People go through life in different ways, each having their own set of morals and beliefs. Nonetheless, the bond between humans and their moral system can be compromised under stressful and life-threatening circumstances. According to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, humans cannot reach their fullest potential without fulfilling their elementary needs for survival. When situations come and strip them of that, it begins to tear the system a person has; leaving them to desperately leave everything behind for the sake of survival. Night and Lord of the Flies explore the limits of humans under extreme conditions. Night is a memoir written by Elie Wiesel, who shares his experiences being held in concentration camps during the Holocaust. Young Elie was the witness and victim of hate crimes against him and the other Jews and had to bear witness until the very end of Hitler’s ability to enforce systematic persecution. Lord of the Flies—written by William Golding—is a dystopian allegory, focusing on a group of young boys trying to survive after their plane crashes on an isolated island. The boys begin to detach themselves …show more content…
Each of us lives and dies alone” (110). The phrase “there is no such thing as father, brother, [and] friend” is said figuratively; there are such people as the ones mentioned, however, it is to be taken as a message to leave everything behind for the sake of survival. The man—who told the saying to young Elie—saw Elie giving his rations to his father. This brought the man to encourage Elie to keep his rations because it was no use since “each of us lives and dies alone”. What the man meant by this was that survival would be impossible for both parties if they took more from their already decomposing bodies to help each other. As the Jews lose their ability to live a normal life, they take desperate measures to survive—causing selfishness and an immoral