Every Man for Himself

     "A few days after my visit, the dentist's office was shut down. He had been thrown into prison and was about to be hanged. It appeared that he had been dealing dealing in the prisoners gold teeth for his own benefit. I felt no pity for him. In fact, I was pleased with what was happening to him; my gold crown was safe." This line, on page 52 in Night by Elie Wiesel is a big turning-point in the story because it is when Elie finally gives into the holocaust state of mind. He realizes that the in Concentration Camps, it's one man for himself. He can no longer feel sympathy for anybody, because when anything you do can lead to your death, sympathy is a weakness. During the Holocaust, you could hardly look after yourself, so looking after somebody else was almost destined to fail. That is where Elie's problems started. Because he felt an obligation to look after his frail father. He knew that the temptations to leave his father alone to die would be strong when he had to save himself. On page 91, a rabbi comes to Elie asking if he's seen who's son. Elie realizes that his son had given in to the temptations and left his father to look after himself. This is where Elie realizes how hard it will be to keep by his father. 

        "Yet at the same time a thought crept into my mind: If only I couldn't find him! If only I were relieved of this responsibility,  I could use all my strength to fight for my own survival, to take care only of myself." This line, on page 106, is when the temptation grow stronger and Elie seriously considers leaving his father to the cruelness of the snow and the Nazis. I wonder if Elie had survived if he hadn't decided to stay with his father. I think that because he had motivation to keep his father alive, he had motivation to keep himself alive. So I don't think he would have survived. Especially because it seems like Elie was extroadinarily lucky to have survived. To leave his father would be testing his luck. 

    One thing that I thought about a lot in this book is how ungrateful Elie was of how lucky he was to live through the Holocaust. He writes about his anger towards God, which I understand in his situation, but it didn't seem as if he was realizing that even in this terrible situation, he still got lucky. He got placed in good Kommandos, he had good connections, and to me it seemed like luck only was the difference between the people that were put in the Ovens and the ones who came out alive and became a famous writer. Elie Wiesel writes that in Concentration Camps there was no God, but he survived unlike his entire family, unlike 6 million Jews that were killed in the Concentration. God or no, Elie Wiesel still got the better end of the deal.