Period 5
3-15-13
Pages 44-65
Summary: Stein finds out the real news of Reizel and his children. Elie and his block leave Auschwitz and are transferred to Buna. The routine process for new recruits goes smoothly. Elie and his father are placed with a group of workers who have to assemble electrical parts. Elie gets called into the dentist because of his gold crown and delays the doctor and the doctor is fired before Elie's crown is removed. When their supervisor, Idek, gets angry one day he beats up Elie for no reason, and a French girl consoles him. Franek, their foreman, wants Elie's gold crown and tortures Elie's father daily until Elie gives it up. On Sunday, Elie catches Idek and a female prosititute and he laughs and his punished by being whipped. Later, the U.S. bombed the camp and later Elie watched several hangings.
Quotation: "Bite your lips, little brother... Don't cry. Keep your anger, your hate, for another day, for later. The day will come but not now...Wait. Clench your teeth and wait" (53).
Quotation Significance: The French girl says this to Elie after he is beaten up by Idek for no reason. She tells him that their time to rise and fight back will come but they must wait. She understands what Elie must be going through and he wants to fight back against the Germans.
Reflection: Elie and his father are transferred to Buna in this section and are given relatively easy jobs. Akiba Drumer believes that God is putting the through a test but Elie cant help thinking that how God test them so harshly for so long to let millions of innocent men die and show no mercy? Now Elie's heart is black. His only thought is survival. He is also beaten up by Idek for no reason and this makes him extremely angry because he had done nothing wrong. The French girl consoles him and convinces him to wait and that they will have revenge one day. Elie almost has to have his crown removed and avoids until Franek tortures his father daily, and his father is the only person that Elie has left and he would do anything to keep him from dying, so Elie gives up his tooth. He also catches Idek with a prostitute and receives a very harsh punishment for spying on them and laughing. He is whipped 50 times and can not stand once his beating is finished and Idek threatens his life if he says anything about it to anyone. The U.S. also bomb the camp but only one man is killed. Elie is also forced to watch several hangings and they even hang a child, who is small so it takes a half hour before he finally dies. The men force everyone to look at their dead bodies, feeling Elie with unspeakable horror.
Discussion Question: Do you think that Elie has completely lost his faith? Do you think that he can regain it?
60/60
ReplyDeleteI've read this book many times, now, but it always feels so real and raw. I don't know what I'd do in the same situation Elie was in. I've read accounts of people who became bitter and filled with hate as well as though who learned how to forgive even their horrible persecutors.