Shlomo Wiesel:
Chapter 1: In this chapter, Shlomo is described as a wise, mature man, one with deep influence in the community of Sighet. "My father was a cultured man, rather unsentimental. He rarely displayed his feelings, not even within his family, and was more involved with the welfare of others than with that of his own kin. The Jewish community of Sighet held him in highest esteem; his advice on public and even private matters was frequently sought." With the rumors of the German invasion, Elie had asked Shlomo to leave, but Shlomo was reluctant to leave and start anew. "I am too old, my son," He answered. "Too old to start a new life. Too old to start from scratch in some distant land..."" Even as the Germans were inside Sighet, Shlomo remained calm as the community came to consult with him. "Some prominent members of the community came to consult with my father, who had connections at the upper levels of the Hungarian Police; they wanted to know what he thought of the situation. My father's view was that it was not all bleak, or perhaps he just did not want to discourage the others, to throw salt on their wounds: "The yellow star? So what? It's not lethal..."" Shlomo had tried to be strong, he was able to, until it was his turn to go. "My father was crying. It was the first time I saw him cry. I had never thought it possible.
Chapter 2&3: Just like Elie, in this section, Shlomo is forced to lie about his age as well to protect himself. "I'm fifty." "No." The man now sounded angry. "Not fifty. You're forty. Do you hear? Eighteen and forty."' Again, Shlomo was afraid of what was to come. "He didn't answer. He was weeping. His body was shaking." Shlomo was unable to stay strong for Elie. Shlomo was not a family man and was more concerned with the community that he did not even recognize his relative. "My father had not recognized him. He must have barely known him, always being up to his neck in communal affairs and not knowledgeable in family matters. He was always elsewhere, lost in thought." Shlomo tried to advise Elie and help him to survive. "You mustn't eat all at once. Tomorrow is another day.." Seeing as his advice had failed, he still tried to take care of Elie the best way he could. "He didn't even start his own. Me, I'm not hungry, he said."
Chapter 4: In this chapter, a weak point of Shlomo is exposed. "My father had never served in the military and could not march in step." Shlomo tries his best to learn to march properly to prevent the rain of blows from Franek. "But my father did not make sufficient progress, and the blows continued to rain on him." Shlomo cannot bear to see his son in pain and it hurts him more than it does Elie. "I looked at him without seeing him. I was thinking of my father. He would be suffering more than I."
Chapter 5: Shlomo's only reason for surviving this long is his son Elie. He tries to always be strong for Elie, but cannot. "I looked up at my father's face, trying to glimpse a smile or something like it on his stricken face. But there was nothing. Not the shadow of an expression. Defeat." Shlomo always looks out for Elie, and even goes back on religious practices to ensure his well being. "I did not fast. First of all, to please my father who had forbidden me to do so." When Shlomo thought that he might not pass the second selection, he gives Elie all he owns. "Here, take this knife...I wont 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!"
Chapter 6: Shlomo is constantly advising Elie and helping him survive. "Not here...Get up.. A little farther down. There is a shed over there... Come..." He did his best for Elie. However, his own body started to wither. "How he had aged since last night! His body was completely twisted, shriveled up into himself. His eyes were glazed over, his lips parched, decayed. Everything about him expressed total exhaustion. His voice was damp from tears and snow." There was another selection, in which Shlomo did not pass, he was sent along with the weak. Elie hurried over to join him. "My father was sent to the left. I ran after him."
Chapter 7: After the long, cold night, Shlomo had frozen, unable to wake up. He had a very close call with two gravediggers and was almost thrown out of the cart. "I woke from my apathy only when two men approached my father." One night, Elie was being attacked, and Shlomo, too weak to help, called for Meir Katz to help. "But my father had awakened and grabbed my aggressor. Too weak to overwhelm him, he thought of calling Meir Katz
Chapter 8: Shlomo had given up. He wanted nothing more than to lay day, even with a hot shower just a short distance away. "He had become childlike: weak, frightened, vulnerable." Shlomo kept getting weaker and weaker. "Every day, my father was getting weaker. His eyes were watery, his face the color of dead leaves." Shlomo was brought down with dysentery. He was placed with the other sick inmates. He needed to tell Elie where he had buried all of their family's valuables in case he died. "Eliezer... I must tell you where I buried the gold and silver... In the cellar... You know..." Shlomo could not get help from any of the doctors and was slowly slipping away. Others started to turn on Shlomo and he was getting beat by other inmates. They started stealing his bread and beating him more. "They threw themselves on me. They snatched it from me, my bread... And they beat me." On January 29, 1945, Shlomo Wiesel died.
Chapter 1: In this chapter, Shlomo is described as a wise, mature man, one with deep influence in the community of Sighet. "My father was a cultured man, rather unsentimental. He rarely displayed his feelings, not even within his family, and was more involved with the welfare of others than with that of his own kin. The Jewish community of Sighet held him in highest esteem; his advice on public and even private matters was frequently sought." With the rumors of the German invasion, Elie had asked Shlomo to leave, but Shlomo was reluctant to leave and start anew. "I am too old, my son," He answered. "Too old to start a new life. Too old to start from scratch in some distant land..."" Even as the Germans were inside Sighet, Shlomo remained calm as the community came to consult with him. "Some prominent members of the community came to consult with my father, who had connections at the upper levels of the Hungarian Police; they wanted to know what he thought of the situation. My father's view was that it was not all bleak, or perhaps he just did not want to discourage the others, to throw salt on their wounds: "The yellow star? So what? It's not lethal..."" Shlomo had tried to be strong, he was able to, until it was his turn to go. "My father was crying. It was the first time I saw him cry. I had never thought it possible.
Chapter 2&3: Just like Elie, in this section, Shlomo is forced to lie about his age as well to protect himself. "I'm fifty." "No." The man now sounded angry. "Not fifty. You're forty. Do you hear? Eighteen and forty."' Again, Shlomo was afraid of what was to come. "He didn't answer. He was weeping. His body was shaking." Shlomo was unable to stay strong for Elie. Shlomo was not a family man and was more concerned with the community that he did not even recognize his relative. "My father had not recognized him. He must have barely known him, always being up to his neck in communal affairs and not knowledgeable in family matters. He was always elsewhere, lost in thought." Shlomo tried to advise Elie and help him to survive. "You mustn't eat all at once. Tomorrow is another day.." Seeing as his advice had failed, he still tried to take care of Elie the best way he could. "He didn't even start his own. Me, I'm not hungry, he said."
Chapter 4: In this chapter, a weak point of Shlomo is exposed. "My father had never served in the military and could not march in step." Shlomo tries his best to learn to march properly to prevent the rain of blows from Franek. "But my father did not make sufficient progress, and the blows continued to rain on him." Shlomo cannot bear to see his son in pain and it hurts him more than it does Elie. "I looked at him without seeing him. I was thinking of my father. He would be suffering more than I."
Chapter 5: Shlomo's only reason for surviving this long is his son Elie. He tries to always be strong for Elie, but cannot. "I looked up at my father's face, trying to glimpse a smile or something like it on his stricken face. But there was nothing. Not the shadow of an expression. Defeat." Shlomo always looks out for Elie, and even goes back on religious practices to ensure his well being. "I did not fast. First of all, to please my father who had forbidden me to do so." When Shlomo thought that he might not pass the second selection, he gives Elie all he owns. "Here, take this knife...I wont 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!"
Chapter 6: Shlomo is constantly advising Elie and helping him survive. "Not here...Get up.. A little farther down. There is a shed over there... Come..." He did his best for Elie. However, his own body started to wither. "How he had aged since last night! His body was completely twisted, shriveled up into himself. His eyes were glazed over, his lips parched, decayed. Everything about him expressed total exhaustion. His voice was damp from tears and snow." There was another selection, in which Shlomo did not pass, he was sent along with the weak. Elie hurried over to join him. "My father was sent to the left. I ran after him."
Chapter 7: After the long, cold night, Shlomo had frozen, unable to wake up. He had a very close call with two gravediggers and was almost thrown out of the cart. "I woke from my apathy only when two men approached my father." One night, Elie was being attacked, and Shlomo, too weak to help, called for Meir Katz to help. "But my father had awakened and grabbed my aggressor. Too weak to overwhelm him, he thought of calling Meir Katz
Chapter 8: Shlomo had given up. He wanted nothing more than to lay day, even with a hot shower just a short distance away. "He had become childlike: weak, frightened, vulnerable." Shlomo kept getting weaker and weaker. "Every day, my father was getting weaker. His eyes were watery, his face the color of dead leaves." Shlomo was brought down with dysentery. He was placed with the other sick inmates. He needed to tell Elie where he had buried all of their family's valuables in case he died. "Eliezer... I must tell you where I buried the gold and silver... In the cellar... You know..." Shlomo could not get help from any of the doctors and was slowly slipping away. Others started to turn on Shlomo and he was getting beat by other inmates. They started stealing his bread and beating him more. "They threw themselves on me. They snatched it from me, my bread... And they beat me." On January 29, 1945, Shlomo Wiesel died.
Elie Wiesel:
Chapter 1: In the first chapter of Night, Elie Wiesel was a thirteen year old boy. He thought of himself as deeply observant and religious. "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." Elie was shown as extremely religious compared to the average teenager. He sought out his own master to further his teachings in the Jewish faith, Moishe the Beadle. "I succeeded on my own in finding a master for myself in the person of Moishe the Beadle." Even the question of why do you pray was as strange to Elie as why do you breathe or why do you live. When the news of the incoming Germans, Elie wished to run. "I had asked my father to sell everything, to liquidate everything, and to leave." Elie himself did not believe it when his own master, Moishe the Beadle, returned from being deported and warned everyone about the Germans. He only felt pity towards him. "Even I did not believe him. I often sat with him, after services, and listened to his tales, trying to understand his grief. But all I felt was pity." During 1943, life was normal for Elie and his family because there seemed to be no immediate threat from the Germans. "I continued to devote myself to my studies. Talmud during the day and Kabbalah at night." As groups were deported from the ghettos, Elie tried to help out to the best of his ability. "My sisters and I were still allowed to move about, as we were destined for the last convoy, and so we helped as best we could." During the time while Elie was in the ghetto, he continued his religious practices. "I was up at dawn. I wanted to have time to pray before leaving." Even though Elie was forced to leave his home. He felt little sadness towards leaving. His mind was too empty to feel. Elie began hating the Germans and the Hungarian police as they screamed at Elie and his family to run faster. "That was when I began to hate them, and my hatred remains our only link today. They were our first oppressors. They were the first faces of hell and death."
Chapter 2&3: After arriving at Auschwitz, Elie is forced to lie about his age to an SS officer who decided the fate of the Jews, off to work or off to die. Elie is told by an inmate to call himself eighteen even though he is fifteen, this might have saved his life. "Hey kid, how old are you?"..."Fifteen" "No. You're eighteen." "But I'm not," I said. "I'm fifteen." "Fool. Listen to what I say." Elie was about to give up, he was afraid of dying in the crematorium. He was debating on throwing himself onto the electrified barbed wire. "If that's true, then I don't want to wait. I'll run into the electrified barbed wire. That would be easier than a slow death in the flames." Elie threw out his faith in God and couldn't believe what was happening. "I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for?" Elie is scared from the experiences of the day, and he is traumatized for his entire life. He repeats the phrasing of "Never shall I forget" to show how the images of that day will never leave his mind. Elie had been changing, his old self was destroyed. "I too had become a different person. The student of Talmud, the child I was, had been consumed by the flames. All that was left was a shape that resembled me. My soul had been invaded-and devoured-by a black flame." Elie was constantly changing during his time in the camps. His father was hit in front of him and Elie didn't react. "My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminal's flesh. Had I changed that much? So fast?"
Elie cares for his father just as his father cares for him. "I was terribly hungry, yet I refused to touch it. I was still the spoiled child of long ago. My father swallowed my ration." Elie is still impatient however and doesn't know self control. "I was terribly hungry and swallowed my ration on the spot." During his time at the camp, Elie's faith in God fluctuates, sometimes he is worshiping him, other times he is cursing his name. "As for me, I had ceased to pray. I concurred with Job! I was not denying His existence, but I doubted His absolute justice."
Chapter 4: Elie would do anything to stay with his father, the man who would help him to survive the Holocaust. "Would you like to get into a good Kommando?" "Of course. But on one condition: I want to stay with my father." Elie's life turned simple, there was little desire for anything else but food. "At that moment in time, all that mattered to me was my daily bowl of soup, my crust of stale bread. The bread, the soup-those were my entire life. I was nothing but a body. Perhaps even less: a famished stomach." Elie still was deathly afraid of the Germans and on no circumstances, would get in the way of their fury. "I had watched it all happening without moving. I kept silent. In fact, I thought of stealing away in order not to suffer the blows. Elie and his father were close, and it was a link that was a disadvantage. In order to get his gold tooth, Franek beat Elie's father until Elie gave in. "This went on for two weeks. It was untenable. We had to give in." Elie is so desperate to be free, that the bombing of the Buna factory is happy to him, even though his father is inside. "I anxiously thought of my father, who was at work. But I was glad nevertheless."
Chapter 5: Elie is furious at his God for allowing any of this to happen. He questions his faith and mocks God. "What are You, my God? I thought angrily. How do You compare to this stricken mass gathered to affirm to You their faith, their anger, their defiance? What does Your grandeur mean, Master of the Universe, in the face of all this cowardice, this decay, and this misery? Why do you go on troubling these poor people's wounded minds, their ailing bodies." "Why, but why would I bless Him?" Elie blamed God for all that was occurring around him. He condemned his name and the prayers of the Jews around him infuriated him even more. Elie's mindset was changing. "And I, the former mystic, was thinking: Yes, man is stronger, greater than God." Elie no longer praised God, he refused to fast on the holy day. The same boy who once prayed many times a day, denounced his God. However, Elie still needed to retain his faith in something. "Deep inside me, I felt a great void opening." When Elie's father had to go to another selection. Elie was frightened but needed to have faith in his dad. "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 the knife. You will need them as much as I. We'll see each other tonight, after work." During that day, Elie was constantly thinking of his father, he needed him to pass selection, he didn't know how he would continue without him. Elie's foot began to swell from the cold, and he needed to go to the infirmary. This was terrible timing as the death march was imminent. Elie was forced to go on his wounded foot. However, his primary thought was not being separated from his father. "We had already suffered so much, endured so much together. This was not the moment to separate."
Chapter 6: During the death march, Elie lost sense of himself. "I couldn't help thinking that there were two of us: my body and I. And I hated that body." Elie toyed with the idea of death after witnessing his friend Zalman die. "The idea of dying, of ceasing to be, began to fascinate me. To no longer exist. To no longer feel the excruciating pain of my foot. My father's presence was the only thing that stopped me." Elie still had a sense to live, he didn't want to give in to death quite yet. "But deep inside, I knew that to sleep meant to die. And something in me rebelled against that death. After the ordeal of the concentration camp, and even after swearing to never pray again, Elie still finds that he cannot keep from praying at times. "And in spite of myself, a prayer formed inside me, a prayer to this God in whom I no longer believed." Living became the most important thing to Elie, he even resorted to dooming others to live. "My whole desire to live became concentrated in my nails. I scratched, I fought for a breath of air."
Chapter 7: Elie refused to let his father die. He did his best to keep his father alive. "I started to hit him harder and harder. At last, my father half opened his eyes." Elie was a smart boy, he acknowledged the risks around him. "A piece fell into our wagon, I decided not to move. Anyway, I knew that I would not be strong enough to fight off dozens of violent men!
Chapter 8: Still, Elie did not want to be separated from his father, just like always. "I tightened my grip on my father's hand. The old familiar fear: not to lose him." Elie pushed his father to survive, refused to let his father give up. "I could have screamed in anger. To have lived and endured so much; was I going to let my father die now?" Elie briefly felt different about his father, he thought of being relieved of him and being able to focus on himself. "If only I didn't find him! If only I were relieved of this responsibility, I could use all my strength to fight for my own survival, to take care only of myself." Instantly, Elie regretted having those thoughts and never forgave himself for having such thoughts. Elie continued to take care of his father, fighting his way through other Jews just to get Shlomo a cup of coffee. "I fought my way to the coffee cauldron like a wild beast. Elie stayed by his father's side always. He couldn't be separated from him. "For a ration of bread I was able to exchange cots to be next to my father." Again, Elie thinks about getting rid of his father. "He was right, I thought deep down, not daring to admit it to myself. Too late to save your old father...You could have two rations of bread, two rations of soup..." And once again, Elie regretted having those thoughts. Once Elie's father dies, Elie cannot cry. He wants to, but physically cannot. "I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep. But I was out of tears."
Chapter 9: Nothing matters to Elie anymore. He was completely empty after his father died. "Since my father's death, nothing mattered to me anymore." Only the primal need of food remained for Elie. "I spent my days in total idleness. With only one desire: to eat. I no longer thought of my father, or my mother. From time to time, I would dream. But only about soup, an extra ration of soup." After Elie was liberated, he acquired food poisoning. So soon after being freed he hovered between life and death. "From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me."
Chapter 1: In the first chapter of Night, Elie Wiesel was a thirteen year old boy. He thought of himself as deeply observant and religious. "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." Elie was shown as extremely religious compared to the average teenager. He sought out his own master to further his teachings in the Jewish faith, Moishe the Beadle. "I succeeded on my own in finding a master for myself in the person of Moishe the Beadle." Even the question of why do you pray was as strange to Elie as why do you breathe or why do you live. When the news of the incoming Germans, Elie wished to run. "I had asked my father to sell everything, to liquidate everything, and to leave." Elie himself did not believe it when his own master, Moishe the Beadle, returned from being deported and warned everyone about the Germans. He only felt pity towards him. "Even I did not believe him. I often sat with him, after services, and listened to his tales, trying to understand his grief. But all I felt was pity." During 1943, life was normal for Elie and his family because there seemed to be no immediate threat from the Germans. "I continued to devote myself to my studies. Talmud during the day and Kabbalah at night." As groups were deported from the ghettos, Elie tried to help out to the best of his ability. "My sisters and I were still allowed to move about, as we were destined for the last convoy, and so we helped as best we could." During the time while Elie was in the ghetto, he continued his religious practices. "I was up at dawn. I wanted to have time to pray before leaving." Even though Elie was forced to leave his home. He felt little sadness towards leaving. His mind was too empty to feel. Elie began hating the Germans and the Hungarian police as they screamed at Elie and his family to run faster. "That was when I began to hate them, and my hatred remains our only link today. They were our first oppressors. They were the first faces of hell and death."
Chapter 2&3: After arriving at Auschwitz, Elie is forced to lie about his age to an SS officer who decided the fate of the Jews, off to work or off to die. Elie is told by an inmate to call himself eighteen even though he is fifteen, this might have saved his life. "Hey kid, how old are you?"..."Fifteen" "No. You're eighteen." "But I'm not," I said. "I'm fifteen." "Fool. Listen to what I say." Elie was about to give up, he was afraid of dying in the crematorium. He was debating on throwing himself onto the electrified barbed wire. "If that's true, then I don't want to wait. I'll run into the electrified barbed wire. That would be easier than a slow death in the flames." Elie threw out his faith in God and couldn't believe what was happening. "I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for?" Elie is scared from the experiences of the day, and he is traumatized for his entire life. He repeats the phrasing of "Never shall I forget" to show how the images of that day will never leave his mind. Elie had been changing, his old self was destroyed. "I too had become a different person. The student of Talmud, the child I was, had been consumed by the flames. All that was left was a shape that resembled me. My soul had been invaded-and devoured-by a black flame." Elie was constantly changing during his time in the camps. His father was hit in front of him and Elie didn't react. "My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminal's flesh. Had I changed that much? So fast?"
Elie cares for his father just as his father cares for him. "I was terribly hungry, yet I refused to touch it. I was still the spoiled child of long ago. My father swallowed my ration." Elie is still impatient however and doesn't know self control. "I was terribly hungry and swallowed my ration on the spot." During his time at the camp, Elie's faith in God fluctuates, sometimes he is worshiping him, other times he is cursing his name. "As for me, I had ceased to pray. I concurred with Job! I was not denying His existence, but I doubted His absolute justice."
Chapter 4: Elie would do anything to stay with his father, the man who would help him to survive the Holocaust. "Would you like to get into a good Kommando?" "Of course. But on one condition: I want to stay with my father." Elie's life turned simple, there was little desire for anything else but food. "At that moment in time, all that mattered to me was my daily bowl of soup, my crust of stale bread. The bread, the soup-those were my entire life. I was nothing but a body. Perhaps even less: a famished stomach." Elie still was deathly afraid of the Germans and on no circumstances, would get in the way of their fury. "I had watched it all happening without moving. I kept silent. In fact, I thought of stealing away in order not to suffer the blows. Elie and his father were close, and it was a link that was a disadvantage. In order to get his gold tooth, Franek beat Elie's father until Elie gave in. "This went on for two weeks. It was untenable. We had to give in." Elie is so desperate to be free, that the bombing of the Buna factory is happy to him, even though his father is inside. "I anxiously thought of my father, who was at work. But I was glad nevertheless."
Chapter 5: Elie is furious at his God for allowing any of this to happen. He questions his faith and mocks God. "What are You, my God? I thought angrily. How do You compare to this stricken mass gathered to affirm to You their faith, their anger, their defiance? What does Your grandeur mean, Master of the Universe, in the face of all this cowardice, this decay, and this misery? Why do you go on troubling these poor people's wounded minds, their ailing bodies." "Why, but why would I bless Him?" Elie blamed God for all that was occurring around him. He condemned his name and the prayers of the Jews around him infuriated him even more. Elie's mindset was changing. "And I, the former mystic, was thinking: Yes, man is stronger, greater than God." Elie no longer praised God, he refused to fast on the holy day. The same boy who once prayed many times a day, denounced his God. However, Elie still needed to retain his faith in something. "Deep inside me, I felt a great void opening." When Elie's father had to go to another selection. Elie was frightened but needed to have faith in his dad. "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 the knife. You will need them as much as I. We'll see each other tonight, after work." During that day, Elie was constantly thinking of his father, he needed him to pass selection, he didn't know how he would continue without him. Elie's foot began to swell from the cold, and he needed to go to the infirmary. This was terrible timing as the death march was imminent. Elie was forced to go on his wounded foot. However, his primary thought was not being separated from his father. "We had already suffered so much, endured so much together. This was not the moment to separate."
Chapter 6: During the death march, Elie lost sense of himself. "I couldn't help thinking that there were two of us: my body and I. And I hated that body." Elie toyed with the idea of death after witnessing his friend Zalman die. "The idea of dying, of ceasing to be, began to fascinate me. To no longer exist. To no longer feel the excruciating pain of my foot. My father's presence was the only thing that stopped me." Elie still had a sense to live, he didn't want to give in to death quite yet. "But deep inside, I knew that to sleep meant to die. And something in me rebelled against that death. After the ordeal of the concentration camp, and even after swearing to never pray again, Elie still finds that he cannot keep from praying at times. "And in spite of myself, a prayer formed inside me, a prayer to this God in whom I no longer believed." Living became the most important thing to Elie, he even resorted to dooming others to live. "My whole desire to live became concentrated in my nails. I scratched, I fought for a breath of air."
Chapter 7: Elie refused to let his father die. He did his best to keep his father alive. "I started to hit him harder and harder. At last, my father half opened his eyes." Elie was a smart boy, he acknowledged the risks around him. "A piece fell into our wagon, I decided not to move. Anyway, I knew that I would not be strong enough to fight off dozens of violent men!
Chapter 8: Still, Elie did not want to be separated from his father, just like always. "I tightened my grip on my father's hand. The old familiar fear: not to lose him." Elie pushed his father to survive, refused to let his father give up. "I could have screamed in anger. To have lived and endured so much; was I going to let my father die now?" Elie briefly felt different about his father, he thought of being relieved of him and being able to focus on himself. "If only I didn't find him! If only I were relieved of this responsibility, I could use all my strength to fight for my own survival, to take care only of myself." Instantly, Elie regretted having those thoughts and never forgave himself for having such thoughts. Elie continued to take care of his father, fighting his way through other Jews just to get Shlomo a cup of coffee. "I fought my way to the coffee cauldron like a wild beast. Elie stayed by his father's side always. He couldn't be separated from him. "For a ration of bread I was able to exchange cots to be next to my father." Again, Elie thinks about getting rid of his father. "He was right, I thought deep down, not daring to admit it to myself. Too late to save your old father...You could have two rations of bread, two rations of soup..." And once again, Elie regretted having those thoughts. Once Elie's father dies, Elie cannot cry. He wants to, but physically cannot. "I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep. But I was out of tears."
Chapter 9: Nothing matters to Elie anymore. He was completely empty after his father died. "Since my father's death, nothing mattered to me anymore." Only the primal need of food remained for Elie. "I spent my days in total idleness. With only one desire: to eat. I no longer thought of my father, or my mother. From time to time, I would dream. But only about soup, an extra ration of soup." After Elie was liberated, he acquired food poisoning. So soon after being freed he hovered between life and death. "From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me."