, an Albert Schweitzer, a Martin Luther King Jr. - one person of integrity can make a difference, a difference of life and death."(Wiesel 120). This is what we should be doing, stepping out to make a difference in this world even if it was little one , still keeping the horrible events in our heats ,we should bring peace to the world and wish such things would never happen again.
A1 Catherine
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ReplyDeleteZen Sugino
ReplyDeleteA2 Literature
Define the word ‘relation’. To me it was something so obvious that I did not even consider considering what it was. Before the book, I thought that relation was something strong, and right, but now I’m not so sure. I do not think I would be able to answer that question quite the the way that I would have answered before reading this book.
Personally I think that the book indirectly proves that however good human beings are, self-preservation means a lot to them. And I mean A LOT. Sometime more than even family and friend relationships. And yet despite the fact that I knew this for sometime, it was still shocking to actually read it. “‘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, and only worry about myself’” (Wiesel 101). Of course, there are some people are really true and care about their families and friends more than anything. But everyone treasures their lives. Everyone fears death. However strong your relationships are with your family etc., some people like Rabbi Eliahu’s son are willing to sacrifice the bond between family for their own lives. “He had felt that his father was growing weak... sought this separation in order to get rid of the burden, to free himself ...lessen his own chances of survival” (Wiesel 87). As for ethnicity, religion and nationality, people sacrifice even that for their own lives. In this case, I think the Jewish must have had to change their ways to survive the holocaust. For example, Elie Wiesel stopped believing and worshipping his God because of he could not believe that his all-mighty God was making the holocaust happening without even trying to stop it. During the times of crisis, I think the people with true loyalty towards what they value (whether it is religion or family bonds etc.) are those who are brave and have proven their worth. Unfortunately though, there aren’t many people like that in this world.
Zen Sugino
ReplyDeleteA2 Literature
Part 2
Before we delve deeper into the self-preservation bits, I think that I should mention at least something about the relationship between the Germans and the Jewish during the time when the book took place. Hitler disagreed with the ways of the Jews and others (the others he sent to the holocaust). That and hate was what drove the whole holocaust to take place. There have been countless of times when religion has lead to bloodshed and also many times when people segregate uniqueness and difference because they disagree with it, or because it is an utterly different idea from what they are used to. “A German employee, a civilian, the meister, came to meet us. He paid us about as much attention as a dealer might who was just receiving a delivery of old rags” (Wiesel 47). These were really hard times for the Jews. Of course some would take the alternative to survival although it might mean that they would have to abandon their loved ones. However, there were some though that broke during the holocaust when they lost their loved ones. These people I think were so attached to their loved ones that when they lost them, their will to live died with them. Although Elie Wiesel survived the holocaust, I think he also ‘died’ when his father did. He is pretty much recovered, but I don’t think everything is ever the same for him.
I do not think we need to take away anything from the book. All of the scenes in the book have some kind of an importance to Elie Wiesel, or else he would not have written it down. If maybe though, I must take away one part, then I think I would abridge, but not fully cut the Madame Schachter part. I know that it is pretty important, but for me it was a bit too long. I think the book makes us understand more about ourselves. I mean, about human beings. We can be both vulnerable and strong, brutal and kind, funny and serious. We are very strange creatures. By reading this book, we can learn from the mistakes of people and try to make these things not repeat again. And then again, isn’t that Mr. Wiesel want’s from us?
Milan Dotiyal
ReplyDeleteA1 Literature
After I finished this book, it was really hard for me to focus on the main point of why this happened. I frankly think that liquidation of the Jewish people are totally unneeded. This book left my brain with mysteries of why this happened. It influenced me in what I thought was normal and what wasn’t and especially relations between the Jews and the Nazi’s.
To start off, I was wondering why this whole liquidation actually happened, and I found my clue to the answer in the preface. “For today, thanks to...the Nazis in Germany set out to build a society in which there simply would be no room for Jews.” (wiesel, viii). This was the Nazis idea to start to liquidate all the Jews, and the reason which is quite clear is that because they were Jewish. Their religion. I think theres a limitation to what people do to other people. I think this holocaust was out of hand. The relation between the Jews and the Germans are atrocious, actually way beyond atrocious. The Jews were “things” and the Germans are the courageous soldiers who gets rid of unnecessary objects. This is clearly the definition for the relationship between the Jews and the Nazi’s. I think it’s obviously ignorant to start a fight because of people’s religion, it’s what people believe in, and it’s non of other peoples business. And as I was reading this, it reminded me of African- American people in America, who was discriminated because of their race. When I was in 3rd grade, I learned about this and it was really terrifying for me to learn that people weren’t treated equally. Now that I’m in 9th grade and now that I’ve learned that people actually kill one another because of their difference which left me with a blank in my head. I sometimes see people saying racist jokes, and before when I didn’t read this book, I thought it was like nothing and I didn’t think how much it could hurt one’s feelings. But now that I have read this book, it will hurt me and people's relationship by saying jokes like this, which is offensive to peoples religion, nationality, and ethnicity.
continued..
ReplyDeleteBut not all of this book was about bad relationships, the greatest example was that Elie and his father got so much closer compared to when they were living a happy life. “During the alert, I had followed the mob, not taking care of him. I knew he was running out of strenght, close to death, and yet I had abandoned him” (Wiesel, 106). This is how much Elie thought of his father, and how important he was. But as his father became weak and started to get ready for his death, we can tell that Elie cared about his dad more than anything. “I shall not describe my life during that period. It no longer mattered. Since my father’s death, nothing mattered to me anymore”. (Wiesel 113). Not only did Elie get close to his father, he also kept a good relationship with his fellow Jews at the camp. So we could determine that Elie noticed that he couldn’t be alone at a situation like this, at a concentration camp. Maybe that is why he generally kept a good relationship to other people, because he doesn’t want to loose someone, who is the same as him, and has some things in common.
I still think all of this shouldn’t have happened to the Jewish people. However, there is not much we as an individual can do, all we can do is to accept the fact that there were horrendous incidents and to reassure that these kinds of things cannot happen again, but this book really taught me a great lesson about how to treat others especially when they are different from you. And most certainly, I think Elie Wiesel was one brave individual who informed the whole world about what was wrong about the holocaust and what exactly was going on during the camp. And of course there is nothing in this book that we need to take away, every bit of this book made it to be an amazing book. And truly this book made us all learn the dreadfulness of the camp, and how we should not be malicious to one another especially when it is because of their religion, nationality ethnicity, their looks. To restate my conclusion, I could say that this book was one of the best novels I have read in order to learn that something was wrong, and I would recommend many people around the world to know the truth behind the Jewish people and their complex backgrounds.
From this book, I learned a lot of things and one of them was the relationship between people. Firstly, it had changed my view of relationship among family. "I threw myself on his body. He was cold. I slapped him. I rubbed his hands, crying: 'Father! Father! Wake up. They're going to throw you outside...'"(Wiesel 99). This is the part that Elizer's dad is almost dead because of hunger and sickness. By reading this part, it made me think over how I am to my family and how important they are.
ReplyDelete"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..."(Wiesel 111). This quote from the book also reminded me how important each of my family is. Although Elizer didn't stop caring about his father, it made me think that if I was in that situation I would even die for my father by giving him all the food and caring.
I think this book was the best book I ever read. It impressed me and taught me a lot. "From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me."(Wiesel 115). As I was expecting, the endding last part of the book was the most catching part. Not only these quotes changed me, the whole book changed me and made me think back who I am and how important I am to other people.
Kyong Yong Kim
B4 Literature
There are many ways which this book has impacted me and my life. When I was reading this novel, I started noticed that the people in the book can relate to the world today, but not like the time before. Since Elie had a good relationship with his father, he was able to survive. If not, he would've been alone and he would've have survived those painful times. "He was more concerned with others than with his own family" (Wiesel 2). The beginning wasn't such a strong relationship. "I went on walking. My father held onto my hand" (Wiesel 27). This shows that they started to get closer to each other. This can also relate to people who have problems with their fathers, and if u take it from this book, one day if you don't have your father and if your not in a good relationship with him, you could be killed.
ReplyDeleteThis is also can relate to discrimination for those who are discriminate and reading this book might be able to help stop it. Since the Jews were told that the were different, they were treated differently and had a horrible time. Many jews were killed in this book and it was ONLY because of their religion. We still have people who are against Jews like the "KKK", and we honestly need to stop it. " 'Jews Look!' " (Wiesel 25). This shows that it was only the religion which made them be treated different.
Another things I believe they needed to survive this painful hell, was to trust other people. To trust means to believe other people in what the say and what they do. In that situation, without trust, people are most likely to not live. So Elie had to trust most of the Jewish people. His father, friends, doctors etc were all the people he could trust. " ' I trust you absolutely, Doctor' " (Wiesel 76). If Elie didn't trust his doctor he would've not have been able to survive through the pain. So this could teach people that you need someone to trust so you can know someone call help you survive through your pain.
Kai Izumi
A2 Lit.
This book has impacted my view in various ways. The Jews both had a good and bad relationship with each other. For example, Elie and his father had a good relationship. They slowly grew to care more for each other during their time in the camps. But for the bad relationships, the Jews sometimes killed each other just for a little piece of bread. Food had become the most important thing for them. “Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions. That’s all we thought about”(Wiesel 115). All of these things were caused by the Nazis and Hitler. It is terrible how they not only changed the Jews’ lives by making them work and then be killed, but they changed the Jews into people who did not value life.
ReplyDeleteEthnicity, religion, and nationality is very important in this book. They were the reasons the Jews were hated by the Germans. It is unfair that the Jews get treated badly just because they are different from other religions. “ ‘What do you expect? That’s war...’ ” (Wiesel 6).
I think we can take out the parts about what happened after the war. For example, Elie wrote about the part when he met the French lady after the war. In a few places there are parts that talk about what Elie found out after the war. “After the war, I learned the fate of those who remained at the infirmary” (Wiesel 82). What happened might have been important, but it is a separate story. This book can make us better people, by making us understand the events that happened in history. We can learn from the events not to judge people by their nationality, religion, or anything that makes people different from us.
After I finished reading this book, I felt as if it had impacted my whole view of life and humanity. Before, I never even thought there were such cruel people like the Nazis and the Germans, who killed and tortured the Jewish just because they were different, and came from a different ethnicity. I thought it was a much more peaceful place than that. I thought people were nice to each other and they didn't care what kind of race you were, or what kind of place you came from. However, know I know that this world, is not perfect at all. In fact you could say it is the exact opposite. "Hunger was tormenting us; we had not eaten for nearly six days except for a few stalks of grass and some potato peels found on the grounds of the kitchens" (Weisel 114-115). These Germans clearly staved the Jews, and made them eat unhealthy things, which are not even food.
ReplyDeleteAlso, people should not judge people by their religion. Just because they think differently about the concept of life, and God, shouldn't be a reason for others to target them for their difference. When you think from the side of the Jews, it is the opposite. Jews would think the Christians or other religions are strange, and therefore it is true for both for both sides. However, since Adolf Hitler became a strong political leader and believed in Christianity, such things happened. "It is obvious that the war which Hitler and his accomplices waged was a war not only against Jewish men, women, and children, but also against Jewish religion, Jewish culture, Jewish tradition, and therefore Jewish memory" (Wiesel viii).
Another thing which impacted my view my relations between people was nationality. Again, just because their nationality is different. "... Final Solution by turning their machine guns on more than a million Jews, men, women, and children, and throwing them into huge mass graves, dug just moments before by the victims themselves. Special units would then disinter the corpses and burn them" (Wiesel viii).
I think nothing should be taken out of the book. It is the scenes which Elie Wiesel thought were the most important. However, I think he should write more about liberation and freedom, and how happy he is. After I finished the last sentence, I felt as if something were missing. But, it maybe he left the story a little unfinished for us readers so we could think and imagine his joy of liberation.
lisa shimazaki
A1
Janet Choi A1
ReplyDeleteThis novel has changed my view of relations between people in many ways. Before, I did not know how cruel and indifferent Hitler was. I merely thought of him as a cold-hearted man who tried to kill all the Jewish people. But after reading this book, I learned about the various ways that Hitler used to kill the Jews and realized how brutal he was. I started to realize the prey and predator relationship between the Nazi and the Jews. “Toward the end of their reign, their goal changed: they decided to leave behind a world in ruins in which Jews would seem never to have existed” (Wiesel viii). With that, I learned that such discrimination can exist because of people’s religions and races. After reading, I thought that no one should be discriminated or treated unfairly because of their races.
Another thing I realized was that even strong relations between people can easily break from hardships and bad circumstances. One example was Rabbi Eliahu and his son. Rabbi Eliahu’s son abandoned him in order to make himself more chance to survive. “But then...his son had seen him losing ground, sliding back to the rear of the column. He had seen him. And he had continued to run in front, letting the distance between them become greater” (Wiesel 91). I was struck by his callousness and could not understand him trying to get rid of his father. Another broken relationship similar to this happened when Elie and the other prisoners were being transported in wagons. An old man tried to eat a crust of bread, but his son killed him and ate it instead. ”He collapsed. But his fist was still clutching a small crust. He wanted to raise it to his mouth. But the other threw himself on him. The old man mumbled something, groaned, and died. Nobody cared. His son searched him, took the crust of bread, and began to devour it” (Wiesel 101). From this, I realized that relationships are very weak ones, and can easily break.
This book teaches us a very valuable lesson which is to never draw distinctions between one another depending on their races. The Nazis’ actions were based on these distinctions according to people’s religions. We can be better people by realizing the cruel acts of Hitler and not making the same thing happen again. Also, we can help build a society where no one is treated unfairly and where everyone of different race, religion or ethnicity can live together. This will bring peace and develop the world into a better place.
There were two types of relations: the good and the bad. The good would have shown Eliezer and his father. "I was thinking of my father...more than I did" (Wiesel 56). Eliezer was also thinking about his father after just being beaten up. He had thought that the punishment for his father must have been much worse. Even though there must have been more relationships, Elizer's and his father's must have been the greatest.
ReplyDeleteA bad relationship was that of Rabbi Eliahou's and his son. "'It happened on the road...seen him somewhere'" (WIesel 86). Even though it was Rabbi Eliahou's son who betrayed him it showed some sign of a bad relation. Even thought they were both polish, OFCOURSE that wasn't the reason they "broke up" it was that the son was thinking his father was too old and he couldn't stand a chance so his son left him. It also might have been that the son didn't want to see the death of his father so he left, but this action turned out to be ironic because his father turned out to find him, the son, dead. Another bad one was of a son and his father also, over a ration of bread was the cause of his father's death. "'Meir...and began to devour it" (Wiesel 96).
I really had no choice to take out any part of the book but maybe they should have taken out the part of the two "prophets". It actually had no impact in the story unless Elie Wiesel had explained about them a little more. This book makes us all better people because we realize that if we are racist or something maybe some crazy person with a lot of power might try to liquidate an entire race. Another reason that it makes us better people is that we learn about our history and we try to avoid what had happened a while ago.
enrique
ReplyDeleteThis book impacted my view of relations between people. I knew that Hitler and the Nazis were abusing the Jews but this novel explains clearly about the experience of being a Jew in WWII, the feelings amongst the Nazis and the Jews' aggression by not giving up until they die, etc. Hitler was against a specific religion/ethnicity and the Nazis tortured and killed many Jews as they can and I think that the relations between human beings were unfair because they were judged of their religion. The Nazis even showed the Jews hanging, as an example that they should obey the Germans. "To hang a young boy in front of thousands of spectators was no light matter. The head of the camp read the verdict. All eyes were on the child. He was lividly pale, almost calm, biting his lips. The gallows threw its shadow over him" (Wiesel 60).
ReplyDeleteI didn't like the fact how Hitler chose to attack a specific religion. This was racism, and I think its worse because the Germans are abusing the Jewish religion. I strongly think that the Germans shouldn't manipulate people in a certain way for what they believe in. I also didn't like how the Germans killed/tortured the Jews. The whole thing I think is sick. The Germans didn't treat the Jews as human beings. "Babies were thrown into the air and the machine gunners used them as targets. This was in the forest of Galicia, near Kolomaye" (Wiesel 4).
Many Jews were killed, unfortunately but some luckily survived like Eliezer. The Jews never gave up on their lives and they were trying their best to survive and liberate out of this "nightmare". And some did liberate and some died in the 'nightmare'. "I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep. 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 perhaps have found something like - free at last!" (Wiesel 106). In my opinion, I don't have anything to take out from this book because I think this is one of the best books written. But I might've want to take out the little bits of information on the characters such as Juliek, etc. There would be better people if a lot of people had read this book. This novel tells us that discrimination is a wrong thing and people shouldn't be judged by their race and religion.
Lyu Hiroyama
ReplyDeleteA1 literature
What this book impacted me about religious things was that most of the Jews prayed for God thinking and hoping that the God will help them. Like this part:"Blessed be God's name..." Thousands of lis repeated the benediction bent over like trees in a storm." This quote shows that thousands of people blessed God. Even though how they get tortured a lot. Its amazing how they behave.
What my view of relations between people around me changed by reading this book, is that not only taking care of others, but taking care of your own body. but of course, its not good to take other person's food. The kind of same thing happend in this quote:"Listen tome, kid. Don't forget that 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 father, brother, friend. Each of us lives and dies alone. Let me give you good advice: stop giving your ration of bread and soup to your old father. YOu cannot help him anymore. And you are hurting your self. Infact, you shoud be getting his rations......" This quote says that in the concentration camp, you dont give food to others. And its like saying no caring about others, and that told me that it is important to think of your self, but friends.
The book can make us be better people, for example the part where all the Jews pray to God. It maybe important to have and keep hope, than losing hope, think that its all over. And by being positive like that, it may make your personality better, and make people be more better. And mainly, the whole book. All the War and concentration camps and torturing, it was all because of War, and It made us people thought how War was awful, and how much it can hurt people. I guess it will make people have the thought of how War is awful, and be more peaceful I guess.
Usually I don't like to read english books; I get sleepy, bored, and start feeling like I want to throw away the book and start reading a magazine. To say the truth, I hate when my literature teacher assigns an in-class book. But sometimes, I find a book that is not really boring; that doesn't make me go to sleep; and make me curious about what's going to happen next; Night was a book like that for me.
ReplyDeleteThe book Night made me think many things. When I am having a good education; having good foods; good environment, people like Elie had the experience of "live or die" at my age. When we're living; there is no need to worry about living or dying. All we worry about is about science homework, geometry tests, friendship, and it is a huge difference what people like Elie was thinking back then. "Freed from the barbers’ clutches, we began to wander about the crowd, finding friends, acquaintances. Every encounter filled us with joy--- yes, joy: Thank God! You are still alive!" (Wiesel 35). "our turn was coming: Block 53... Block 55... ‘Block 57, forward! March!’ It snowed on and on" (Wiesel 84).
This book can change the way people think; some might want to walk the history away and try to forget about it, saying "what it matters is now and future". But deleting the history, doesn't make people better; we should learn from the history, and by reading the book such as Night, we should know what people experienced, and what people should never forget about. "Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.... Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never." (Wiesel 34).
Suzu Hiroyama
Literature A1
10/29/10
In the book, there were many relations that were vital for the Jews to resist the war. Without relations, you would feel alone and scared, not knowing what might happen to you next with no one to comfort you. Eliezer and his father had a very strong relation that kept them urged on for a long time. "Having lived through so much, suffered so much could I leave my father to die now?" (Wiesel 100). This kind of a positive relation helped the Jews to encounter the fear that lied beyond the gates of Auschwitz. Of course, some were not lucky enough to have a close person next to them, who would support them. Those people in my opinion probably did not survive the loneliness and terror of concentration camp. We can learn that humans need relations in order to conquer the hardships of life.
ReplyDeleteThe Nazis for some reason decided to discriminate the Jews, and create negative relations, judging them by nationality and ethnicity. I think it is truly unfair to judge a person by race. Since, you cannot obtain anything good from it. Moreover, the Nazis just ended up losing the war, because of their illogical and unthoughtful behavior which a lot of people were against. "The SS had fled." (Wiesel 109). This quote shows that in the end the Nazis lost the war. The only thing racial criticism lets you achieve is hatred. That's what the Jewish in the book including Eliezer felt as they were treated very brutally. "the camp resistance organization had decided not to abandon the Jews and was going to prevent their being liquidated." (Wiesel 108).
The book impacted my point of view towards human equality and relations. It made me think of how humanity can make terrible mistakes, like the Nazis did by discriminating the Jews in the war for no reason. The book is full of vital lessons that teaches us the importance of life. Before I had read the book, I had had a fuzzy view of the war, yet when I read about all the hardships and cruelty that the Jews went through, I felt that it's really important to reflect on this kind of a topic. We can be better people by remembering that we are lucky to have peace in the world now, instead of war, and that we can have a happy life.
"I see, my son...exhausted" (Wiesel 105). Moshe the Beadle, he wasn't that important, even though Elie respected him, and he saw the liquidation. He only was in the first part and never again. I would make it better by putting different people's perspective. I would mainly like to have the father's perspective. Like how he felt when he was about to die.
ReplyDeleteSince the Jews were told that they were different, they had a horrible time, which made then suffer greatly. Just because of their religion, the Jews were killed. The only people now-a-days that treats people racist are racial groups. "Jews Look!" (Wiesel 25) This quote shows how they called them different names.
The last quote I have is: " ' I trust you absolutely, Doctor' "(Wiesel 76). This tells the reader that without trust, people cannot live. The main thing Elie looked for was trust. His father, friends, doctors etc. Without trusting the doctor, he would have suffered more.
This book impacted my life because it tells how Jewish people suffered during the war. It also tells how horrible and unfair the Jew's lives were. You wouldn't know what will happend next to you're life."I can't anymore...It's over...I shall die right here..."(Wiesel 105)
ReplyDeleteAlso by reading this book, I thought the relationship between people is very important. Elie had a good relation with his father, so they could live together. It was neither live or die. "Father, I said, just another monent. Soon,we'll be able to lie down. You'll be able to rest..."(Wiesel 104)
This book can make us better if we stop judging other people by their religion, or anything that makes people different from ourselves. Even if they think differently, it doesn't mean you can hurt or be unfair to them. We should always remenber the horrors of WW2 and try hard not to let it happen again."We must take sides... Silence incourages the tormentor, never the tormented... Whenever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must... become the center of the universe."(Wiesel 118, 119)
This novel mainly has two perspectives, and these two perspectives affect the story largely. This story have changed my thinking by making me think more about what people believe in, and how this affects relations. I think that believing differently is something very common, and that this affects human society.
ReplyDeleteI also thought about how people can change after some dramatic change. In the story, Elie changes after joining the camp, by thinking God had betrayed him, and many other ideas. I thought this was something important, because human changes could affect human society too.
This book teaches us that having religious differences, and trying to show that this religion is true, could cause conflict, and many problems. We could change this by not judging each other but to just believe in what individual think.
this is jun ogawa from A2
Night, the novel that I have read, has impacted my life with some reasons. First of all, the novel has impacted me with explaining about how the poor and innocent Jewish people got hurt and injured and suffered only the reason why that they were Jewish. Here is the quote of Eliezel's father dying but he's not satisfied with it becuase he suffered so much already and was about to die. "Having lived through so much, suffered so much could I leave my father to die now?" (Wiesel 100).
ReplyDeleteAlso it had impacted me with seeing how the religions of Jewish people are getting destroyed by Gestapo. Also how the hopes of Jewish people are getting destroyed and turned into despairs. (Wiesel 47)
This novel also lessons us about different religions, and try to show those different religions can have a lot of conflicts between believing those different religions. So from now we should try to fix those problems.
panda96 is Han Lee
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAfter i read this book, it impacted my life because it tells that jewish has been suffered durling the war and jewish had some hard times because Hitler hated jewish with out a reason. I thought that it was unfair and the story talked about death too."I can't go on...This is the end...I'm going to die here..." (Wiesel 100).
ReplyDeleteI alos thought that the relationship is very important. If Elie and his father didnt had a good relation than they couldnt has be able to live together but they did so thats why they could live together. It was live o die. "Father, I said, just another monent. Soon,we'll be able to lie down. You'll be able to rest..."(Wiesel 104)
This book can teach us a lesson by not judging people by lookin at there religion. If they think differently and act differently that doesnt mean that we can treat them differently. We all shoud try to not let the war happen again like WW2."We must take sides... Silence incourages the tormentor, never the tormented... Whenever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must... become the center of the universe."(Wiesel 118, 119)
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ReplyDeleteThis novel has impacted my view towards Jews and life in many ways. At first I thought the Jews would become happy if they were released, but after reading this I noticed that they lost hope and no longer had reason to survive. Elie was living because he had to be with his father and didn't want to be like Rabbi Eliahou's son. "I have nothing to say of my life during this period. It no longer mattered. After my father's death, nothing could touch me anymore." (Wiesel 107).
ReplyDeleteRelationship was very important. Elizer and his father lived for each other. Rabbi Eliahou's son had left his father for his own greed to live. Elizer didn't want to become like him and felt guilty that he wished his father would disappear for a moment. Before the Jews were sent to the camp his father and Elizer was not that important to each other but by seeing people die they noticed they needed each other. "Since the alert, I had followed the crowd without troubling about him. I had known that he was at the end, on the brink of death, and yet I had abandoned him." (Wiesel 101).
Being inside the concentration camp for so long made people feel noncommittal about life. People fight just for a piece of bread, and soon forget about their friends and families who died. "'Don't forget that you're in a concentration camp. Here, every man has to fight for himself and not think of anyone else. Even of his father. Here, there are no fathers, no brothers, no friends. Everyone lives and dies for himself alone. I'll give you a sound piece of advice-don't give your ration of bread and soup to your old father. There's nothing you can do for him. And you're killing yourself. Instead, you ought to be having his ration.'" (Wiesel 105). By reading this novel we can understand how the Jews actually felt. Elie Wiesel miraculously survived and without people who actually went through the war writing these we would not be sure how they felt. Moshe the Beadle, Madame Schachter, Elizer, his father, and Rabbi Eliahou's son did not have the same way of thinking and it teaches us how relationship affects life.
Anna Ishii
A2 Literature
Before I read this book I didn't know anything about the Holocaust. I learned that Jewish people were put in concentration camps because they were Jews. In the beginning family was important to Jews but at last it changed because it was a terrible situation and Jews could only think of theirselves.
ReplyDeleteThis book has made me think"Why did the Germans kill the Jews?". I don't think this relationship is going to happen now because I think killing people is a bad thing and people's understanding of other people's life is deeper.
This book made me think more than it impacted me. The fact that they were considered different and suffered just because they had a different religion or concept of life is really cruel. Most of the Jews who went to the concentration camp "believed profoundly" (WIesle 1) in God but by making them labor and liquidating those who couldn't work anymore, the Nazis succeeded to change their thoughts. They brainwashed those Jewish people who were victim of the holocaust which was probably another reason why they kept on massacring Jews during the WW2.
ReplyDeleteThe word relation is actually a hard word to define, especially when you cannot trust other people. In this book, this word have a lot of meaning in a lot of ways. But the best example to show the relation between Eliezer and his father would be when the son was trying to teach his father how to march, how to survive in this world. Normally, it would be the other way but here the younger people were in advantage. They could learn easier than the older people, they had more power or force. Each people in the concentration camp, had a different background, nationality or ethnicity. For that, each of them have been through a different life. But this didn't actually matter now. How you could survive, your own force, your thinking, and luck decided if you were going to live or not. When the father was saved by Eliezer, it was probably luck and also intelligence as well. "There was some shots and some dead" (Wiesel 91) which proves that those people weren't lucky. Their old life didn't affect this death. This is really ironic because those people who were deported to the concentration camp, they were considered different in their religion, ethnicity, or the culture. Now, their death isn't happening because of those prejudice that the Nazis looked at.
The main purpose and message from this book that we can all notice is that the ethnicity or religion or nationality don't matter in a relation between two people. We can feel that what the Nazis did was wrong and it mustn't repeat ever again. We already did know about those horrors but there are details that we learned from the book which didn't actually changed my opinions positively about this tragedy.
Kana Ikezawa
A2 Literature
By reading the novel “Night”, it impacted my view and thoughts against other people a lot. First of all, ethnicity. At first, I was thinking that living in groups is the best way to live through life. However, this quote had changed that mind. “'In this place, it is every man for himself, and you cannot think of others....Each of us lives and dies alone.'”” (Wiesel 110). This quote is a message against the members in the concentration camp, but I think it is a good quote for real life. I thought that I need to think about a way to live by myself so I won't have a problem when there is no one to help me. It is embarrassing if I couldn't be independent.
ReplyDeleteAnother theme that had impacted me is religion and nationality. These were the biggest two and I thought sad as I read about the tragedy of Jews and the way that Germany took to vanish Jewish people. “...they shot their prisoners...one by one and offer their necks. Infants were tossed into the air and used as targets...” (Wiesel 6). “Winter had arrived....We went off to work as usual, our bodies frozen.” (Wiesel 77-78). Every time I see these kind of quotes, I learn that there are people who dislike other religion or nation very much. I also thought that attacking on one target continuously is very bad to do.
In the novel, I think the part of Juliek wasn't important that much. I didn't know how he was related to the story. Also he only showed up in few pages and couldn't know his purpose. But I think that “Night” is a good novel and it could tell to people that conflict is not good. This will improve people's relationship and I hope there will be no more sad events that happened from relationship between other people.
Ifumi Sato
A2 Lit
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ReplyDeleteAfter finishing the novel Night, the book left me with the themes. Some of these include loss of faith, father-son relationship, food and hunger, and disbelief. The story shows his lost of faith in every way, Elie losing faith in himself, his father, and his religion.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most important theme was the relationship between people. This theme can show the cruel side of what human beings can be. The Holocaust can change the way people are, VERY dramatically, as in making their self very selfish. But Also, in the other side the novel shows the beauty of the relationship, between Elie and his father. Elie always tries his best to stay with his father even through the worst times. “I tightened my grip on my father's hand. The old, familiar fear: not to lose him. (...) "Father!" I howled. "Father! Get up! Right now! You will kill yourself..." (...) And I grabbed his arm ”(Wiesel 104-105 ). Some relationship aren’t as pleasant as Elie and his father. “...he had wanted to ged rid of his father! He had felt his father was growing weak, he had believed that the end was near...”(Wiesel 87). A Rabbi who loses his father during the march to Gleiwitz.
The loss of faith from beginning to the end was clear representation. The novel begins when his faith is stronger than most of the Jews. A boy who begs to learn more about his religion and cries when he prays. However, as the story goes on, as he moves to camp to camp, he started to question himself where is God, and how he is letting all this cruel stuff happen. “The Eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible, was silent. What had I to thank him for?”(Wiesel). The more time Elie spends time in the concentration camps, the more he questions to god.
The holocoust was an attempt to get rid of all the jewish people. Jewish people were almost like slaves, with ripped clothing a small amount of soup and piece of bread. After few years has passed he needed to get used to a life without suffering. It did not even matter if they were man or women. The Nazis were punishing the jews, not because they did something wrong, it was only because Hitler thought that all jews were the same. The jews suffered very unfair treatment while they were at the concentration camps just because their nationalism. After being rescued, Elie had to adjust again to a new life.
I wouldn’t take any part of the novel. All of the things happend around Elie was his life. By reading this book, it showed me how people fight for their life. It does not matter if you are rich or famous. Not everyone is going to respect you but no one has the right to punish other people. Elie Wiesel was an individual with strong endurance, as he was able to get through and survive many hardships throughout the holocaust.
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ReplyDeleteThe most important way this book impacted my life is that we all have to value everything we have, especially our families and the life we live. The family, where everyone is together and the life, where there is no war or racism like in the book "Night". "And what if he were dead, as well? I called out to him. No response. I would have screamed if I could have. He was not moving" (Wiesel 98). For Elie, his father was everything he had that time, so when his dad died it was the most horrible thing that could ever happen to him. Right now, we get upset because of something happening, but it can never be compared to what Elie went through. These relationships betweeen Elie and his father were the reason why they survived. Relationships saved them, because only together they could be still alive.
ReplyDeleteNo matter in what time or where we live the race doesn't matter. Most of the scientists even say there is no race at all. Unfortunately, Hitler didn't think so. I feel sorry for him in a way, because his mind position was very unusual for the normal human. He was so sure of what he is doing and never thought that the race doesn't make any difference. It all depends on a person. Also it depends on how your parents grow you up. Probably his parents didn't do a good job, because we all know what Hitler eventually became like. "Jews were prohibited from leaving their residences for three days, under penalty of death" (Wiesel 10). Why did Hilter think that he could control people like they were bad influence for the society if they haven't even done anything.
Most of the people choose their religion and believe in it for the rest of their life. It feels like betraying if you stop believeing in what you have believed for years. In this book we can see, that the Jews tried to not "betray" God until they finally understood that they could only depend on themself. "Oh God, Master of the Universe, in you infinite compassion, have mercy on us..." (Wiesel 20). I think lots of Jew stopped having faith in God because all the could think of was to get at least a bit of bread or some other food. In overall this book my favorite out what I have had read in this school. I had so many emotions and thoghts after reading this book.
I don't really think that there is a particular part of the book that should be taken away. Maybe the first part about Moishe the Beadle wasn't really important in people's opinions. I personally think it was written to make people ready to read everything about concentration camps and the World War Second in overall.
The book, 'Night', was about the sadness of the Jewish people during the Holocaust. After I finished the reading, I reminded myself that I should watch the society with lots of views and it impacted my life. In the book, there was the part that was written about Elie's decision. Elie was running away from the Nazi with his father, and the father couldn't move. I thought Elie would stay with his dad and would die with him, but he didn't. He went away without his dad. I was a little bit shocked about that, but also I could understand him. The happenings during the concentration camp would be horrible than what I thought. The prisoners always got nervous of the death that they couldn’t know when the Nazi would kill them, and if Elie stay with his father, he would die by the people that Elie really feared. “’Leave him. You can see perfectly well that he’s dead.’ ‘No!’ I cried”(Wiesel 94).
ReplyDeleteOne more thing that impacted my life was the ‘Holocaust’. Before I read this book, I knew just a little bit of the Holocaust. The Nazi killed Jews during WWII. But now, I know how cruelty the Nazi did to the Jews. They killed and bothered them by burning, cutting, etc. It happened just because Hitler wanted to make a perfect country. “Frank grinned. ‘What would you like then? Shall I break your teeth with my fist?’”(Wiesel 53).
I want to take out the part that about Moshe the Beadle. He noticed the holocaust and tried to persuade people, but actually, the people didn’t listened him and after that part, there are no any part that described him. I think we can take out because it makes the readers more confuse. “They called him Moshe the Beadle, as though he had never had a surname in his life. He was a man of all work at a Hasidic synagogue”(Wiesel 1)
Literature A2
Seonji Kim
This book impacted my life because it tells how the Jewish people were suffering during the war. It also tells about that Hitler was the one who did it. I thought it is terrible and unfair because the Jews don't know when there going to die. "I can't anymore... It's over... I shall die right here..." (Wiesel 105)
ReplyDeleteIn this book I thought relationship between people was important. It was because Elie and his father lived for each other. They were able to live together because Elie and his father had a good relation. "Here, take this knife, I won't need it anymore. You may find it useful. Also, take this spoon. Don't sell it. Quickly! Go ahead, take what I'm giving you!" (Wiesel 75)
This book can make people better it people stop judging about other people's religion. Also something that makes people different from us. It is very important to remember about the World War 2. Not to make it happen. "Both the Jewish people and the Palestinian people have lost too many sons and daughters and have shed too much blood. This must stop, and all attempts to stop it must be encouraged." (Wiesel 119)
By reading the book "Night", I have learned to see the world from a different perspective. The perspective of a youth that was forced to grow up much faster than was planned by seeing the most horrific scenes and by being put through such torture. This book had changed my perspective on life itself, but mostly 3 particular aspects: religion and how they change people's views, ethnicities and their benefits and the drawbacks, and most importantly, the overall treatment of people based on their differences and similarities.
ReplyDeleteReligion is something that can be both celebratory and uplifting, but also something that is both controversial and sensitive. In the case of the book "Night", it was exactly that. It was positive during the days before the war, before the terrors and before the commotion. I learned that religion was an aspect that people used to differentiate or exclude people with and that the gestapos and the Nazis, this was an identification between what was, in their mind, acceptable and not exceptable. "One day I asked my father to find me a master to guide me in my studies of the cabbala" (Wiesel 1). Eliezer was a young boy, non the less just as committed to Judaism as his father and had turned to God to discover the meaning of life and ultimately to discover who he was as a person. Towards the end of the book, the end of his terrible journey, he became more devoted to the search for food and overall surviving than in God, who he once devoted his life to.
Ethnicity was also another controversial topic to the Nazis. Not only were people separated, judged and frowned or looked upon by their religion, they were also treated according to their ethnicity. Where you came from made a big impact on the way you were treated and people were killed because of this. Elie's ethnicity was not very apparent as an issue in the book, but when he met or saw people, he called them most often by their ethnicity as a description of the person. "We drew up in ranks of five, with the musicians. They were nearly all Jews: Juliek, a bespectacled Pole with a cynical smile on his pale face; Louis, a distinguished violinist who came from Holland-he complained that they would not let him play Beethoven: Jews were not allowed to play German music; Hans, a lively young Berliner. The foreman was a Pole, Franek, a former student from Warsaw" (Wiesel 47).
Overall, the treatment of Jews, and other people of a different ethnicity, race, religion or appearance from the "standards" of the Nazi ruling were horrifying and unjust because they were being judged and frowned upon due to their appearance and heritage. "'Go back to your block. The Germans are going to shoot you. Go back to your block, and don't move" (Wiesel 108).We can take with us, a lesson, that is to never judge one based on their outer appearance or family blood/heritage. If there are issues or problems due to someone's heritage or background, violence, seclusion, torture and abuse is not the solution, and it will create further differences and conflicts. This book can change people for the better because it shows us what we don't want to be and it shows us that we could make a positive change to our lives and the lives of others, by contributing to our positively.
Shannen Romero Perez
A2 Literature
After I read this book, I had realized exactly how much the Jews went through during their time at the camp. They at times, went through a few good things, but the amount of those good things, were very small, and the chance of many good things happening inside the camp(s) were very slim.
ReplyDeleteAs for religion, the religious perspectives shifted alot. When good things happened, they were religious and thanked God, and expected more and more good things to happen, becuase they knew that God was watching them. They also expected when they prayed for something, that God would answer their prayer. But when something bad, or a chain of bad things happened to them they thought negatively about religion, and they talked about God in vain, and didn't have any faith. So it is quite amazing how people's prospective changes, religious wise, when certain events, good or bad, happens. When so many bad things happen to you, you basically give up and say things like "'It's over. God is no longer with us"' (Wiesel 76). But when good things happen they think: "And if He punishes us mercilessly, it is a sign that He loves us that much more..." (Wiesel 45).
In life, friends and family are the most important things, aside from food. Friends and familiies take you far in life, and from them you learn real life experiences and how to deal with certain situations good and bad. "I shall never forget Juliek" (Wiesel 95). Sure you fight with them, or have problems, but they are always there to support what you do.
From reading this book, it teaches us alot of things. But one thing we can take away from this book, is that we always make our own choices and go our own ways in life. People guide us, but we do what we ultimately think is the best thing, now sometimes it really sin't the best thing. We make choices everyday in life, some harder than others, we still make many many choices. And these choices, lead us to the human being we become in the future. Like for example, in the book "Night" Elie had the decision to stay with his father or leave, and in the end, he made the decision that he thought was right for him.
After reading this book, I felt how the Jew were suffering from the past, getting abused from the Germans and the Nazis. Many people were scared and went over horrible happenings which made the Jew scared and panicked. For example, “ ‘Look at the fire! Look at the flames! Flames everywhere’ ” (Wiesel 26). People were trapped in claustrophobic places and were fearing, and suddenly went crazy and mad. This woman, Mrs. Schachter was frightened and afraid or more than that made her mad, shouting and crying that she sees a fire outside of the cage when the others don’t see them.
ReplyDeleteAfter all this happening, Elizer and his father were able to live for a long time. They both went through miserable occurrence and fear together, worked and helped each other out which made them allow to live so long. In the beginning of the story, when the males and the females were separated, Elizer did’t think anything else then stay with his father and not remain alone. “My hand tightened its grip on my father. All i could think of was not to lose him. Not to remain alone” (Wiesel 30). Reading this book, I learned that in harsh times, people got to help each other out to overcome. And I think Elizer and his father is a great example for it.
In the end, a tragic happening occurred where Elizer’s father had passed away. Beginning of the story, if his father had died, Elizer would blame everything to himself and might be depressed for the rest of his life. But the Elizer in the end, felt free when his father had died. “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). After his father died, he wasn’t sad as much as he would be in the beginning of the story, instead he felt freedom, so he does not have to take care of his father anymore. I think staying at place where people kill humans easily would change peoples feeling or how they think about others, when they pass away or is being abused.
After finishing this book, I feel that my view on humanity has changed completely. It's taught me all I would ever need to know about how much pain human beings can inflict on each other, especially for completely stupid and worthless reasons.
ReplyDeleteReligion definitely takes a big role throughout this novel. As sacred and sensitive it may be, conflicts and arguments always seem to be evident between them. When Eliezer and the rest of his Jewish community were deported to Auschwitz, it was no wonder that people lost all hope with their God. Many people were asking the same question: "For God's sake, where is God?"(Wiesel 65). Eventually, almost everyone had lost faith, even though they had been praising His name for all their life. "But look at these men whom You betrayed, allowing them to be tortured, slaughtered, gassed, and burned, what do they do? They pray for You! They praise Your name!"(Wiesel 68).
Although religion seems to be the most relevant reason in the story for the Jews suffering, nationality has a role in the events of Auschwitz and the Nazi concentration camps. Jews were not the only ones that were made to suffer during the Holocaust. Around the time he was moved to the depot, he met up with musicians of different nationalities. "Juliek, a Pole with eyeglasses and a cynical smile in a pale face. Louis, a native of Holland, a well-known violinist. He complained that they would not let him play Beethoven; Jews were not allowed to play German music. Hans, the young man from Berlin, was full of wit. The foreman was a Pole: Franek, a former student in Warsaw" (Wiesel 49). Even though most of them were Jews, Nazis assumed that people of certain nationalities were Jews, making it ever more unfair.
Another thing that this book showed was the effect off all this pain and suffering. At the end of the story, people began to become twisted, and felt that it was one man for himself, even going as far as murdering your own father for a piece of bread. "'Meir, my little Meir! Don't you recognize me...You're killing your father...I have bread...for you too...for you too...' He collapsed. But his fist was still clutching a small crust. He wanted to raise it to his mouth. But the other threw himself on him. The old man mumbled something, groaned, and died. Nobody cared. His son searched him, took the crust of bread, and began to devour it" (Wiesel, 101). Just reading this makes me sick, let alone imagining it. It makes you wonder if the people who had connection with the Holocaust, whether they would be alive or not, would thing of it looking back at it, in the 21st century...
This book impacted my life alot. I think this book may have made my family relationship better.
ReplyDeleteThe quote "My son, they are beating me!" (Wiesel 109) I couldn't believe that people would do such thing as beating a poor fellow and take the food away from that fellow for their own good. I can imagine his father been beaten up, even though he was already too week on his strengths. This was the most impacting quote for me.
"I no longer felt anything except the lashes of the whip" (Wiesel 57). This quote was impacting to me because i had once been whipped by my brother with a jump rope, but he, had been hit 25 times and with a stronger weapon, so this was a very impacting quote for me
"Throw out all the dead! Outside, all the corpse!"(Wiesel 99), this quote was impacting because at least people should have been burying the dead, not throwing the dead and leave it down on the cold ground. "For God's sake, where is God?"(Wiesel 65). This quote was related to his religion, which he needed gods help right there. The thing I don't think we need in this book was Meir Katz, because the only thing was that he was a friend of Elie's father, and nothing that much important to this book.
For conclusion, again, this made my life better and I think I got closer relationship between my family and my friends.
Isshin Midorikawa
A1 Literature
The book 'Night' has changed many thoughts that I had. First of all I realize that human can be this horrible from what Hitler's Nachi have done to Jewish people. Well there were many horrible situations rather than the Holocost but the reason that the Holocost happened was the main point. Because the reasons Hitler hated Jewish people and kill many of them were ethnicity, religion, and nationality.
ReplyDeleteFirstly religion was very important to Jewish people specially when they were in Ghetto the religion they believed in was like a hope to them. But it didn't last very long. "For God's sake, where is God?"(Wiesel 65). This quote is showing they have lost their conviction about God and saying where is God and what is God doing.Also the quote when the bomb was falling down to Ghetto "We were not afraid. And yet, if a bomb had fallen on the blocks, it would have claimed hundreds of inmates' lives. But we no longer feared death, in any event not this particular death. Every bomb that hit filled us with job, gave us renewed confidence.(Wiesel 60).
Don't need any explanation they already have forgot about God. They are now trying to find an other hope from other things rather than God.
However, religion wasn't everything about Jews and Nachi's. Ethnicity and nationality were the main reason why Jewish people had to go though those crazy stuffs."'Faster you filthy dongs!' We were no longer marching, we were running."(Wiesel 85). It's showing how those SS people treated Jewish people just because they are Jews.
After I finished reading this book, my view of the humanity changed. At the beginning, I thought that the Germans took the Jews for no reason and just let them go back home. But that wasn’t real. The real thing was that Hitler is making them suffer.
ReplyDelete“My hand tightened its grip on my father. All I could think was not to lose him. Not to remain alone” (Wiesel 30). This quote made me think that Eliezer really wants to be with his father. It makes me think that he doesn’t want to be alone. In this book he usually wanted to be with his father. When they meet each other, they both go through the bad things that happened.
“Blessed be God’s name?”(Wiesel 67). This quote makes me think that he already forgot about God. Elizer had changed through the camp. At first, he wanted to study Kabbalah and Tulmud but now, it sounds like he already forgot about God. Also it sounds like he doesn’t really care about God anymore. He now doesn’t care or respect God anymore.
“So much for your curiosity. You shall receive five times more if you dare tell anyone what you saw! Understood? (Wiezel 58). This quote tells me that they need to follow the instructions of the leader. Eliezer suffered from the instructions from the leader. Every day he needed to suffer from the instructions. They need to follow the instructions and also obey them.
This book tells me that Eliezer had a very complicated time in the camp. He aso had a nice heart that he wants to meet his father.
Anna Otake
A1