Is it Worth it?

Some people are brave enough to risk their lives and welfare for others. Most people, though, believe that it is not worth it; that they are more important than others. Or not even that, but they are too selfish to die for anyone else. People might not mean it that way, but if you are willing to let someone, or something, suffer for your benefit, then that is what you are doing.

In Maus II, Vladek kills a mosquito the same way that his friends and bunkmates were killed: pesticide. He did this without thinking, but that is what the Germans did to the Jews. Even after the camps, he was willing to kill a "lower life form" because it was bothering him. He didn't care, the same way some people don't care that they are hunting and killing animals like leopards or even cows. It benefits them if they do it, and they don't care about what they kill if it is not their level of 'worthiness'. They are not willing to let the animal live, but they would expect to be kept alive if something was bothered by them. They can't find it in their hearts to spare the annoyance, and so they have a death on their hands, no matter what type of creature it is.

On the other hand, some people realize that they are equal to anyone else, and try to help them even if it risks their life. The person in charge at Elie's bunk in Night is one of these people. He gives a short welcome speech to the incoming Jews on page 41, and Elie wrote, "Those were the first human words". That officer was the only one that treated them like they were people. Later on, you find out that it cost him his job, if not his life. But he was willing to risk that to make the Jews feel like human beings. He knew that it wasn't worth it to hurt them more than they already were. It would be easier on them, and on his mind, to treat them well. For him, being nice was worth his life. Few people would do that, and he was one of them.