Can atrocities and cruel treatment make good people become brutes?
Did Elie escape this fate?
A motif in this book is how good people turn into brutes. This is not difficult considering the conditions prisoners are in: they are starving and desperate.
I think Elie does keep his humanity intact. I do not recall Elie exploiting other prisoners. He also does not forsake his father who kept dragging Elie down. Indeed, there were many times that Elie could scarcely save himself let alone take care of an old man who had given up on living. Elie did change his relationship with his faith. I think a younger Elie, before the camps, would have considered humanity a part of his faith. Elie's faith was definitely shaken. Consider this quote about Elie choosing to die than witness any more brutality.
My forehead was covered with cold sweat. Still, I told him that I could not believe that human beings were being burned in our times; the world would never tolerate such crimes …
"The world? The world is not interested in us. Today everything is possible, even the crematoria …" His voice broke.
"Father," I said. "If that is true, then I don’t want to wait. I’ll run into the electrified barbed wire. That would be easier than a slow death in the flames." Ch 3
