He was summoned by a nurse to hear the dying confessions of an SS Nazi soldier. The soldier wanted forgiveness on behalf of all Jewish people for the things he had done to their fellow brothers. He asked for forgiveness as he was dying because he was afraid that his soul would not be able to rest eternally unless he was forgiven. Simon tries continuously to leave the room in fear of his own life, and also because of his learned hatred of Nazis. He stays and listens to the dying man out of pity and also because the soldier asks and begs him not to leave.
He utilizes a type of silence to illustrate the characters’ beliefs and emotions. Chaim Potok’s use of silence helps to demonstrate the complete distraught of the Anti-Zionist Hasidic League during the bloody fight in Palestine. The League grew oddly silent with the comings of more violence in Palestine. “…as the toll of Jewish dead increased daily, Reb Saunders’ league grew strangely silent” (pg.240). The silence of the Hasids showed just how depressed they were during this time.
Due to abusive treatment Elie witnesses and endures at the hands of the Nazis during WWII, he is stripped of his former self and loses his identity. Growing up, Elie was a strong believer in God. As time passed while living in the concentration camps, Elie began to lose faith in God. Many were filled with grief realizing that the God they were so loyal to abandoned them when they were subject to such cruelty. This caused several Jews, including Elie, to rebel against their religious upbringing by not fasting on Yom Kippur, an important Jewish holiday.
Sunflower Wiesenthal’s belief of forgiveness is very right and frank: you cannot forgive someone who has not gone through the same tragedies and begs for your forgiveness, as if you are the representative of the whole who was suffered. I believe Wiesenthal should not have forgiven the dying Nazi soldier, although it was a dying man’s wise to be forgiven of mistreating the Jews. The soldier had no experience whatsoever in the tortures the Jews faced daily. The Jews embraced death every second of their painful lives and for some odd reason never decided to revolt against this tyrannical German government. This just shows that the Jews looked like the biggest danger or threat they faced while living in the concentration camps, was losing their
And my favorite targets were the bible and God. But there was a legal limit to how much time one could be kept in solitary. Eventually, the men in the cellblock had a name for me: “satin.” Because of my anti religious attitude.”(Malcolm X, 156) Throughout his hustling days Malcolm completely rejected religion. And as a result rebelled from society and began to reject the so called “assimilating negroes.” I would argue that having a religion gives people moral standards to live buy some of those moral standards include no cheating, no lying, and no stealing. Malcolm made his living lying, cheating, and steeling.
Hurst uses foreshadowing in this story as well. “The doctor said that he mustn’t get too excited, too hot, too cold, or too tired and that he must always be treated gently. A long list of don’ts went with him, all of which I ignored once we got out of the house” (Hurst 345) Brother says himself that he ignores the information that Doodle is very fragile, and later Doodle dies because of his insolence and childish frustration. Another element
Instead, the book shows man inability to give up. Throughout the novel Billy just wants to give up and die, and through no fault of his own, he is unable to achieve this. Billy feels no pride in fighting for individual liberty in World War II, although I understand that his experiences in Dresden are perhaps a great cause of this, I think he would have felt the same way had he not been in Dresden. Billy shows none of the pride and enthusiasm of fighting against Communism that we commonly associate with World War II. Perhaps this is another reason that this book has been censored.
No matter what the situation was, he believed God had a plan, and a good reason behind all that he did. Even when the news of Nazi’s crimes against the Jews reached his town, he as well as the others remained faithful that God would not allow such a thing. They almost did not believe the rumors all together. But things began to take turn when God did not save them, contrary to what they thought. They too became victims of the Nazi crimes and were hauled away to camps.
Primo Levi’s Survival in Auschwitz illustrates humanity at an all time low. Levi paints a vivid, morbid (but analytical) picture of human suffering, helplessness, and barbarity. His personal account questions what it means to be human, how humanity is destroyed, and if it is even possible to restore it. Throughout the text, Levi states that it is worthless to have hope in the Lager, and he frequently looks down upon his peers who believe everything will be ok in the end. In Chapter 16, Levi comes to the realization that no matter the outcome, there will be no happy ending for any one of them.
The holocaust was a time for pain and despair. You could not show your emotions because the Nazis would see you as weak and an easy target to make suffer. One of the survivors said “If you cried, you died” and in Auschwitz that was a harsh reality. What he meant is that you had to be strong in Auschwitz or you could simply not last. Although humans have manners and are kind to one another there is still a seed of cruelty in each and every one of us.