Does Elie Have The Right To Lie Essay

In a couple parts of the story Elie’s dad in many ways was jeopardizing Elie’s well being. For instance, when his father was sick. “Instead of him taking the extra bread he had gotten he gave it to his dad” There was no point because his father was gonna die either way so he basically wasted it. Another example of why family isn’t always the best thing to have during a crisis. Is when the “rabbi's son left him when they were forced to run away from the Americans/ Russians”. He did this because he thought his father was dragging him down so he slipped away and left him to ultimately die alone. Which still doesn’t justify what he did, but i’m sure he did it to save his own life because his father was slowing him down. Another example would be when they were on the train the second time and a SS officer threw a piece of bread into the cart just to watch the men fight over it. While they were fighting Elie describes a point where “a man actually beats his own father for a piece of bread”(Wiesel Pg.105). These are just two of many instances throughout the

Elie and his family never thought the rumors would ever reach them. Until one day it did. Sending them to ghettos, making them leave their lives behind. “I looked at my house in which I had spent years seeking my God, fasting to hasten the coming of the Messiah, imagining what my life would be like later. Yet I felt little sadness. My mind was empty.” (page 19) Elie didn’t know what to think. No one had a clue as to where they were going to be located now. The place where he used to worship his god was beginning to be taken away from him. He doesn’t realize that his god would make him feel so betrayed and little

"Let them know here lived men and not pigs". "So we were men after all" (84)? This whole time they were being treated like animals and just how they are recognized as men, Elie is mad. Again they were starved but this time they found a way to feel a bit fuller. "As we were not permitted to bend down we took our spoons and ate the snow off our neighbors' back. A mouthful of bread and a spoonful of the snow. The SS men who were watching were greatly amused by the spectacle" (96). It seemed to be the more that Jews were humiliated the SS men enjoyed more.

In the book, our narrator, Elie, is constantly going through changes, and almost all of them are due to his time spent in Auschwitz. Prior to the horrors of Auschwitz, Elie was a very different boy, he had a more optimistic outlook on life. During the first few pages of the book, Elie tells us a bit about how he viewed the world before deportation, “ I was almost thirteen and deeply observant. By day I studied Talmud and by night I would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the temple.” ( 3). Elie was, as he says himself, deeply observant and devoted most of his time to his faith. He spent almost all of his time studying and worshiping. At this point, Elie’s faith is the center of his life. Elie is also shown to do a few other things and has a few more early character traits aside from being dedicated to what he believes in. Elie also sees the best of people, a few pages later he says, “The news is terrible,’ he said at last. And then one word: ‘transports’ The ghetto was to be liquidated entirely… ‘Where will they take us?” (Wiesel 14). This is one of the only time we hear about Elie being worried or scared because of the Germans before Auschwitz, and still, despite the warnings that were given and the rumors circulating, Elie doesn’t think that the Germans are actually going to do all of those terrible things. Around this time in the book, Wiesel starts to become more emotionally weighted, but none of what has happened takes full effect until much later. There are multiple instances in the book where Elie is given reason to distrust or even hate the Germans, he talks about how the Gestapo treated him and his family on page 19 “‘Faster! Faster! Move, you lazy good-for-nothings!’ the Hungarian police were screaming.”. Yet he then goes on to say, on that very same page, that “Still our first

In the speech, Elie lectured on the effects of indifference. He talked about how indiferente is dangerous because it blurs the line between good and bad. The reason the speech was not as powerful is because it has no storyline. As a reader we gain certain qualities from hearing the testimonys of others. The speech has facts from different points in history but there is no series of events. On the other hand, the book was full of hardship and resilience. Through the memoir, the reader can connect with a Elie's emotions of hopelessness, loss of faith and anger but also can be strengthened and learn to be tolerant thought his survival. Elie was angry at the God, for not being present and not having compassion on his people, “ Blessed be God's name? Why, but why would I blessed him? Every fiber in me rebelled” (67). Everyone has experienced anger because of something that goes wrong in their life and can relate to Elie when he was angry. The reader can also learn to be tolerant to things we dislike, instead of seeking vengeance as Elie was towards the SS men, “And even when we were no longer hungry, not one of us thought of revenge” (115). Elie had been through so much yet he didn't seek vengeance. Although he hadn't forgiven the SS men, he didn't wish harm to them, and that takes a lot of strength. We can learn from this because we need to just let things go

I am going to argue why lying is immoral no matter who you might be lying to, friends, family, and even someone you do not know. This is immoral because even though lying to someone may bring relief or happiness it’s still hiding the truth from that person. Hiding something they deserve to know even though it may hurt them may also be a form of lying. There are many situations where lying may end friendships, relationships, or even tare families apart because most people want to know the truth no matter how harsh, because eventually the truth may come out. In addition to hiding information, there are also other forms of lying. Telling someone false information as well as withholding information are forms of lying. The worst part about telling a lie is that the more you do it the more comfortable one may become. Lying becomes a habit to many people, a habit they have a hard time breaking. Lying can simply be defined in one word, deception.

That was what life in a concentration camp had made of me...”.Even though he wanted to stand up for his father he didn’t do anything and watched Idek beating his father because he was too scared to get beaten by Idek,just like his father did. Other example might include on page 109,when at the end he stands up for his father against his neighbors and insults them; he says, “I began to insult his neighbors. They mocked me. I promised them bread, soup. They laughed. Then they got angry; they could not stand my father any longer, they said, because he no longer was able to drag himself outside to relieve himself.”.He stood up for his father but he didn’t dare to threaten the neighbors and be braver against them and protect his father from his neighbors. These were examples were Elie wanted to stand up for him self or his father but he didn’t or when he did he didn’t do it seriously, because he was too scared. If he stood up for himself/his father the kommandant might have killed him but at least he would’ve died with bravery and his daring. He should have been more serious and speak

Wiesel’s mind set changed greatly from the torment he withstood during this time in his life. Mr. Wiesel applies strong emotions to events that normally others would not, which, for example he stated one page one hundred that while in Aden “Our ship’s passengers amused themselves by throwing coins to the “natives,” who dove to retrieve them. An elegant Parisia lady took great pleasure in this game.” This game made two children fight fiercely, just like the prisoners did when germans threw bread pieces into the wagon they were in. This shows that certain things remind Eliezer of his experience in the holocaust and cause him to have flashbacks which overwhelm him with emotions that most others in his situation would not have. ELiezer’s view on what others do and why also changed. When Rabbi Eliahu came looking for his son, Elie remembered seeing the son abandon the Rabbi while they were running. Eliezer thought it was terrible and prayed that he would never do the same to his father. Then on page one hundred five Elie stated “I knew that I was longer arguing with him but with Death itself, with Death that he had already chosen.” right before he went inside of the block and left his father in the cold to die. When Elie left his father outside, his actions showed that he was like the Rabbi’s son. He wanted to survive and being with someone else was a burden to him and would make his life harder than it already was. These two reasons show that Elie’s mind was changed in major ways during this dark time in history but, something more important was changed

On page 62 after he witnesses the young child being hung he states “Where is He? Here He is-He is hanging here on this gallows.” At this point the reader can infer that Elie has mostly given up on his faith and has become more aimless and lost. When his father passes away near the end of the book he doesn’t even say a prayer or anything of the sort as stated on page 106 with “There were no prayers at his grave. No candles were lit in his memory.” Elie had finally given up on his faith and had not turned into a beast or a brute, but into a man with nothing to do and nowhere to

One night, the leaders of Buna had left a cauldron of soup out, no one had dared to go near it but one man. The man was so hungry and was on the brink of madness and he no longer cared if he was going to die, he just wanted food and this is what led him to being killed. “Then, for no apparent reason, he let out a terrible scream, a death rattle such as I had never heard before and, with open mouth, thrust his head toward the still steaming liquid.”. During the first selection, Elie was terrified of being selected and getting killed. This led to him thinking about all the reason why he should be killed and how he was most likely going to be selected. “ My head was spinning: you are too skinny…yo u are too weak…yo u are too skinny, you are good for the ovens …”. When Elie’s father died, he didn’t cry or show any sadness whatsoever. Elie was so numb with the pain he had gone through that he was no longer capable of feeling. “I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep. But I was out of tears. And deep inside me, if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble

First Elie started to lose his faith. He wanted to believe that his mom and sister were kept safe but he was losing his faith. “We pretended for what if one of us still did believe” (Wiesel 46). He started losing his faith after him and his mom and sister got separated which has a big effect on his identity. He stayed silent in hard times. Elie was abused for no reason but he chose not to say anything about it. “As I bit my lips in order not to howl in pain” (Wiesel 53). Instead of standing up for himself, he lost his will to speak. One of the major points when he lost his identity, was when he lost his name. Elie’s identity was taken from him when they took away his name and called him by a number instead. “I became A-1137. From then one I had no other name” (Wiesel 42). When he lost his name he was no longer the same person he was before the holocaust. Elie felt like he needed to speak for all the Jews the lost their identity that couldn’t speak for

In the beginning of the book, before experiencing life threatening difficulties, Elie was much more determined to stay with his family (in order to survive). Eliezer thought that his father was what kept him going and gave him strength, he was certain that the right thing to do was to stay with his dad. In chapter 3 Wiesel states, “My hand tightened its grip on my father. All I could think of was not to lose him. Not to remain alone” (30). In these sentences, Elie explains that he and his father needed to stay together. This quote also shows what Elie’s emotions were; he was scared to suffer through the concentration camp alone. Elie also shows his need for family when he says, “Franek, the foreman, assigned me to a corner... ‘Please, sir ... I’d like to be near

Why do you think the prisoner told Elie and his father to lie about their ages?

At this point in the story, Elie rarely showed the slightest glimpse or belief in a higher power. He started to decline in hope and questioned every move of his father and all of the prisoners he gazed upon. An example of this rare occasion is when they are running in chapter six and seven. Elie witnessed a split of father and son without realizing that the son intentionally left his father in the dust. He later met a Rabbi who lost his son while they were running. Rabbi Eliahou fathered the son that Elie watched disappear into the group. Rabbi Eliahou did not realize that his son gave up on him and continued on without him. Elie vowed that he would never leave his father in the way that Rabbi Eliahou's son left him. “Oh god, Master of the Universe, give me the strength never to do what Rabbi Eliahou's son has done” ( Wiesel,87 ). Elie did not realize that with that statement he planted a seed of religion in his garden. It may seem acute but this monumental part caused the reaction of the

When Stein, a forgotten relative, approached Eliezer and his father on their eight day of living in the concentration camp, Auschwitz, he wanted information on his wife and two kids whom Eliezer's mother had corresponded with in the past. Stein and his family had been separated two years ago and he desperately wanted to know how they were doing. While Eliezer did not have any knowledge about Stein's family, caught between indecision, he decided to lie. He