Changed
“In these seven-a-half weeks I have changed. I have grown into a concentration-camp inmate. I have learned to live with fear and hunger and abuse. I have learned to swallow dirt, and live worms. I learned to endure cold, pain, long hours of hard physical labor. I have learned to live with waning hope and cling to reality born of pretenses. I have learned to wait . . . and wait . . . and wait . . . and wait.”- PLASZOW, JULY 20-AUSCHWITZ, AUGUST 8, 1944, pg. 115-116, I Have Lived a Thousand Years
I kinda like this paragraph because you can change so fast when it comes to really bad situations like that. But I also don't like it because nobody should be in that situation EVER no matter what! You can't learn to eat worms and dirt and think its yummy. But everyone can learn to have hope everyday because hope is stronger that fear, and hope always wins! What does she mean by wait. . . And wait? Does she mean for someone to do something to help them or does she mean for something bad to happen?
I think that this passage is saying that at any time in moment you can change like that!... Either in a good way or a bad way. But it also depends on the situation like if you were in the Holocaust then you would probably be like Elli. But in a way that's good because you aren't weak or delicate. You are stronger and you won't let anyone put you down anymore. This reminds me of the book/movie Holes. The characters Stanley Yelnats and Hector Zeroni were treated really badly and were doing a lot of physical labor while they were in jail or something like that. And in a way, Jews were imprisoned at the camps working really hard just to get killed! Also the guys in Holes kinda escaped from where they were, just like some Jews tried to escape from the camps. Both the characters in Holes and the Jews are in the same situation because after they escaped they didn't know what to do or who would help them. They didn't know who they could trust to save them. 
What fantastic compare and contrast you have here! I agree with those and they are, at least for me, right on target. You can't enjoy worms, but you can learn to survive and you choose hope. Those are how I see the world as well.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if being your age makes you feel like things are always changing and not much is staying the same. Maybe this is why you have a good understanding of the passage.
I think that they had to endure change so quickly because they didn't have a choice. You have to get use to things in order to survive, like eating the worm nobody would ever want to do that unless you really had too. Eat worms and dirt could have possible been the only thing they had eaten that day! What I think the wait, and wait, and wait meant she was waiting for something better to come. I think she was waiting for hope, for another day, a day were she wouldn't have to suffer. I believe that hope is stronger than fear because without hope you would give up easily. During the Holocaust ever body needed a little hope to get through the day. Nobody should have to go through something like the holocaust but crazy thing is that there are many of genocides still going on in this world. I like when you compared this to holes because it is like that. In holes they had a hope but they knew they would live soon, unlike the holocaust they didn't know.
ReplyDeleteJen,
ReplyDeleteI like your compare and a contrast between the two stories. Also, I do agree with that no one should be in a situation like that. After a while of hard labor and barely any food that is horrible, worms and other things becomes a reward because any other food can help you live another day to maybe survive. Hope is the desire for some people to just keep fighting, and not giving up for maybe things will get better. All they could do is wait and wait with the little hope they got left. I'm pretty sure they are waiting for something good to come and help save them. It is only a matter of time before they can get saved or die.
-Emilio B