The last few pages of this chapter were the most important for me. When the Germans hung the child in the gallows and the Jews were forced to look him in the eye as he hung in limbo between life and death, that marked the complete loss of faith in humanity for many of the prisoners and for Elie as well. A man behind him remarks "For God's sake, where is God?" and another man replies that God is hanging here in the gallows. The Jews believe that God is dead, and this event marks the end of their attempt at holding out hope.
This chapter also highlights the fact that Elie is becoming more detached from his father and more focused on survival. I think he is still very much attached to his father, but he is now able to watch him get beaten, and focus only on staying far away enough to avoid one himself. He also makes a point of highlighting hunger throughout the chapter, referring to soup constantly and noting the inmates complaints of always being hungry. They just want to survive, and that is no easy task.
I actually wrote about the same event, the boy hanging in the gallows, but I did not make the connection to their faith dying. But I do believe it was bound to happen eventually, considering all the terrible things they went through.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Andrew. I don't know if the faith of all the Jews ended, but Id say that it for sure did end for Elle. His faith was questionable all the way up to this event, but after this event he completely gave up. And I also agree with mikaela, eventually I think that more and more Jews will give up their faith as more terrible events occur.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I dont think all the Jews are done hoping that things will things will get better, but Elie included this event because it marked a major shift for him.
DeleteI think that after being surrounded by so many inhumane acts, for so long, Elie began to be desensitized by it. Watching his father getting beaten was no longer so bad. He wasn't happy with it by any means, but it wasn't as horrible of a sight.
ReplyDelete