There are several things that I found interesting in this chapter. First, was the fact that Wiesel didn't immediately give away his golden tooth. Even when his father told him not to and was punished for two weeks. It seems that the situation that he and the rest of the people were in had forced them to change and survive. I also realized that Wiesel wanted to survive since he was hoping to buy food or survive in exchange for his golden tooth. Second, in some ways Wiesel also seemed to have lost respect for his father " I kept silent...I... not to suffer the blows...I felt anger at my father...that was what life in a concentration camp had made of me..." Earlier in the book Wiesel stated that he wanted to defend and felt upset that his father was slapped. But, the concentration camp really did change him and instilled great fear in him and in many people, except for the man who took the cauldron of soup. Third, Wiesel was among the people who envied the man who dared to risk his life for soup, because he couldn't do it, fear was greater than hunger. Lastly, towards the end of the chapter it also seemed like Wiesel gave up hope of surviving the Holocaust when the "America planes dissipated in the wind and there we were, in our cemetery."
Hermelinda, I also found the gold tooth bit interesting. You'd think Elie would have given it right away considering that he when he didn't do that for his shoes, he gained nothing. I also agree that you can see Elie has changed since his time in the concentration camp. Although I'm not sure he necessarily lost respect for his father, I feel that it was more of anger towards his father for not doing a better job at keeping out of Idek's way. Because by now, his father should have known that in order to survive, it's best to stay in the shadows so as to not get hurt.
ReplyDeleteYoaly, thank you for your comment. Yes, perhaps this is what happened. I guess his father forgot and Elie also forgot that they should have just followed the rules. But, they also didn't do anything wrong when I think about it as well.
ReplyDeleteHermalinda, I was shocked to hear that Elie didn't want to give up his golden tooth and shoes knowing the turnout. I've thought about it and think that Elie didn't want to give these objects up not because they're were materialistic things but because they remembered him about his past. Also keeping these objects would give him a sense of feeling like a human being since most Jews were being taken away everything
ReplyDeleteLizette, thank you for your comment ( you misspelled my name haha). That is a very interesting thought. I didn't think of that. I suppose you are right. I guess he did want to keep something in order to feel more human as humans possess things. I guess it could have been a sort of a rebellious action to show that they can't take everything away from him. Well, maybe-I think this is what you mean.
ReplyDelete