Obviously the High Holidays of Judaism were very important in this chapter, helping to convey Elie's emotions and thoughts regarding his situation in the camp. These holidays are the time when God passes his judgement on the people, and decides who will die in the upcoming year. However, in the concentration camp, the soldiers are the ones who decide who is to live and who is to die. This helps to re-emphasize the loss of faith in divinity AND in humanity that Elie is experiencing. I thought it was especially significant that he chooses to eat on a day that Jews fast to atone for their sins, since this is a very radical thing to do and it shows how he feels about his relationship with God.
Another highly significant part of this chapter was the choice vs chance question, especially when it came to Eliezer and his father's fate at the end of the chapter. The "fates" of individuals based on their choices and just random occurrences makes me feel like everything is up to chance, but the choices you make can change the chances that you could possibly face. (I didn't articulate that very well but I hope the point I was trying to make is still discernible.)
Did you also notice the reference to Yom Kipper (day of atonement)? I thought this was ironic because for what do the Jews have to atone? No matter what their sins might be, wouldn't the sins of the Nazis be so much more? Wiesel's comment about why he chose not to fast did not include this irony. That leaves me wondering if he did not think of this or if it had more personal implications (rather than corporate).
ReplyDeleteI also believed that the way he describes how he defies the traditions of the Jewish holidays as a way to describe the way he felt about God. But I also think that it was his own personal way of rebelling in the only way that he can. Since he can't take his anger out on the German soldiers, be silently takes it out on his God.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you address how the choices you make affect chance. By being cunning and by not being noticed the prisoners are able to have a higher chance of survival.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Marian, about the correlation of the High Holidays and the SS' selection. I'm sure Eliezer was not the only one who rebelled during this holiday and became more concerned with preserving their life than preserving their faith. However I also believe that it shows how the Nazis and Hitler had literally become like gods in the way they attained such unfathomable power.
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