Monday, February 14, 2011

Chapter 5 (pages 66-84): Inheritance

What is the significance of the spoon and the knife?

5 comments:

  1. By this time, Elie and his father had lost hope of returning home. Back home, Elie's father may have not been extremely rich with a mansion and a Porsche in the drive way, but they were well off, to the point that they had to bury their gold and valuables in the cellar. But in camp, they had nothing but the clothes on their backs and their bodies. And not even that, their clothes and their bodies could be rid of if the Nazis willed it. Elie's father was one of the fortunate that had maybe a little more than just that. He had the luxury of a spoon and a knife. He wanted his son to have them and not be completely alone in the world once he was gone. He had nothing else to his name he could give to his son to make his life easier but these things. If his father was back home, what he could offer him was way more than he can offer him now. But I think that by being in this situation, Elie and his father can appreciate their relationship more. If his father had really died, Elie would have held those simple utensils as holy relics. If they had lived in a normal situation, Elie wouldn't have thought much about his father's inheritance as love, but as duty.

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  2. Elie’s father gives Elie the spoon and the knife as inheritance and parting gifts. All the Weisel family had left was a spoon, a knife, little clothes that could be taken in any second, and themselves. They had been stripped of almost all their belongings and had been transported to a horrible place. Before coming to the concentration camp, they had money, food, a house, etc. and it was all lost when they came to Auschwitz. Elie’s father had been called by the Nazis to see if he could still work or not. He thought that he was going to die and wanted to give Elie his last possessions. Elie’s father was basically helpless when this happened because he couldn’t argue with the Nazis. Luckily, he managed to convince the Nazi officer that he was healthy and was able to survive.

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  3. The knife and the spoon were the inherintance from Elie's father to Elie. The spoon and the knife were the last things the Wiesels had. The father gave his "possesions" to his son right after he noticed that he was chosen as one of the weakest old Jews. The father ran to Elie and told him that he had to stayin the camp. Elie was stressed, the last relative he had by his side was going to die! In that moment Elie's father told Elie that there was going to be one more selection, a decisive one. This helped Elie to calm down a little bit. Seconds later, Elie's father was telling Elie so many things so rapidly that Elie barely understood, the father had so many things to talk about, but he felt that time was running out. To end his speech, he gave Elie the spoon and the knife. The father said that Elie should not sell them because they could be useful one day. Saying this last words, Elie's group left the camp. After some days, Elie say his father again, he had somehow conviced the officers that he was very healthy and strong.

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  4. The spoon and the knife was the inheritance Elies father had left him. It was all he had left, he gave most of his posessions to Elie when he noticed he had been picked as not a very strong jew. Elie was very sad and depressed about what had happened, and felt like he was going to die also. His father told him never to sell that fork and knife because one day they would be very usefull for him.

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  5. This is all fake the inheritance was a spoon and a knife.it represents food and strength. It symbolizes health

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