Passages from the Novel
1st Passage
' ''What does it matter to you? Do we have to regard Hitler as a prophet?'' His glazed, faded eyes looked at me. At last he said in a weary voice: '' I've got more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He's the only one who's kept promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people. ' pg 53-54
This passage was between Eli and his neighbor in the hospital in the concentration camp. Eli is the one that asks his neighbor if he thinks Hitler should be treated like a prophet. Eli's neighbor goes on by saying he has more faith in Hitler then he does in anybody else, including God. Eli's neighbor goes on by saying Hitler has kept all his promises unlike God, because God is letting all of these horrible things happen. This passage is significant because it shows how the prisoners in the camp no longer believed in God or how they thought Hitler was more powerfull then him because Hitler was able to do all these horrible things, and God hasnt done anything to stop it. This passage shows how the Jew's, the people who were the holliest now dont believe there is a God, and they believe in the person who is the reason all these horrible things are happeneing to them.
2nd Passage
' One day when we had stopped, a workman took a piece of bread out of his bag and threw it into the wagon. There was a stampede. Dozens of starving men fought each other to the death for a few crumbs. The German workmen took a lively interest in this spectacle. ' pg. 67
This passage was spoken by the narrator. The Jew's (the people the narrator was talking about) were in a train car, in the freezing winter, without any food and drink for days. The narrator says when they stopped and a workman threw a piece of bread in their cart and watched as the starving Jew's fought eachother for the tiniest piece of bread it shows how the workman had no concern with humanity. The workman likedand had no problem watching these starving, half naked, deprived Jews fight and kill someone for a little piece of bread. This shows how much Germans had no conern whatsoever about the lives they were putting through this horrible journey.
3rd Passage
' Our first act as free men ws to throw oursleves onto the provisions. We thought only of that. Not of revenge, not of our families. Nothing but bread. And even when we were no longer hungry, there was still no one who thought of revenge. ' pg. 77
The narrator is telling the readers this passage. The Jews have now been freed from the concentration camps. They first gorge themselves with bread, not thinking of anything else but food. Nobody looks for family members, nobody looks for somewhere to sleep, eveybody just wants to eat. The Jews are finally free! They do not think of revenge, not even after they are full and are they wanting to show revenge towards all the people who have done these horrible things to them. Their hunger had over powered everything for so long thats all they thought about, was to eat. The Jews were in concentration camps for so long and have just been thinking about themselves and keeping themselves alive, they didnt want to show revenge, they just wanted to stay alive and eat. that was it.