In order to survive, people have been known to go to great lengths and to do things that they would not ordinarily do. We have an instinct for survival in us that will trigger us to fight for survival, some may react different. Some examples of people going to great lengths for survival are the boy killing his father for the bread, in The Night, In New York, there was a earthquake, and in Philadelphia, a woman saved herself on a plane that was soon to be engulfed by flames. People have done many things they wouldn’t ordinarily do for survival. In the novel The Night, a boy killed his father over bread for his own survival. In the novel, a father had thoughtfully kept himself and his son some bread, but after his son seen he was hiding the bread,
In the memoir, Night, author Elie Wiesel portrays the dehumanization of individuals and its lasting result in a loss of faith in God. Throughout the Holocaust, Jews were doggedly treated with disrespect and inhumanity. As more cruelty was bestowed upon them, the lower their flame of hope and faith became as they began turning on each other and focused on self preservation over family and friends. The flame within them never completely died, but rather stayed kindling throughout the journey until finally it stood flickering and idle at the eventual halt of this seemingly never-ending nightmare. Elie depicts the perpetuation of violence that crops up with the Jews by teaching of the loss in belief of a higher power from devout to doubt they endure.
... of this story is the will to survive. The will to survive is strong in all the characters though there are some who seem to expect they will die at any time. Lina is furious with herself when she stooped low enough to accept food thrown at her by the guards, but she does it anyway. Even the youngest children realize the need to endure the torture and survive. Jonas finds a barrel and comprehends that it could be made into a stove. Janina finds a dead owl and realizes that it could be eaten. This will to survive sometimes results in anger and selfishness, as seen in Ulyushka when forced to share her shack with Lina’s family.
Night by Elie Wiesel and First They Came for the Jew by Martin Niemoller both show two perspectives of people throughout the Holocaust. The poem by Niemoller is about him staying silent to survive because the people they were coming for where not his people he shows this by saying “I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.” The book by Wiesel talks about just staying alive because he knew his chances of living were not great but pushing through as he says in this quote “I could have gathered all my strength to break rank and throw myself into the barbed wire.” As stated in both quotes both Night and First They Came for the Jews share the theme of survival. Even though what they had to do to survive is different Niemoller has to stay quiet to survive, but Wiesel has to do much more then just stay silent even though he must do that too.
The significance of night throughout the novel Night by Elie Wiesel shows a poignant view into the daily life of Jews throughout the concentration camps. Eliezer describes each day as if there was not any sunshine to give them hope of a new day. He used the night to symbolize the darkness and eeriness that were brought upon every Jew who continued to survive each day in the concentration camps. However, night was used as an escape from the torture Eliezer and his father had to endure from the Kapos who controlled their barracks. Nevertheless, night plays a developmental role of Elie throughout he novel.
the known consequences and find their feelings of love for other humans ultimately lead to their
Elie’s father sacrificed his bread ration as a result of giving it to Elie. Elie’s father recognized his son’s hunger and desperation for food, and choose to put aside his own to ease his son’s. “I was dreadfully hungry and swallowed my ration on the spot… and seeing… that there was nothing left of my ration, he did not even begin his own. “Personally, I’m not hungry,” he said” (Wiesel 29). Elie’s father also exhibited empathy to a Jew named Meir Katz, during the ride to Buchenwald. Meir Katz had pried an unknown attacker off of Elie during the night, and the next day seemed to give up hope. “ “Chlomo, I’m getting weak. I’m losing my strength . i can’t hold on…”(Wiesel 68). Nevertheless, Elie’s father tried to revitalize Meir Katz’s dying hope. “ “Don’t let yourself go under… You must resist. Don’t lose faith in yourself.” ” (Wiesel 68). Elie’s father demonstrated kindness in attempting to motivate Meir Katz, and proffering his bread ration to
The best teachers have the capabilities to teach from first hand experience. In his memoir, Night, Elie Wiesel conveys his grueling childhood experiences of survival to an audience that would otherwise be left unknown to the full terrors of the Holocaust. Night discloses mental and physical torture of the concentration camps; this harsh treatment forced Elie to survive rather than live. His expert use of literary devices allowed Wiesel to grasp readers by the hand and theatrically display to what extent the stress of survival can change an individual’s morals. Through foreshadowing, symbolism, and repetition, Wiesel’s tale proves that the innate dark quality of survival can take over an individual.
To start with, we can see a multitude of real life examples of survival just through our television. Reality TV shows like Naked and Afraid and Man vs. Wild focus on people being pushed into survival situations. These shows help to demonstrate just how far humans will go to survive; participants eat bugs, create tools, and brave diseases. That’s not to mention all of the other real cases in which people have had to go out of their way to live. It happens every day, enough that we consider them commonplace. From events as big as the influx of Syrian refugees making dangerous journeys to Europe, trying to escape danger, to normal people having to take care of themselves after being caught in deadly situations such as house fires or car crashes.
and causes them to act. This may be the result of a stressful situation or
Elie Wiesel writes about his personal experience of the Holocaust in his memoir, Night. He is a Jewish man who is sent to a concentration camp, controlled by an infamous dictator, Hitler. Elie is stripped away everything that belongs to him. All that he has worked for in his life is taken away from him instantly. He is even separated from his mother and sister. On the other side of this he is fortunate to survive and tell his story. He describes the immense cruel treatment that he receives from the Nazis. Even after all of the brutal treatment and atrocities he experiences he does not hate the world and everything in it, along with not becoming a brute.
It is a novel based in a post-apocalyptic world that revolves around the lives of a father and his son who are just trying to survive. With everything around them destroyed and stripped of life, the two continue their lives hoping for better days to come. They live in a constant state of fear with everyday being spent constantly moving and scavenging for food, all while trying to remain unnoticed. Living in a world where survival is the only goal, the idea of morality has become non-existent. Cannibalism is a major fear because everyone around them is a potential predator. But in this “Barren, silent, godless” (The Road 4) world, where “the days more gray each one then what had gone before” (The Road 1), the man and his son are able to hold their own. Their sense of morality remains intact and they refuse to resort to the lifestyle that the majority of people around them have chosen. They feel as though certain actions are intrinsically wrong and therefore never justifiable. The man refers to himself and his son as the “good guys” and Erik J. Wielenberg explains that they follow a specific moral code. This code includes the rules: Don’t eat people, Don’t steal, Don’t lie, Keep your promises, Help others, and Never give up. (Wielenberg 4). According to these principles, cannibalism is never justifiable. Although the threat of starvation has caused the society to resort to cannibalism, the man and his son promise one another that regardless of the situation, they will refuse to do it. “We wouldn’t ever eat anybody, would we? ..No matter what?” The father assures his son by repeating, “No. No, matter what” (The Road
Suffering from the death of a close friend, the boy tries to ignore his feelings and jokes on his sister. His friend was a mental patient who threw himself off a building. Being really young and unable to cope with this tragedy, the boy jokes to his sister about the bridge collapsing. "The mention of the suicide and of the bridge collapsing set a depressing tone for the rest of the story" (Baker 170). Arguments about Raisinettes force the father to settle it by saying, "you will both spoil your lunch." As their day continues, their arguments become more serious and present concern for the father who is trying to understand his children better. In complete agreement with Justin Oeltzes’ paper, "A Sad Story," I also feel that this dark foreshadowing of time to come is an indication of the author’s direct intention to write a sad story.
Many people claim that one’s true nature is often exposed at times of fear. As seen in the classic novel entitled “Lord of the flies”, people become selfish and irrational at times of fear. One case in the novel was that the twins thought they saw a beast when it actually only was a dead corpse clung onto a parachute; another was that Jack wanted to be the leader only for his selfish reasons. Also seen in real stampedes (due to fires, earthquakes and criminal-related activities), some people solely think of their own safety and unconsciously hurt other people by bumping onto them (and not helping them stand up) or accidentally stepping on a part of another’s body (especially when one has fallen onto the floor); Although, there are people who
...th his mother. His mother was really important to him and the same goes his mother. “She reminded me daily that I was her sole son, her reason for living, and that if she were to lose me, in either body or spirit, she wished that God would mercifully smite her, strike her down like a weak branch” (166). He and his mother were very important to one another that she would really die if he was gone from her life. They share something important and that is food. Now that she has passed away he looks back on his life and thinks back to all the times they had together. The food that he ate as a child gave him such wonderful memories. Now it is something that he was able to do himself and every time he would make it, he would think about his mother and it makes him smile.
‘“Survival can be summed up in three words - never give up. That 's the heart of it really. Just keep trying,” said Bear Grylls. Unlike other animals, humans are unique and irreplaceable can do many things that other species can’t do. From the second a human being like creature has formed, there are always ways for humans to survive, not matter under what circumstances. Despite all the natural disasters , humans have found ways to survive.