1. Todd Pickel
Period 2
Activity 2
Elie Wiesel was a young boy at the beginning of the story, with lots of love for his family,
and was very devoted to his Jewish beliefs. Throughout the story Elie turns his beliefs
into more of a hatred for Him, he begins to wonder why He would ever let such a thing
happen to so many undeserving people. As Elie and his father experience the camps
together, Elie begins to feel more “numb” as you would say to his emotions. On page 48
Elie says, “What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, before my very
eyes, and I had not flickered an eyelid. I looked on and said nothing. Yesterday I would
have sunk my nails into the criminal’s flesh. Had I changed so much, then?” From this
excerpt you can see how the camp had begun to change Elie, showing the cold path to
him being “numb”. As the story goes along, you can also see Elie’s change of heart, for
his religion. On page 74, Elie says, “Why, but should I bless Him? In every fiber I
rebelled. Because He had thousands of children burned in His pits? Because He had
six crematories working night and day, on Sundays and feast days?Because in His
great might He had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many factories of
death?” In those 4 statements, Elie had completely changed from himself at the
beginning of the book, he had completely and utterly turned his back on He, and now
had a slight hatred towards him for letting all of these occurrences take place. Lastly, on
page 116, Elie talks about his father’s passing, “There were no prayers at his grave. No
candles were lit to his memory. His last word was my name. A summons, to which I did
not respond.I don’t not weep, and it pained me I could not weep.” With this final
statement, you can see how he has progressed throughout the story, from a young
religious and loving boy, to a cold, tired, numb, emotionless, man.