Chapter two of "Night" by Elie Weisel is when young sixteen-year-old Elie's life changes forever. After exiting the convoy that transported the Jews to Birkenau, the first thing they saw was a chimney with smoke coming out the top. I am sure at first, the Jews did not think the smoke was coming from their burnt community members. However, the members of the Sighet community were going to soon find out of the inhuman like treatment the Jews were receiving from the Nazis. Elie was separated from his mother and sister while he remained with his mother, this was to be the last time he would ever see them. I do not blame Elie for losing his faith during this tragic time. He quickly lost his faith in God and his religion. I am guessing he assumed God would not allow such horrible and inhumane things to happen while he had the power to stop it. From this point on, Elie did not pray. For Elie everything had happened so fast, this gave him little to no time to react to what is happening. Everything for Elie is relatively new. Elie most likely became depressed and lost his humanity because of how quickly everything escalated. I truly feel sincere for Elie and all others that went through the same thing he did, and I acknowledge and understand how easy it would have been to lose faith and humanity.
This week we began the story "Night" by Eli Wiesel, a holocaust survivor. He lived in Romania, in the Seghet community, with his family and jewish neighbors. World War II began in many of Romania's neighboring countries. The neighboring countries had either been invaded or allied with Germany. Life for Eli escalated very quickly in the mid 1940s. Moishe the Beadle, a friend of Eli, warns his jewish community of terrible murderous actions that the German Nazis did. However, the community thought he was either mad or wanted the pity of those in the community. Moishe was not wrong. In 1944, The Seghet community, Eli's jewish community, was forced into ghettos by the Hungarian police and Nazi officers. As they adjusted to the new life style, they were moved to a smaller ghetto. They did not stay there very long. They were then transported to a labor camp via convoy.
I am personally amazed by the fact that the Sighet community did not leave as soon as they were given some obvious signs. Neighboring countries were wither being invaded or allied by Germany. The biggest clue was when Moishe the Beadle told the community his story. Why did they stay where they were and continue on with their lives while a large war was going on? Did they not think that they could be invaded. Information outside the story tells us that during the war the people of Romania awaited the Red Army (Russians) to meet the Germans and that would eventually lead to the end of the war. However, considering the fact that Germany was becoming very large and invading much land, they should not have had so much hope in the Red Army and flee their current land. Even if the Red Army was able to encounter and stop the Germans at their western border, the people of Romania should have left just as a precaution. However, I do understand that all of this might have been hard to take in, interpret, and act upon in the short time they had. Everything escalated very quickly for Eli and his family which is why his family and his Jewish community ended up in a labor camp.
This week in class we watched the first half of the film "To Kill A Mockingbird" directed by Robert Mulligan. This story is also a novel written by Harper Lee. The beginning of the film is mostly about the childhood memories of Jem and Scout Finch is Macomb, Alabama during the 1930s. Scout has been a tomboy all her life, but when she begins school she is forced to change her ways. She must wear dresses and act accordingly. However, the hardest part for Scout is composing herself so she does not fight at school. This is hard for Scout because she is naturally aggressive but more importantly the children at school tease her about her father. Atticus Finch, Scout's father, is lawyer and has been appointed to defend a black man accused of rape. The people of the county are upset that Atticus is doing more than necessary to defend this black man. For this reason the children at school give Scout a hard time. Atticus forbids Scout from fighting to teach her to be lady-like, and because it negatively reflects him. In conclusion, the first half of the story is the childhood struggles/adventures Jem and Scout go through. All of these events lead up to the trial that begins in the second half of the movie.
This week in class we read a story called "The Lady, or The Tiger" by Frank Stockton. The story takes place most likely during the time of the Roman Empire. However, in this land the king is cruel and has a ridiculous system of justice. He makes all of his people enter a public arena for trial, except this trial is unlike any other. Within the arena are two doors, one with a lady behind it and the other with a tiger. The person within the arena would be unaware of what was behind it. If the person in the arena were to choose the door with the lady they were declared innocent and were given the opportunity to marry a beautiful woman on the spot. If one were to choose the other door with Tiger behind it they would be declared guilty and mauled by the beast on the spot. It seems this system of justice is more for the entertainment of the King rather than to do what is just. Conflict arises when the king's daughter's ;over must enter the arena for trial. The woman behind one of the doors was one of the most beautiful women of all the land and the daughter despised her with a passion. As her lover enters the arena, many thoughts circle her mind. One being the thought of telling her lover which door choose, what would her father do to her? She thought about which outcome she's prefer, her lover marrying another woman, or have her lover brutally murdered. She finally decides to signal her lover to a door without her father seeing her. As her lover opens the door the story ends. Although it does not state the outcome, I believe she told her lover to choose the door with the tiger because she could not bare to live with her lover marrying another woman.
Scout also known as Jean Louise Finch is tomboy who grew up in Maycomb, Alabama as an outsider. The town of Macomb sees the current generation of the Finches (Jem and Scout) as a disappointment to the entire Finch. In previous generations the females were mature and well-mannered women and the males were mature and well behaved men. Jem and Scout have not met the expections held by Maycomb. The time period of the story is in 1930s and at this time women were expected to be disciplined, well-mannered, and dress accordingly. They were expected to always wear dresses and do house work, and as a girl they were expected to play inside with dolls. However, Scout did not do any of this, she instead played as the boys did and dressed as the boys did. For this Scout was looked down upon by all of Maycomb. Being a young innocent girl, I do not think Scout was old enough to care about what the adults of Maycomb said about her. Atticus was also a big reason why the Finches were know seen as outsiders, he defends a black man accused of rape. Scout was made fun of a lot at school for this and she originally dealt with it by beating up those kids. Atticus however, asked her to stop and just shake it off any time someone said something about Atticus defending a black man. Scout did as she was told to do. In conclusion, Scout is an outsider to the rest of Maycomb because she is a misbehaved tomboy whose father is defending a black man, but she deals with the issue very maturely in the end. |
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