Monday, February 14, 2011

Chapter 8 (pages 104-12): Final Days

Describe Elie's father's final days.

11 comments:

  1. Elie has consistently claimed his father was his reason to keep fighting, such as back during the march when Rabbi Eliahou's son killed himself and left his father. Elie's father, however, either feels no such feelings towards his son, or more likely, he knows his physical barriers are being broken too far. Elie's father has finally succumbed to the hopelessness of the other Jews who fought over bread... only this time, he has no will to survive. The other Jews relied on their survival instrinct and adrenaline... Elie's father has none whatsoever left. His morale is gone, the battle for his soul is lost - now he's just like the Ghost of Christmas Present, fading away gradually but surely. He is even carted to lie with the invalids, he's so out of it. Elie, driven by his love for his father, as well as his pillar of storge, won't give up on him... but he doesn't get a chance to say goodbye... the Germans carted him off, whether he was living or not, to the crematorium or dumped his body. And thus, the final string of hope Elie knew in the world... was gone forever.

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  2. Elie's fathers' death was long and agonizing. This part of the story is really sad. Not only did he die from natural causes but as he is dying a SS smashes his head in simply because he wouldn't keep quite. It makes me really sad to think that his last moments with his father were so distressful. Before his death, Elie's father is suffering from delirium. This causes him to act dependent, causing Elie to have those thoughts that he is so ashamed of. This is a truly terrible way to die. I feel sad to think of my own father, and to imagine him in this position. Happily, thinking of my father in this manner is impossible, so I'm glad but realize that I'm probably blocking these thoughts because I fear the distress that they will cause me.
    -Julieth Udozorh

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  3. I agree with Julieth. Elie's father's death WAS very long and agonizing. He suffered more in that time period, I belive, than he did in the whole time that he was in the camp. He did die of "Natural Causes" although we cannot be too certain of that. The books said that when Elie woke up, his father was gone so they very well could have sent him to the crematories or just buried him alive or something. We aren't 100% positive that he died a natural death although I think wee all would like to believe that it's true. However, the fact still remains that the SS soldiers were cruel and heartless. I would not put it past them to make Elie's father's last moment of life gruelsome. What upset me the most though is that Elie didn't get to say goodbye to him either. His sisters and mother were killed within the first few moments of walking into the first camp. He didn't think they were dying so he didn't say his goodbyes and now that his father was taken away while he was sleeping, he didn't get to say goodbye to him either. That's what would trouble me....

    ~~Yolanda

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  4. I agree with Chris, Elie's Father was Elie's reason to keep fighting, but his father either did not return the feeling or realized that he was beyond repair. Elie's father was mentally and physically worn out by the time he died, I don't think that he could have gotten any further even if he had survived the night. You could sense that his life was drawing to an end, his light going out, fading away into nothingness. I don't believe Elie was too surprised when his father was gone, but you could tell that he was both relieved and sad, since he was free of the burden, but at the same time his only surviving family member was gone forever. He went without giving Elie a chance to say goodbye.

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  5. Elies father final days were terrible. The journey to Buchenwald has fatally weakend Elie´s father. The father sits on the snow and refuses to move, it seems that he is just up to death. Elie tries to convince his father to move but he is asking only to be allowed to rest. Than an air raid alert drives everyone into the baracks and Elie falls asleep leaving his father behind. When Elie wakes up in the morning searching for his father, but he nows it is better for him to leave him behind. But than he accedentally finds his father unable to move and half sick. Elie brings his father some soup and coffee but he feels guitlt because part of him thinks he need the food for a chance of survival. Than Elies father becomes very sick andd now he has dysentry and it is better for him to not drink water. Than one day Elie wakes up and goes to his father barack but it was to late the father had already been taken to the crematorium.

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  6. After the evacuation, Elie’s dad was getting weaker every day. Elie’s dad knew that he was going to die very soon, he just wanted to go sleep and die but, Elie encourage him to stay alive. Elie’s dad was getting sick every day, and the doctors wouldn’t do anything about it or give food to the sick ones. They thought that it was a waste to give them food or medicine to the ones that were going to die very soon.
    Elie gave his dad bread and soup, but a man tells him that he should stop giving soup and bread because he will die soon, and Elie is just hurting himself. The day before Elie’s dad dies, Elie stays with his dad. The SS officer hit very hard on the dad’s head. Elie couldn’t do anything and just stayed frozen; he was scared that the officers would hit him. The next day when Elie woke up, his dad wasn’t there anymore; he was taken to the crematorium.

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  7. Even Elie’s father’s last days are agonizing and painful all the way up to his final breath. Elie’s father had fought to keep on living for the sake of his son. Over the course of these couple of months his father develops a bond with Elie that might have not been formed if they had not gone through the events in which they did go through. Throughout their life living in the camps, Elie’s father takes care of Elie and takes on all of the pain that he possibly can from his son. He takes punches, kicks, shoves, ridicule, and even hunger from his son, so that Elie does not have to suffer as much. But when the time comes to where Elie’s father has to be dependent on his son, Elie wants no part of this bond that they had. Maybe just for split seconds Elie wishes to get rid of his father, but he quickly retracts when he thinks of all the things they had gone through together, and also the fact that he is his father. During the last couple of months the tables turn for Elie and his father, now Elie’s father can no longer act like the father, now it is Elie’s turn to take care of his father. His father is old, exhausted, starving, and has no more energy to keep going. Elie’s father is slowly going insane on his last day, while he lays there in delirium he can no longer process things clearly. He is now like a baby that has to be taken care of and protected. But Elie has enough to deal with, and with all of the exhaustion Elie does not even get to say goodbye to his father when they take him away, Elie is deep in sleep when his poor, fatigued, lifeless father is taken away.
    -Cecilia

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  8. I do not have any words to explain how bad i felt after reading this last chapter. Elie’s dad last days were horrible, he was weak and could not go on he knew that this was going to be his last days. Eli was such a good son those days he would tell them “come on you can do it” or “don’t fall asleep because you won’t wake up.”He was so caring; he shared half of his meals, or even sometimes would eat! Eli’s dad kept on fighting, until his eyes closed and could not go on with life. Even if it was heartbreaking, how he died and how he kept on fighting he was beside his son. That for me will just me so special, but at the same time sad.

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  9. Everyone agrees that these days were constant nightmares, including me. Going weeks trying to survive from starvation and thirst and men with weapons who hate the fact your breathing the same air as them. Then your own people begin to lose their link they have with their morales as well, and start to fight you, even beat you for a small piece of bread. Witnessing burning of people, the whippings, just human turture in public. After all this Elie and his father are still fighting, but then it is nothing more, but a obvious fact that Elie's dad is dying. He had lost his will to keep going, not because he was a quiter, but because physically he could not take anything anymore. Soon becomin so weak where he is unable to move, the prisoners around him beat him and take his food with ease. Then when sick the SS men still beat him after his sickness. Elie watches all of this andcannot do anthything about it or he may be executed. Then his father ends up dying, and i feeling of relief, instead of greef comes upon him. But who really knows how they would feel if this were to happen to them,so many things happened that change everything.

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  10. Elie’s father’s final days were long and painful. Throughout this whole section of the book, I always wondered when and how Elie’s father would die, but finding out that he was just sent to a crematorium without any warnings, I felt really sad. Every day, Elie’s father would tell him that he could no longer live, that he would soon die, but Elie was always there to encourage him. Elie’s father was very weak, and he was not the same person. He could not go to work, so many times, Elie had to give in a whole ration of bread to be able to see his father. Elie always tried to make time to stay with his father, share some soup with him, and encourage him to keep on living. One day, the Blockalteste comes to tell Elie that he should understand that his father will die sooner or later, and there is nothing he or anyone else can do about it. Elie’s father had no hope. On January 29, 1945, Elie found that on his father’s cot lay another person, and that his father been taken to the crematorium.

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