Night Litblog Pages 104-115

Mary Ann MacDonald
Period 5
3-20-13

Pages 104-115

Summary: Elie is with his father, who is becoming very sick. Elie stays in the hospital with him and and SS man hits him in the head because he calls out to Elie when the SS men are telling the sick all to be quiet. That night while Elie was asleep, his father died. A few monthes later, all the Jews are ordered to meet in the main area for a group roll call. The rebels tell them not to because they believe the Germans are going to shoot them. They go back to their block and later return to the main area where the rebels overcome the Germans and the U.S. attacks the camp, and the prisoners are now free. Elie gets transferred to as hospital because his got sick from poisoning and when he wakes up, the book ends. 

Quotation: "... Don't forget that you are in a concentration camp. In this place, it is every man for himself, and you cannot think of others. You cannot help him anymore. And you are hurting yourself"

Quotation Significance: A doctor says this to Elie when he goes to check on his father. He is saying that in this society, every man is for himself and by feeding his father he is hurting his own chance of survival. The Germans are so cruel that they have made sons turn on their fathers.

Reflection: The book ends with all the prisoners at the camp being rescued. Elie's father dies just a few days before this happens. Elie feels sorry for his father but he also almost feels a sense of relief. Now he doesn't have the burden of taking care of his father on his shoulders. He knows that he should not thinks this, but in his situation, it becomes almost understandable. Now Elie only has himself to take care of. Elie is aware of his thoughts to abandon his father and he is glad that he was able to be there in his day alive. But he also knows that having his father with him gave him a sense of purpose to be alive, and now he has no reason to going on living. But he continues to fight through and eventually the U.S. defeats the Germans and Elie and the other prisoners are set free. When he is in the hospital, he gets out of bed and he sees himself in the mirror for the first time in a very long time. And he says that he will never forget the look in his eyes in that moment. Those eyes hold all the horrors of the everlasting night that he had to live through, the death of family, his missing faith, and his anger towards the inner beast inside humans. Overall, this was a very good book which showed the terror and cruel moments that go on inside a Jewish concentration camp in the Holocaust. 

Discussion Question: Why will Elie never forget his reflection in the mirror in the hospital? How does Elie feel about his father's death?