ch.3

Chapter 3 questions parts 1,2,&3
part 1:
(10 sentences) Elie is a deeply religious boy whose favorite activities are studying the Talmud and spending time at the Temple with his spiritual mentor, Moshe the Beadle. At an early age, Elie has a naïve, yet strong faith in God.
•However, it is difficult to have faith in God when one is constantly surrounded by death and inhumanity.
•In chapter 3, As Eliezer approaches the fiery pit, he feels anger towards a God who allows Nazi inhumanity to exist in this world: "For the first time, I felt revolt rise up in me. Why should I bless His name? The Eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible, was silent. What had I to thank Him for?" p. 42
•Although the only way to survive the concentration camps is to have faith that God will see you through, it is nearly impossible to believe in a God who allows concentration camps to exist in the first place.

•What other examples from chapter 3 can you add to display his revolt for God and his faith?

(pg. 39) "never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams into dust."


•Tell me an experience where your faith has help you go through a hard time or questioned your belief?

I am not going to answer this question.

Part 2:
(10 sentences)In this section, Eliezer and the other prisoners are fully exposed to the horrible inhumanity of the Nazis. Due to the brutal methods of the Nazis, they are transformed from respected individuals into obedient, animal-like automatons. How does this transformation take place?
Take examples from the book using quotations, tell me your thoughts, and feelings.
Tell me an experience where you can relate to a time when your self pride, faith, ego, individuality or family has been striped away from you.

Elizer and the other prisoners would rather obey the Nazi's than to be beaten or killed. They were basically scared into obeying the soldiers. (pg. 34) "It was no longer possible to grasp anything. The instincts of self-preservation, of self-defense, of pride, had all deserted us". Despite hardships, personally I don't let anything interfere with my self-worth, pride, ego, individuality, or my morals. Personally, if i was ever in Elie's position, i would rather die with my pride & honor, than to be tortured and inhumanly treated.


part 3:
(10 sentences) When the prisoners first arrive at the camp, some of the young men want to rebel: "We've got to do something. We can't let ourselves be killed. We can't go like beasts to the slaughter. We've got to revolt." Despite these early feelings of rebellion, the prisoners rapidly become docile and fearful, and they follow the rules set out by the Nazi authorities.
Why do they obey people who are so obviously intent on destroying them? Why do they not just team up together and rebel?

The Jews are scared and don't have enough courage to rebel. Even with some wanting to rebel, they know that it would only make thing harder on everyone else. The Nazi's were cold and callous and didn't hold back on killing anyone who stepped out of line. The Jews had no weapons so even if they tried to rebel they would be defeated quickly.