chapter 5
4. what is the « beautiful present » the SS gives the Jews for the new year ? what literary device does Wiesel employ in describing it ? what gift does the blockalteste actually give the inmates ?
The "gift" is meant sarcastically. The Nazis had given the Jews the "gift" of selection. That meant, only the healthy and strong Jews got to live. Most Jews were diseased and tired from a year in Hell. The blockalteste gives Elie advice to only look out for himself and no other. He tells him that in the concentration camps, it is every man for himself and that ties of family and friendship no longer count. He advises him not to give his food rations to his father and to instead his father's for himself. For a moment Eliezer agrees with him, but then immediately feels guilty. You will have to provide a quote for me for the literary device.
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" beautiful present "
