Chapter 3 - A Transformation?

Having read this novel before, I know this is quite possibly the most painful chapter in the whole book to read. The part where Elie and his father are separated from his Mother and sister is particularly heartbreaking. That was one point that I distinctly remembered even 3 years after reading it. While this is difficult to read, I think the most painful part is watching Elie transform from a devout Jew who wants nothing more than to study his religion in the first chapter, into someone who has lost all faith in humanity and is now questioning why he should praise God after entering this Hell on Earth called Auschwitz. As they near the crematoria he even goes so far as debate committing suicide, something which would have been unheard of for him just days before. This transformation that Elie has gone through was the most difficult thing for me to read thus far.