Chapter 5
Mr. Wiesel's physical conditions are continuously declining as Elie describes. The Holocaust's brutality has caused him to be covered in despair and his body is weakening vastly. His primary survival sources include his faith and hope which he maintains. He manages to pass the selection and we can conclude from this that he has strong will to survive given his conditions. Luckily, Mr. Wiesel manages to stay connected with Elie who provides so much support for him. Using his trust in Elie, Mr. Wiesel and Elie set out with the other victims on the death marches, and ultimate test of Mr. Wiesel's will to live.
- “We came back from very far away. 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.” Page 69
- “And my father? I first thought of him now. How would he pass selection? He had aged so much…” Page 70
- “I met my father. He came toward me: ‘So? Did you pass?’ ‘Yes. And you?’ ‘Also.’” Page 73
- “My father had a present for me: half a ration of bread, bartered for something that could be used to repair a shoe.” Page 73
- “I saw my father running in my direction. Suddenly, I was afraid. ‘What is happening?’ He was out of breath, hardly able to open his mouth. ‘Me too, me too… They told me too to stay in the camp.’ They had recorded his number without his noticing. ‘What are we going to do?’ I said anxiously. But it was he who tried to reassure me: ‘It is not certain yet. There is still a chance. Today, they will do another selection… a decisive one…” Page 74
- “He felt time was running out. He was speaking so rapidly, he wanted to tell me so many things. His speech became confused, his voice choked. He knew that I had to leave in a few moments. He was going to remain alone, so alone…” Page 75
- “He looked at me with his tired eyes, veiled by despair…” Page 75
- “He was alive. He had passed the second selection. He had still proved his usefulness…” Page 76
- “He was lost in thought. The choice was in our hands. For once. We could decide our fate for ourselves. To stay, both of us, in the infirmary, where, thanks to my doctor, he could enter as either a patient or medic.” Page 82