 “I continued to devote myself to my studies.” page 5
 Studious, devoted
We see in this quote that
Elie is a good student and
that he wants to learn.
 “I was in the midst of my prayers when suddenly there
were shouts in the street.” page 13
 “I was up at dawn. I wanted time to pray before we
were expelled.” page 16
 Faithful
We can tell from these
quotes that Elie was
dedicated in his faith.
 “Naturally, we refused to be separated.” page 18
 Strong family bond
The importance of family to Elie Wiesel is
apparent through the entire novel.
 “Our terror was about to burst the sides of the train…”
page 23
 Overwhelming terror
 Man’s inhumanity to man
This quote tells the
reader of Elie’s fear at the
beginning of the
Holocaust events.
 “It was as though madness were taking possession of
us all…” page 23
 Disbelief/going crazy
Elie’s fear is starting to drive
him mad.
 “Here was sudden release from the terrors of the
previous nights. We gave thanks to God.” page 24
 Faith
Despite the horrors, Elie
still had faith in God.
 “Soon I should wake with a start, my heart pounding,
and find myself back in the bedroom of my
childhood…” page 30
 Lost his childhood
Elie was still young, but his
childhood was ripped from
him.
 “Never shall I forget those moments which murdered
my God…” page 32
 Felt God was dead
 Struggle to maintain
faith
Elie began to feel that his God
was weak and dying.
 “Don’t cry, Yechiel.” I said. “Don’t waste your tears.”
page 33
 Spreads his loss of hope
This quote displays
Elie’s loss of hope and
growing pessimistic
outlook.
 “I refused to give him my shoes.” page 46
 Holding on to who he was
Despite the
horrible
situation, Elie
refused to give
up on who he
was yet.
 “I was even pleased about what had happened. I had
saved my gold crown.” page 50
 Fighting to hold on to himself
This quote shows that
Elie was still fighting to
hold on to who he was.
 “But we were no longer afraid of death.” page 57
 Fearless
The horrors of the
Holocaust made
the Jews numb to
fear.
 “I raised my eyes to look at my father’s face leaning
over mine, to try to discover a smile or something
resembling one.” page 65
 Loving
 Father-son bond
Elie still feels love for
his father, and is still
trying to hold onto
the will to live and the
hope of simple joys.
 “Why should I bless Him… because He had thousands
of children burned…” page 64
 Mad at God
 Struggle to
maintain faith
He has not lost his faith in
God, he is simply mad at
God for allowing the
Holocaust to happen.
 “And three days after he had gone, we forgot to say the
Kaddish.” page 73
 Failure, faithless
Despite always having faith, Elie begins to
give into the other Jews’ pessimistic and
faithless patterns.
 “Get up? How could I?... I got up gritting my teeth.”
page 84
 Perseverance
Elie has nothing
left in him, but he
will not give up.
 “My God, Lord of the universe, give me strength never
to do what Rabbi Eliahou’s son has done.” page 87
 Faith out of fear and love
 Struggle to maintain faith
He continues to
rely on God for
strength, and his
father as the reason
to live.
 “I scratched. I battled for a mouthful of air. I tore at
decaying flesh which did not respond.” page 89
 Barbaric, the will to live
 Man’s inhumanity to man
He finds the will to live,
and fights for it.
 “–there was no more reason to live, no more reason to
struggle.” page 93
 Giving up
Elie’s faith
is dying, as
is his will to
live.
 “I woke from my apathy just at the moment when two
men came up to my father.” page 94
 Still fighting for his father
Elie cannot bear to see
his father thrown out of
the train with the dead.
 “I knew that I would never have the strength to fight
with a dozen savage men!” page 95
 Physically weak
He hasn’t given up on life, but he knows
that he had no strength left.
 “I held onto my father’s hand – the old, familiar fear:
not to lose him.” page 99
 Loyal to family
 Father-son bond
Through the entire novel, and all of
the horrid events, Elie remains
faithful to his father.
 “…he could not stand up… somehow, I brought my
father to him [the doctor].” page 103
 Loyalty/love for his father
Elie won’t allow his father to
die after everything they’d lived
through.
 “I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not
weep.” page 106
 Guilty but glad his father’s dead
 Father-son bond
With his father’s death came
relief, he only had himself to
look after, but guilt for feeling
that way.
 “After my father’s death, nothing could touch me
anymore.” page 107
 Apathetic/numb
Elie’s father had been his
reason to survive, now he
had nothing to live for.
 “Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto
the provisions.” page 109
 Starving
The men thought of nothing but food.
Even family escaped their thoughts.
 “From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at
me.” page 109
 Half-dead
The Nazis killed all of
Elie, except for his body.
 “Humanity? Humanity is not concerned with us.” page
30
 Never forget, and never again
 “Wild beasts of prey, with animal hatred in their
eyes…” page 95
 Man’s inhumanity to man
 “The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has
never left me.” page 109
 Reminder of the horrors
Elie’s haunting imagery and
horridly true memories help
to establish the purpose and
drill it into our minds.