Chattahoochee River
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Chapter 7
I think that it was an interesting choice for Wiesel to make chapter 7 a short chapter, in order to show how short the last day of their journey was, and yet so many men where killed. I also think that Wiesel chose to only mention Meir Katz to represent how long it took Meir Katz to accept and realize that his son had died and that he realized he didn't have a reason to continue on. I also want to mention that the last paragraph of this chapter really struck me, because all of the men that began the journey and only 12 survived to the end to the next camp. It just showed how disposal the Jews were to the SS soldiers and it just highlight the immense tragedy of the holocaust.
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Kayla, I hadn't really taken into account the possible meaning behind the length of a chapter but that was really interesting. It was an interesting choice for Elie to focus specifically focus on Meir Katz. I thought of his story as for some of the people there, they relied on others to continue living much like Elie focusing on his father to stay alive. Because if someone so dear and close to us passes away, then perhaps it can become too unbearable to continue living without them, especially in the conditions the Jews were placed in.
ReplyDeleteI thought of all those same things when Elie mentioned Meir Katz, and I thought of how quickly Elie stated that he had no reason to continue on when he thought his father had died on the train. That's really made me wonder how Meir Katz has managed to carry on for so long without his son...I really don't understand how he's not affected by his son's death until now, when he lost his son in the first selection. I can't imagine what having to bear all of these hardships alone must have been like.
DeleteThat is a very intriguing point about the length of the chapter. I agree that there was some purpose behind that. While the night was short, it seemed like almost everyone was dropping dead and I think that made for a very long night for those who survived.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that stood out to me was how the SS pushed the Jews to their physical limits. No one is meant to survive a journey like that with no food or water. The SS officers switched out when they were tired. It was almost like they were hoping no one survived.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of you. As kate pointed out, the SS would switch out whenever they were tired, so as soon as the new SS came in the Jews would have to complete a new set of tasks which resulted in the never ending tournament of the Jews. The new SS didn't know exactly know what the Jews had performed for the previous SS, so the Germans never knew what how much pain they had been through.
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