Charles Darwin once stated that “It's not the strongest nor the smartest species that survive, it is the species that can adapt most quickly that can survive”. Survival requires many skills, but it is key to adapt to live , many people have demonstrated this such as Elie Wiesel in his novel Night, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston in her Memoir Farewell to Manzanar and Paul Rusesabagina in An Ordinary Man.Their preference of adapting themselves rather than facing consequences was retained in some of the most well-known survivors in the world. These people overcame their situation by adapting and slowly taking control of it. Flexibility and the ability to modify helped people such as Elie, Paul Rusesabagina and Jeanne survive through …show more content…
For example, when Elie was rushed in during a raid with the mobs he “forgot I (he) had a father ”(page 112). Elie in the name of survival follows the mobs and focuses on himself, he forgets the existence of his father until the ordeal was over. This ignorance of someone who was considered to be very close to Elie is a very controversial step, but it helped him survive to tell the story because he could worry about his welfare only and not be distracted or dragged down by his father ailments. As this ability to readjust to the camp became an innate part of Elie, there were “No prayers were said on his (Elie's father's) tomb ...(Elie thought he was) Free at last !” (page 115). His ability to recuperate in such an abrupt fashion by not mourning at the least for his father who kept him alive as long as he can is inhumane, but his sacrifice of humanity is a change that is what ultimately allowed him to be alive and to carry the name of his kin.This ability to adapt is what helped Elie survive through what was to leave one suffering or dead. Elie’s debatable but necessary actions are what allowed him to survive and piece together his life
In the book Night, we the readers witness the hardships and struggles in Elie’s life during the traumatic holocaust. The events that take place in this story are unbearable and are thought to be demented in modern times. In the beginning Elie is shown as a normal teenage Jewish boy, but the events are so drastic that we the readers forget how he was like in the beginning. Changes were made to Elie during the book, whether they were minor or major. The changes generated from himself, the journey, and other people.
Elie: Throughout the book we see Elie change from a relatively normal teenage school boy and into a emotionally hardened young man who has become so accustomed to death that he rarely gives it a second thought, even if the person dying was a friend . This change took place because of the tortuous conditions that the Nazi´s subjected him to and that he lost so many family members and friends along the way. My passage shows Elie at a time when he is just starting his journey, yet you can tell that the concentration camps and the Nazi´s have already had a very serious effect on him. ¨He must have died, trampled under the feet if the thousands of men who followed us.
In this book Elie speaks of his hardships and how he survived the concentration camps. Elie quickly changed into a sorrowful person, but despite that he was determined to stay alive no matter the cost. For instance, during the death
”I did not weep and it pained me the i could not weep. But i was out of tears. And deep inside me, if i could i have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, i might have found something like: Free at last!... ” When his father died Elie wasn't sad all he could think of was the weight that was lifted off his chest, that he no longer had to be constantly worried or tending on his
Decision Making by Elie in Night The decisions made by Elie Wiesel in the book Night both positively and negatively impacted his life. These were decisions that the author thought were best for him or for his mother, sister and father. However, the particular decisions made by the boy in Night affected his identity, innocence, and significantly changed his view of life during his experience in the holocaust.
In the book “Night,” insanity is a major theme because the book tells us about the life of torture the jews were going through. Jews had it awful they were separated from their families, and they were beaten up. The book states, “we were wipped, all we had for food was bread and soup.” Night can be interpreted both literally and figuratively. For example, Elie had to say he was 18 instead of 15 and his father had to say he was 40 and not 50 because they would had killed them for being too old or too young to work.
Near the beginning of the novel, Elie wanted to be in the same camp with his father more than anything else. The work given to both his father and himself was bearable, but as time passed by, “. . . his father was getting weaker” (107). The weaker Elie’s father got, the more sacrifices Elie made. After realizing the many treatments Elie was giving his father compared to himself, each additional sacrifice made Elie feel as if his “. . .
The empathy he felt for his father is what drove him to stay alive, to fight for his life. Without his father, he would have given into exhaustion long before the American tanks arrived at the camp. Elie's father gave him strength, therefore giving him resilience. Strong people are resilient people; it took everything Elie had to keep himself alive. In the times he wanted so badly just to lie down, to give up it was his father's presence which kept him alive.
One reoccurring theme that is present in the Holocaust is a change of identity with everyone involved. The incidents people confronted, especially the Jews, during this harsh time was life changing and traumatic. The identity of many in the concentration camps changed; young and innocent children developed into mature men. Elie Wiesel in the novella, Night, faces a change of identity within himself and the surrounding people, the Jews, through a variety of events that he encounters.
Elie 's inaction or inability to help his father and his guilt for not doing so helped Elie to shape the person he has become now is because he kept on realizing his stand on the situation on the harsh behavior towards his father. As he starts to live more with his father he became started to realize how important he was to him and how important he is for him. In the book Night, Chapter 7, when Elie and his after were on the cattle car he said"My father had huddled near me, draped in his blanket, shoulders laden with snow. And what if he were dead as well? I called out to him.
But I was out of tears. And deep inside me, if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: Free at last!” This story told by Elie demonstrates how though Elie was somewhat upset, the first thought that occupied his mind was that there would be one less hungry stomach, and one less mouth to feed. This greatly shows that although Elie wanted to mourn over his father, his current mindset of self preservation and instinct would not allow
The Holocaust was one of the most tragic events in history. It just so happened to be the cause of six million deaths. While there are countless beings who experienced such trauma, it is impossible to hear everyone's side of the story. However, one man, in particular, allowed himself to speak of the tragedies. Elie Wiesel addressed the transformation he underwent during the Holocaust in his memoir, Night.
On January 30th, 1933, one of the most deadliest and dangerous genocides had begun, the Holocaust. Approximately 6 million Jews lost their lives in the concentration camps. A well known survivor from the Holocaust is Elie Wiesel. He was put in a concentration camp at the age of 15 and died recently in 2016. In his memoir, Night, Elie demonstrates a remarkable amount of stamina when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles by not giving up his chance to live and caring for others.
Children during the Holocaust were targeted because they were weak and small, and the Nazis wanted strong and independent Jews who were willing to work, but some children were strong and were able to work in labor camps. The lives of children inside the camps grew up with the grim memories of being separated from loved ones by death and torture. Hitler’s goal was to destroy a whole entire race and by targeting the kids, this would be a faster way of killing many innocent Jews. Depending on the age of the child and the gender, would determine whether or not that child would live because the Germans would rather prefer the boys over girls. The boys were known to be more stronger and more independent than girls, that is why girls would be separated
Elie was held captive in concentration camps from 1944-1945. During his time in the concentration camps, he became grateful for what he had, overcame countless obstacles, and more importantly kept fighting until he was free. [The Holocaust is very important to learn about because it can teach you some important life lessons.] You should always be grateful for what you have, no matter what the circumstances are. This lesson can be learned when Elie says, “After my father’s death, nothing could touch me any more”(109).