Elie previously prayed to never abandon his father, to never turn into Rabbi Eliahu's son, and when he said "like Rabbi Eliahu's son, [he] had not passed the test," my heart broke. Throughout Chapter 8 we see the constant internal conflict that Elie faces -- he is torn between caring for his father and only caring for himself. Should he share his food? Should he step in when his father is being beaten? Should he abandon his father?
When Elie awakes to see that his father is gone, he has no reaction. He doesn't cry. He doesn't search for him. The closest thing he has to a reaction is his inner most thought of "Free at last! . . ."
I think it's easy for us to judge what he did, what he thought, but as much as my heart sank when I read this, I wasn't angered or upset by Elie and his actions. I'm more saddened that he had to experience all of this and had to have this inner conflict at all. I can't begin to imagine what this must have been like for Elie to have gone through at such a young age. I can't begin to imagine how much of an impact this one year in the concentration camp must have had on the rest of his life. I feel as though even after he was liberated, he was never really free, that he's still haunted by things that he experienced and witnessed. I think that's evident in his writing, especially in the final line, "the look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me."
I agree Marisa, I was shocked when Elie didn't do anything when his father was gone but I think he was so emitionally and physically drained that he didn't have the strength to feel anythingn until he later reflected on the situation. As I read that chapter I felt as though he was himself ashamed of what he had done yet he understood himself in that situation because he did go through so much torment.
ReplyDeleteMarisa, I agree. It's not easy for us to understand exactly what Elie went through and why he did what he did or why he reacted a certain way. We can only imagine so much and even then, we will only understand so little. But we can appreciate what this will teach us and never forget what has happened in history.
ReplyDeleteYou have raised very insightful points Marisa and I believe that Elie passed the test. He sacrificed what little he had to be near his father in his last moments of life. I think we constantly are faced with a choice to turn a blind eye or to help someone in need. I wish we could always say that we are we willing to sacrifice a little of our personal comfort to help someone else.
ReplyDeleteMarisa, your post was so thoughtful and put into words exactly what I thought while reading the last two chapters. When you said it saddens you that Eli had to be put into a position where he had to feel the inner conflict of abandoning his father or not, I also felt sad, however my thoughts turned to questions like why didn't Eli feel anger towards the Nazis for making him have the conflict to begin with? And why, once the war was over, was no thought given to revenge?
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