Chapter 4
Elie still cherishes the fact that he has his father by his side, although we can conclude that his father is sometimes acting as a burden to him. Elie has been very dehumanized and he claims no longer feel pain or remorse for others. His identity has been stripped of him, and he now is titled as A-7713, although such has not been deemed a problem for him. I believe at this point Elie is more so directing his focus on self-preservation, and he uses manipulative ways to protect himself. For instance, Elie acts cunningly to protect his golden crown from being removed by telling the dentist he feel sick. Perhaps his focus on himself will be key to his survival, although his father might remain a bit of an obstacle.
- “‘A-7713?’ ‘That’s me.’” Page 51
- “I felt no pity for him. In fact, I was pleased what was happening to him: my gold crown was safe. It could useful to me one day, to buy something, some bread or even time to live.” Page 52
- “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. What’s more, if I felt anger at that moment, it was not directed at the Kapo but at my father. Why couldn’t he have avoided Idek’s wrath? That was what life in a concentration camp had made of me…” Page 54
- “Unfortunately, Franek knew how to handle this; he knew my weak spot. My 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 trash him savagely.” Page 55
- “I decided to give my father lessons in marching in step, in keeping time. We began practicing in front of our block. I would command: ‘Left, right!’ and my father would try… But my father did not make sufficient progress, and the blows continued to rain on him.” Page 55
- “That evening, in the latrines, the dentist from Warsaw pulled my crown with the help of a rusty spoon.” Page 56
- “Now I understood why Idek refused to leave us in the camp. He moved one hundred prisoners so that he could copulate with this girl! It struck me as terribly funny and I burst out laughing.” Page 57
- “‘A-7713!’ I stepped forward.” Page 57
- “I no longer felt anything except the lashes of the whip… Only the first really hurt.” Page 57
- “I looked at him without seeing him. I was thinking of my father. He would be suffering more than I.” Page 58
- “A man appeared, crawling snakelike in the direction of the cauldrons. Hundreds of eyes were watching his every move. Hundreds of men were crawling with him, scraping their bodies with his on the stones.” Page 59
- “‘They’re bombing the Buna factory,’ someone shouted. I anxiously thought of my father, who was at work. But I was glad nevertheless. To watch that factory go up in flames- what revenge!” Page 60
- “Happily, I caught sight of my father.” Page 61
- “I heard the pounding of my heart. The thousands of people who died daily in Auschwitz and Birkenau, in the crematoria, no longer troubled me.” Page 62