Night
After Eliezer’s father was beaten by Idek, a Kapo, Eliezer says, “I had watched the whole scene without moving. I kept quiet. In fact I was thinking of how to get farther away so that I would not be hit myself. What is more, any anger I felt at that moment was directed, not against the Kapo, but against my father. I was angry with him, for not knowing how to avoid Idek’s outbreak. That is what concentration camp life had made of me.” Eliezer’s complete outlook on life has changed since things started to go downhill. He no longer responds to violence, he simply ignores it. He knows that if he responds to violence, he will become the victim. Everybody has a fight or flight mechanism. Any Jew transferred to a concentration camp must turn both of these off, and rely on a third mechanism. This third mechanism is to ignore, or play dead. Eliezer has, throughout the book, learned how to cope with different situations, and this has changed who he is as a person. “‘Listen to me, kid. Don’t forget that you are in a concentration camp. In this place, it is every man for himself, and you cannot think of others. Nor even your father. In this place, there is no such thing as father, brother, friend. Each of us lives and dies alone. Let me give you good advice: stop giving your ration of bread and soup to your old father. You cannot help him anymore. And you are hurting yourself. In fact, you should be getting his rations…’” This quote is what the Blockalteste said to Eliezer. Here, humanity is being lost. The way we live today, we give everything we can to the sick and old just to prolong death. We would like to keep people as comfortable as possible before the time comes. Here a point is made that, in this place, there is no room for being humane. It is man for himself. “The officer came closer and shouted to him to be silent. But my father did not hear. He continued to call me. The officer wielded his club and dealt him a violent blow to the head. I did not move. I was