night+essay+samuel

Samuel A. Castaneda 11/5/11 World Literature 3-4 Did He Abandon? What would you do if the only way to survive was to abandon your loved ones? During the Holocaust in the 1940s, all of the prisoners had to decide whether or not to abandon their loved ones in order to survive. One example was Elie, from the book __Night__, who had to decide whether or not to abandon his father when he was sent to a concentration camp during the Holocaust. In the book __Night,__ the author Elie Wiesel did not abandon his father because he prevented his dad from giving up, brought him help when he needed it, and prevented them from being separated. Elie didn’t abandon his father because he prevented his dad from giving up. Throughout the story, Elie’s father had times when he wanted to give up. One example was when Elie and his father were marching to a new camp and his father wanted to rest on the snow. But Elie knew sleeping on the snow could kill you. So then he stopped his dad from falling asleep. “Father!, I howled. Father! Get up! Right now! You will kill yourself…”(105). Basically, this quote is saying that Elie doesn’t want his father to give up and die. So Elie tells him to keep going and try to survive. This proves that Elie didn’t abandon his father because he stopped him from giving up. Also, Elie did not abandon his father because he brought help to his father when he needed it. Elie’s father had a very serious illness called dysentery. Elie tried to go get camp doctor to help his father out. He did this even though he knows that the doctor might not listen, but he wanted to try. “My father is sick. I answered in his silence…Dysentery…”(108). In other words, Elie was trying to help out his father with his disease. This way his father can get cured and still have a chance to survive. Therefore, this shows that Elie did not abandon his father because he brought help when he was in trouble. Finally, Elie did not abandon his father because he stopped them from being separated. When they were being transported to a new camp by train, there were “gravediggers” who got rid off the dead bodies on the train. Here Elie stopped the “gravediggers” from throwing his father off the train. This happened when they were traveling to the new camp and they were throwing out the dead. “No! I yelled. He’s not dead! Not yet!”(99). Basically, Elie is saying that his father was not dead so he doesn’t get thrown out. This was so Elie’s dad could still have a chance to survive the Holocaust. This proved that Elie did not abandon his father because he stopped them from being separated. In conclusion, these were the ways why Elie did not abandon his father. He prevented him and his father from getting separated even in the hardest of situations. It also said that Elie brought helped whenever his father needed it. Lastly, Elie did the most important thing, try to stop his father from giving up when he was about to die. This shows and proves that Elie did not abandon his father.