JFonseca, Blog 3

There must be some human instinct that everyone has to push their bodies to impossible limits. For example, Elie wrote, “I was putting one foot in front of the other, like a machine.” (Wiesel 85). This young boy was forced to run for a lengthy amount of time, with a recently operated foot, or he would be killed. Unfortunately, if I was in his position, would it have just been easier to die? It would end all his pain and agony; that’s how I felt as I read this text. I don’t know if I would have had the drive to keep pushing myself forward, I probably would have given up much longer. Both Elie and his father were staring at death every moment of every day.

                Throughout this entire journey, it has transformed Elie into a whole different person. For example, he questions, often, whether or not he should abandon his father. How could he do such a thing? He father has stayed by him, helped him and comforted him in his times of need. Now, he just wants to get rid of his father, to better himself? One day, a man says to the young prisoner, “In this place, there is no such thing as a father, brother, friend. Each of us lives and dies alone.” (110). Was this man right? Should Elie assist his father even if he is nearing death or abandon him in his time of need? I don’t know if I’d be able to turn my back on the ones I love, but this whole experience has recreated everyone. Also, he lost a lot of his faith in God. He couldn’t understand why the God he has prayed and worshiped all his life could allow these horrible acts to occur. He questioned his faith often and also denied some of his teachings. I would do the same thing, if the God I had been praying to for all my life decided to his back on his followers. This whole novel just proves how awful and unfair the world can be. Everyone is forced to be alone, and to survive alone. This whole experience transformed everyone who enters the gates of this tragic world.