Zalman and Elie

Zalman, the young Jew who frequently occupied himself by "meditating on some Tamudic question" served as an interesting foil, that is a character who contrasts the main protagonist, who in this case was Elie. Though the description was brief, I noticed how Elie said Zalman's meditation served as a refuge which allowed him to "escape from reality". I found this interesting because Zalman's attitude towards religion seems to directly contrast that of Elie.

 As the brutality of the concentration camps becomes increasingly severe, Elie seems to reject his faith in God and detach himself from the faith of his childhood. Oppositely, according to Elie's testament, Zalman's has utilized his faith to deter the pain of the camps. I just think this is interesting because it reveals how complex and un-uniform the captives' reactions were to their situation. While some clung to faith, others rejected it, and I think the importance of such contrasts in character is to illustrate that nothing about the Holocaust was clear-cut black and white. Not every German was a Nazi, not every victim was a Jew. Not every Jew lost his faith. 

We must recognize that while such generalizations help us begin to understand the great paradox that is the Holocaust, we mustn't allow one person's account, to represent everything that we know about it.