Final Novel Thoughts

I was astonished on how the book ended. When I read the preface it said his dad dies but I thought he was going to be shot. I didn't think Elie dad was going to die in such a slow and painful way. My overall reaction about the book is amazed, experienced because of how Elie described things in the book. You get amazed about how mean they were. Nazi using their powers in a cruel way. You also get an experience of how it was during the Holocaust, Elie wrote about everything he saw every thing that happen to him. It is such an experience reading this book.   

I have learned a lot about reading this book it gives me such a deeper experience about the Holocaust  because it a true story written by a holocaust survivor. Beside about the Holocaust I learned that you should appreciate on what you have because during the holocaust teens are age did not have a things that we had like hangout with friends ex. I have learned how to express my feelings about the book when I made a blog. write about everything about what I think. A Holocaust project is important for teenagers to be part of because they can earn to not be bystander. They can learn to an up stander and to speak up on thing that they see is not right.

Final Thoughts

I thought the end of book was good I really liked how Elie stayed strong when it was like close  for all the Jews to be free. Like when  they was marching from one camp to other Elie stayed strong and tried to keep his dad to stay strong but i didn't like how the dad just gave up hope when it was 2 month before they got out. Know he was tried and weak but he could have try best  to  keep going. I learn a lot about the Holocaust  when I got done with the book  about the dehumanizing step the Jews had to go though.

        I also learn about all of the bystanders in the novel and how they didn´t help them.This project is good for us because we learn about  our history so we and other don to go through it again. Also so you can learn more on the world background and the German and Hitler and his Nazis party. One other thing to learn is how they pulled all this off without one person saying this wrong to do to this people they are normal just like you or me. I thought this project was good thing to learn about  overall because you get find out new things and learn about you already knew.

last post

I liked the ending to my novel. He explained what happened in a way that made it so happy and then explained what there “first act as free men” was. It was food, bread to be exact. The book  itself was very, very good. The beginning was a little confusing on who was there with him, who he was talking to, and what was happening to him and his family. The middle and end were my favorite parts. It told of all his experiences and parts of fear, power abuse, identity loss, and choice less choices. It explained the most of his experience of hunger, survival, choices he had to make, and about family. His father and him were together pretty much until the very end. I cannot choose one theme for the novel I red. There are so many ways I can link in every theme in different ways.

I loved reading this book and learned so much from it. I have learned that we need to speak up when something is happening to someone who is fearful and silent for the person who is abusing their power. Don’t be a bystander. I have also learned a lot from blogging, it helped me understand the book better. I think every teen should have this experience, it helps us understand books better and help us realize parts we might have missed. To end with, Thank you all for commenting and looking at our blogs! we really love reading what you have written to us and answering back to you. Thank you all!

Such A Relieve

“At six o’clock that afternoon, the first American tank stood at the gates of Buchenwald.” - Night, p. 115

Elie must have had a big relief when he saw the American tank arrive at Buchenwald. His hope has lasted, the end of the Holocaust. He was going to be able to rest and eat full meals. Able to go put flowers on his fathers grave. Able to do regular things as children go out and play with lots new friends. The only bad thing is that he had lost his family at such a young age his sister and mother and his father has died and he is the only one left and survived. Now he had to think of where is he going to live and how is he going to move on in life.

A connection I have to this is like when I first got my phone I was relieved I finally got one. I was so happy to have my phone and for Elie he must have been happy to see the American tank at the gate of Buchenwald. A big relief for me getting a phone and for Elie knowing the war has ended. Another connection I have is that my family and I were going to Missouri. My dad said we not going to eat until we get there and it was a 5 hour drive. I was starving the whole car way. I had nothing in my mind but food. As for Elie he didn't eat a lot and for me I was starving for 5 hours. When I got food I felt relieved that I got food. Elie  must have been a relieved to know the he can eat full meals and finally rest. In a movie called the The Pianist, Wladyslaw Szpilman was relieved every time he got food. I think that is how Elie must have felt when he say the American tank.

Selection of the Weak

“The S.S officers were doing the selection the weak, to the left those who walked well, to the right. My father was sent to the left.” Night p.96

 

I think that it was surprising that Elie went to go with his dad to the death camp line. I know that he wanted to stay  with his father but he didn't have to go to the death camp. To me, Elie was a brave person to choose to go to the death camp line to be with his father. I think that Elie was good for staying with father to the very end until his father couldn't go no more and gave up and died. Another thing is that he is a good son because he could  have went somewhere else but he went to death camp to stay  with his father and try to survive and get through with each other.

  This reminds me of this kid called Moskowich in a movie called The Pianist. Moskowich was sent to death camp because he didn't look sixteen but tried to stay with his friends to survive the war. This would fall under theme of loss because that little boy was killed and his friends didn't never see him again because they gas him. One thing is that Moskowich did try to survive with his friend but it did not work out at all. Also Moskowich was too small to look sixteen and his friend was trying their best to get to stay with him.

Only of Bread

“Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions. That's all we thought about. No thought on revenge, or of parents. Only of bread.” (pg. 115 Elie Wiesel)

This quote tells on even after they were freed, they were still in survival mode. I bet it would be very hard to to break this habit of trying to stay alive. I can also see that maybe because they were starving that they would only think of bread first too. And I also think they should have gotten the bread they ate. I find it is very difficult to try to picture them, running and eating. And even so small and skinny. From one soldier’s story, he said that there were a few people alive that resembled skeletons. That is just really hard to imagine, people like you and me looking like skeletons. Can you imagine yourself or someone you know looking like that? It is hard, and I can’t. I don’t know how people could survive being like that. So they should have and did eat all the bread they found.  

This reminds me of the themes hope and victims. These people were victims of such a terrible genocide and the only way they survived was with hope. These people at the end of the Holocaust didn’t know what to do next, they couldn’t even think of what might happen next. It reminds me of shell shock kind of. Shell shock is when during war, the people who are fighting, can go through a traumatizing experience can kinda make them go insane in a way. It messes with their physiological being. And that is kinda in a way, happened to these people, accept they eventually could recover from it. And the survivors traumatizing experiences could have been the malnourishment, all the deaths they had seen, how people changed, or any other bad and terrifying things.

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Train Problems

“There was a woman among us, a certain Mrs. Schachter. She was in her fifties and her ten year old son was with her crouched in the corner.” Night pg. 24

When I read this, I felt bad because she is in her fifties and she lost her husband and her two old kids. And to only have one of her kids with her made me feel even worse for her also they haven't ate in weeks. Also she kept saying "Fire! I see fire! I see fire!" but there was nothing until the got to the camp they saw the smoke in the air. But what was really happening is dead bodies where getting burned. I could never imagine what I would do if I was but in her spot. As I read more into the book this is what most stood up to me the most. I don't really know why it stood up to me the most, but is probably the one thing I am going to remember about this book.

A connection I have to this is that we went to the Holocaust museum and we say a train cart and it was a real one and when I went in there and saw the corner of the train made me think of the lady in her fifties. It made feel even worse for her. I just couldn't talk after I saw that and made me think about it and I just didn't even want to think about it. The longer I stayed in the train the more it made me think about the lady and how bad I felt for her.