Thursday, February 18, 2016

Night Blog 2/18/16

Prompt: Prompt: Do any of the characters feeling change as you’ve read? Explain why or why not.
Pages: 0-65

          Elie's feelings change a lot from what I've read so far. In the beginning of the story Elie is very religious and optimistic. When he lived in Poland (before the concentration camps) he very optimistic. He loved to study and learn about his religion even though people told him he was too young for that. He hanged out with Moishe the Beadle so he could learn more about his religion and the ways of life. His life seemed full of happiness and freedom until he entered the concentration camps. From there on, things went downfall.

          Elie's faith in God changes a lot from what I've read so far. In the beginning, he would pray everyday to thank him for everything he's done. He was so devoted to his religion. In the book it says,"And Moishe the Beadle, the poorest of the poor of Sighet, spoke to me for hours on end about the Kabbalah's revelations and its mysteries. Thus began my initiation. Together we would read, over and over again, the same page of the Zohar. Not to learn it by heart but to discover within the very essence of divinity." (P.5 New Edition) This quote demonstrates how devoted Elie was to his religion in the beginning of the book. Afterwards, Elie gets put into a concentration camp and that makes him lose most of his faith. He begins to question God's existence. In the book he says,"For the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for?" (P.33 New Edition) This demonstrates how in the beginning Elie was very pious and then when he enters the concentration camps he slowly loses faith.

          Not only does Elie begin to lose faith in his religion but he also becomes more melancholy like his attitude toward some events are different. For example, in the beginning of the book how happy he was to be studying his religion, etc. Though, later on he begins to change. He let his father be beaten up and slapped right in front of his face. He did not do anything to stop it. When Idek beat up his father, he wasn't mad at Idek for harming his father instead he was mad at his father for catching Idek's attention. Also it caught my attention how he reacted before the second hanging mentioned in the book. In the book it says,"The SS surrounding us, machine guns aimed at us: the usual ritual." It really shocked me how he mentioned that it was usual for them to be aimed at by guns. He says it like it's literally nothing just something usual.


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