Chattahoochee River
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Chapter 5- choice and chance
The piece if the chapter that really struck me was the very ending, where Wiesel reveals that if he had stayed in the infirmary, he would have been liberated by the Russians. To me, this really emphasizes the themes of chance and choice. Wiesel and his father reasoned that the Germans would never let the sick be liberated, that they would not have the chance to live if they stayed. I was honestly shocked after reading that they had been liberate because I believed the same thing as them. They made the choice to leave, and that would eventually led to the next events to follow. This was a pivotal choice in their lives, and this choice caused every event afterwards.
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That part of the book hurt me as well. I think I would hate myself if I later realized that I had made the wrong choice. At that point I think I would just completely give up. After everything I've been through and everything that I know was coming up, I don't know if I would be able to find the strength in me to continue. although as we read, his motivation is his father so it's nice that he considers his father.
ReplyDeleteAs you said Kayla, this event was a perfect example of choice and chance because the single choice that Elie made ultimately prolonged their torture. I also think this moment was really important because Elie, not his father made the final decision. It shows how the camp had matured him and forced him to assume this leadership position in order to keep himself and his father alive. As he undergoes this transformation, I observe how he takes more control over his life and he's more directly connected to the resulting effects.
ReplyDeleteI also found this part of the chapter to be incredibly painful and difficult to read. I believe that all of us/all readers of this book simply assumed that the Jews in the infirmary would have been killed before the arrival of the Russian army, but the reality was that they were extremely lucky. I agree that this portion of the chapter emphasized the "choice v chance" issue, but I feel that this shows the power of chance. No one could've guessed that those in the infirmary would've been freed, it was an absolute chance occurrence. It also reminds me of other instances where specific Jews happened to just be lucky or fortunate, and managed to escape the atrocities of the German army. Overall, though, I agree that choice is very powerful, but this instance in particular made me think there are some situations in which you can't do anything to escape chance.
ReplyDeleteThe camp was liberated, but that was due to luck. I feel like the risk was too great, in the eyes of Wiesel, since the nazis could have very well slaughtered them all before the arrival of the red army. It could have gone either way, and there was no way of knowing.
ReplyDeleteI've read this book before, and getting back to the part where Elie could have been liberated pains me to read. He had been so close, but in hindsight couldn't change his decision. As Eric said, there was no way of knowing, so I believe he did make the right choice. However, that doesn't make it much easier to read.
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