One passage that shows just how far Wiesel would go to keep his family together was when "The SS officers were doing selection: the weak, to the left; those who walked well, to the right. My father was sent left. I ran after him. An SS officer shouted at my back: 'Come back!' I inched my way through the crowd. Several SS men rushed to find me, creating such confusion that a number of people were able to switch over to the right--among them my father and I," (96, Wiesel). He could have effortlessly let his father fail selection, but he risked his life for a very small opportunity to save his father. Wiesel, at the time, must of had very little knowledge of how to execute such a rescue since no where in the book has this happened before. When he shouted to his father to come back, he had not planned on what was going to happen next. It was instinct. His love for his family out weighed any rational bone in his body to think twice on saving his father. That is the imporatance in family that Wiesel tried to show, even more so in those horrible times.
Another passage that shows the significance of family in this novel is when Wiesel's father was "speaking so rapidly, he wanted to tell me so many things. His speech became confused, his voice choked. he knew that i had to leave in a few moments. He was going to remain alone, so alone... 'Here, take this knife,' he said, 'I won't need it anymore. You may find it useful. Also take this spoon. Don't sell it. Quickly! Go ahead, take what I'm giving you!' 'Don't talk like that, Father.' I was on the verge of breaking into sobs. 'I don't want you to say such things. Keep the spoon and knife. You will need them as much as I. We'll see each other tonight, after work.'" (75, Wiesel) Wiesel's father learned just a few moments ago that there is a high chance of him dying since his number was written down during selection. The first thought in his head was to rush over to his son, the only family he had left, to give him items that he could use to make his life better. It's very apparent how much Wiesel's father values family by having his first thought be going to his son to give his son items. The reason why Wiesel's father did not want Wiesel to sell the knife or spoon was because he wanted his son to have something he could remember him by. If his father were to die in this place in the book, Wiesel's would have had something to keep by him to knew that his father is always with him wherever he goes. Wiesel did not accept the items or want his father to talk about it because he could not believe his father were to be murdered anytime soon. His love for his father blinded him from the reality that at any moment his father could disappear from this world. This important conversation between father and son shows the importance of family that Wiesel demonstrates throughout this novel.
The last passage which represented the theme of family in an important way was when Wiesel's father "had never served in the military and could not March in step. But here, whenever we moved from one place to another, it was in step. That presented Franek with the opportunity to torment him and, on a daily basis, to thrash him savagely. (...) I decided to give my father lessons in marching in step, in keeping time. (...) But my father did not make sufficient progress, and the blows continued to rain on him. (...) This went on for two weeks. It was untenable. We had to give in. That day, Franek burst into savage laughter: 'I knew it, I knew that I would win, kid. Better late then never. And because you made me wait, it will also cost you a ration of beard. A ration of beard for one of my pals, a famous dentist from Warsaw. To pay him for pulling out your crown.'" (55-56, Wiesel) To avoid giving his crown to Franek, Wiesel decided to make a bet with Franek that if he could teach his dad how to march, he'd back off on taking his crown. His father tried his best and went through weeks of torment just so Wiesel could keep his crown in his mouth. Sacrificing one's self to pain and torment just for their family to be able to live just a little better shows that that person really cares about his family. The father could of just made his son give up the crown, but instead he put himself through torment for the small chance that his son could keep his crown. Even if he were to learn how to march, there was still a possibility that Franek would disregard the whole bet and make Wiesel let the dentist take the crown out. Wiesel and his father most likely knew that using common sense, but there was a small chance that Franek would stick to his word. That small chance was enough for Wiesel's father to go through that type of torment for his family. That is the type of family values that Wiesel tried to illustrate in this novel.
This novel has taught me the importance of family. At any moment something may happen to me and/or my family like it did for Wiesel and his family so I should value my family as much as I can while we are still together. I thought I already knew the value of family, but this novel really opened my eyes to just how important family is. This novel has many other themes, but the value of family really stuck out to me a lot more than any other theme.
No comments:
Post a Comment