Chattahoochee River
Thursday, January 22, 2015
Pain
The concentration camp ha changed Elie. He sees pain and cruelty so often he's desensitized to it. it seems that one of his survival techniques is to remove himself from pain so it doesn't affect him or his ability to survive. This concept was first developed when Idek beat Elie and he held himself from crying out. It was further drawn out when Idek beat Elie father and Elie stayed quiet. When the first few hangings took place Elie still was able to eat well despite the cruelty of this act. Not until a child was hanged that Elie woke up and realized that there was more to the concentration camp than just surviving.
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Priscila, I think your idea about Elie's desensitization as a survival technique is definitely interesting. I agree that by restricting his emotion, Elie is experiencing a metamorphosis as he transitions from the religiously enthusiastic teen into a cautiously aware young adult, but I'd like to offer another theory about his reaction to his father's beating.
ReplyDeletePerhaps, Elie wasn't desensitized to the brutality, but instead he was hyper-aware of the fact that his interference would only escalate the abuse. I connected this situation to the one with the woman in the cattle carts. Though her son was a bit younger than Elie, I believe he had this same insight. He too understood that interference while his mother was being beaten, could potentially result in more traumatic punishment. So perhaps, quiet observance was the only thing either boy could actually do.
That's a very interesting theory Chinyere. I like how you connected this brutal act with the one in the cattle car, it is very fitting.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post Priscila. I like the idea that Elie has become unresponsive to the beatings because of the fact that he has witnessed so much pain. Being in the environment that he is in, Elie's way of surviving is to let himself become emotionally desensitized. He may have been aware that interference may have had worse consequences, but either way this was Elie's key to survival.
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