“…Then I remembered something else: his son had seen him losing ground, limping, staggering back to the rear of the column. He had seen him. And he continued to run on in the front, letting the distance between them grow greater.
A terrible thought loomed up in my mind: he had wanted to get rid of his father!”
This is another incredibly powerful quote from the book: Night. It was possibly the qoute that shoked me the most in the whole book. To suffer so much for so much time that you end up wanting to lose your own father, I really just cannot imagine such despair. Especially after the things that Elie Weisel says about Rabbi Eliahou (the father), because he portrays him as a nice and compassionate figure. I feel that to be on the brink of abandoning your weakened father for YOUR own sake is selfish and it simply doesn't fit in my mind how someone could do that. There were other quotes similar to this one, for example: Some guy beat his own father to death for a piece of bread, and Elie himself couldn't do anything to try and save his own father after he got sick.
Monday, March 19, 2007
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Dialectic Journaling ~ Night II
"Behind me, I heard the same man asking:
"Where is God now?"
And I heard a voice within me answer him:
"Where is he? Here He is-- He is hanging here on this gallows. . . .""
This is another quote of Elie Weisel questioning his faith. This is a thought that takes place after Elie Weisel and the other Jews are forced to witnessthe hangings of three men. Two were adults, and it was actually normal now to see adults being hanged, but there was a little kid no more that thirteen who was also hung. In the book he says that when they passed by him he was so light that he was still alive, grasping for air. Out of that whole page I chose the segment above, because of the incredible poetic power that it has, it moved me when I read it, and I felt that it would be a key element to the rest of the book.
"Where is God now?"
And I heard a voice within me answer him:
"Where is he? Here He is-- He is hanging here on this gallows. . . .""
This is another quote of Elie Weisel questioning his faith. This is a thought that takes place after Elie Weisel and the other Jews are forced to witnessthe hangings of three men. Two were adults, and it was actually normal now to see adults being hanged, but there was a little kid no more that thirteen who was also hung. In the book he says that when they passed by him he was so light that he was still alive, grasping for air. Out of that whole page I chose the segment above, because of the incredible poetic power that it has, it moved me when I read it, and I felt that it would be a key element to the rest of the book.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Dialectic Journaling ~ Night
"For the first time, I felt a revolt rise up in me. Why should I bless His name? The Eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible, was silent. What had I to thank Him for?
This is what Elie Weisel is thinking to himself right before he is supposed to be killed in the crematories. I myself have doubted, and I believe that everybody has done so too doubted if God really exists. Because if he did, we wouldn't suffer as much as we sometimes do, the pain, the fear. It is part of the human being to be curious, and when things don't go your way it is completely normal to doubt if this is really happening. But like the older men in the book said: "You must never lose faith, even when the sword hangs over your head." And so we must not lose faith in God, but more importantly, I believe that we must never lose faith in ourselves.
This is what Elie Weisel is thinking to himself right before he is supposed to be killed in the crematories. I myself have doubted, and I believe that everybody has done so too doubted if God really exists. Because if he did, we wouldn't suffer as much as we sometimes do, the pain, the fear. It is part of the human being to be curious, and when things don't go your way it is completely normal to doubt if this is really happening. But like the older men in the book said: "You must never lose faith, even when the sword hangs over your head." And so we must not lose faith in God, but more importantly, I believe that we must never lose faith in ourselves.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Perils of Indifference
"What is indifference? Etymologically, the word means "no difference." A strange and unnatural state in which the lines blur between light and darkness, dusk and dawn, crime and punishment, cruelty and compassion, good and evil. What are its courses and inescapable consequences? Is it a philosophy? Is there a philosophy of indifference conceivable? Can one possibly view indifference as a virtue? Is it necessary at times to practice it simply to keep one's sanity, live normally, enjoy a fine meal and a glass of wine, as the world around us experiences harrowing upheavals?"
Answer Elie Weisel's questions to the best of your ability. Use your heart, your mind, your understanding of human nature, and historical evidence. A minimum of 300 words is expected.
Indifference. In the words of Elie Weisel, “Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred…Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy…” Yes, etymologically the word means “no difference”, but in a human level it is “not to care”, and according Mr. Weisel, “in a way to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman.” And this kind of behavior is what has allowed so many genocides to occur. From the Holocaust to Kosovo, China’s and India’s gendercides and even the current Darfur genocide. Yes, none of those is any different than the other, they are all the result of racism, violence, power, but above all, indifference and inactivity. “It is much easier to look away from victims”, nobody wants to know how many people die in genocides, nobody wants to know how much suffering there is on third world countries, nobody is interested in anything that will make them feel bad about themselves, and that’s why there is so much indifference. The human being doesn’t like feeling bad, or sad; they rather be happy, or even angry, because those feelings are vivid, like fire. Sadness on the other hand is depressive. It is part of human nature to avoid that.
Answer Elie Weisel's questions to the best of your ability. Use your heart, your mind, your understanding of human nature, and historical evidence. A minimum of 300 words is expected.
Indifference. In the words of Elie Weisel, “Indifference, after all, is more dangerous than anger and hatred…Indifference elicits no response. Indifference is not a response. Indifference is not a beginning; it is an end. And, therefore, indifference is always the friend of the enemy…” Yes, etymologically the word means “no difference”, but in a human level it is “not to care”, and according Mr. Weisel, “in a way to be indifferent to that suffering is what makes the human being inhuman.” And this kind of behavior is what has allowed so many genocides to occur. From the Holocaust to Kosovo, China’s and India’s gendercides and even the current Darfur genocide. Yes, none of those is any different than the other, they are all the result of racism, violence, power, but above all, indifference and inactivity. “It is much easier to look away from victims”, nobody wants to know how many people die in genocides, nobody wants to know how much suffering there is on third world countries, nobody is interested in anything that will make them feel bad about themselves, and that’s why there is so much indifference. The human being doesn’t like feeling bad, or sad; they rather be happy, or even angry, because those feelings are vivid, like fire. Sadness on the other hand is depressive. It is part of human nature to avoid that.
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