Importance Of Witness In Witness

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Victor Vernick Mr. Kupersmith 1st Period 16 Tuesday, January 2018 Witness and ATDPTI Throughout the book, Witness, Esther has changed in multiple ways as a person and has changed her beliefs due to unexpected events. At the beginning of the novel, Esther believed that her mother, who was dead, lived in a place called “heaven” and was going to visit her by taking the “train to heaven” (71). After being told how death actually works, she had a better understanding of what happened to her mother and began to describe death as “the livings coming out of you” (77). Before finding out the real effects of being shot, Esther believed that getting shot wasn’t that bad after Ira Hirsh, her father, said, “sometimes you can get a shooting in the head and still be okay” (17). Towards the end of the novel, Ira…show more content…
For example, Reynard Alexander, the newspaper editor, clearly stated: “This paper is neutral. This editor is neutral. I have attempted to remain neutral in the face of the klan question and I intend to continue neutral until I have reason to do otherwise” (26). This example of naivete is dangerous because Mr. Alexander didn’t voice his opinions on the KKK until further in the novel which caused the klan to take over a small town in Vermont. Another example of a danger of naivete and an uninformed population is not following orders given to you and allowing yourself to become a target and in danger of being murdered. For example, Merlin van tornhout avoided poisoning the Sutter’s well. “When I couldn’t put the poison in the sutter’s well, I went to Harvey. He said they’d come after me, the klan would. I don’t have any choice but to run” (121). This example of naivete is dangerous because refusing to follow instructions, especially when being asked to kill somebody, will result in everyone coming after
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