Comparing Night and Dawn Post 4

You made a really good point in your last post Monica. The point that I am talking about is the will of survival that Elie and Elisha both have. They are definetly fighters, and that is one of the most important character traits to have in my opinion. What would life be like if you didn't put up a fight? They almost remind me of Athy in When Broken Glass Floats. So far in the book, Athy never gave up as her father and brothers die. It is a pretty common theme in a lot of books, and is really apparent in Night and Dawn.
Another thing that I noticed is that the book has different angles in it. In Night, the main character had no control over what was happening. He was just being pushed around, and pretty much almost dieing all the time. He had to sit back and watch as all of his family members died. But it is kind of the opposite in Dawn. Elisha is taking a stand. He is fighting back, he is part of the war. I feel that if Elie was in the postition that Elisha was in, he would do well. It goes back to my other post about how I think that Elie wishes that he was more like the character Elisha. Elisha has this sense of pride in himself. Elie has a sense of longing and depression. There is quite a big character difference in my opinion.

Post 3 of Compare and Contrast

Monica, I agree with you in your post that Night has a lot more emotion in it then Dawn does. Dawn has this vague sense of, how to put it, not being there. Night is real. Night is intense. Night shows raw emotion. Night broke my heart reading it, especially since I knew that it was a realy story. Dawn just didn't have that affect on me, and I feel that it made the story not as good as it could have been.
To be honest, I felt that Dawn could have been a better book. It really lacked compared to Night. Maybe if it wasn't considered Night's sequel it would be a little better. Just, basically nothing can compare to Night I don't think. To make Dawn better, I think that Elie should have written more about his life. It would be really interesting to see his thoughts on the Holocaust later on in time. How thye may have changed, or maybe they are still the same thoughts that they have been since the begining. I feel like they might not have changed, maybe even grew worse as he reflects over the times. There is a lot of time in life to reflect, especially on the sad moments. And obviously Elie has had a thousand life times of sad experiences. Monica, do you feel that Dawn could have been better? If so, what would you have changed to make the book better?

Monica Corcoro. Posting 4. Compare and Contrast

A theme that I saw in both books was fear. Both Elie and Elisha were afraid of many things going through their lives, and it showed that both had a hard time going through of them. In both Night and in Dawn, they constantly had life obstacles interfere with them throughout the novel. Night showed Elie going through the troubles of how everyone was treated in the Holocaust, while Dawn showed the expression of all the hardships encountered while facing the troubles of gaining something truly wanted. For them to get to where they were by the end of both novels they had to go through ups and downs just to get to where they wanted to be; and I greatly admire them for it. They are one of the few people who never stopped believing in themselves, and they got very far in their lives because of it. If only both Elie and Elisha went through the journey together, I think they would have overcome their fears a lot quicker because both had the endurance to overcome their fears, but if they had each other there, then they would have someone like them to help them strive even more.

Although both Elie and Elisha had agonizing stories they shared with the reader, I realized that not only did Elisha have to gain independence from Palestine again, but I kept forgetting throughout the book that he just came out of the Holocaust as well. Since I noticed this, I realized that the hardships in a person’s life never really end; you just have to keep trying to get to where you want to be.

Monica Corcoro. Posting 3. Compare and Contrast

I would really like to focus on how both Elie and Elisha both strived to do everything they could to survive under conditions they had to go through. Not only did Elie’s family die, like I said in my last post, he also had to undergo and learn a lot of techniques to knowing how to survive the concentration camps. He had to understand what the Nazis wanted and didn’t want the Jews to do for them. Regulations such as the age-range check was one of the first steps they had to go through before actually working. I thought Elie and his dad were quite wise about changing their ages to make sure they were not out of age-range for working conditions. Not only did he have to avoid being killed, he also had to be careful of ever getting in trouble because that would always lead to beatings or even murder as well. Elie’s dad accidentally made that mistake by wanting to go to the bathroom, and I just felt so terrible for both him and Elie. Elisha, on the other hand, had to go through a series of murder trials and executions of people, and that was his only way of surviving the Palestine territory under the English rule. She needed freedom in her home country, and wanted it just as much as the rest of her group.

Both Elie and Elisha had to overcome a lot in their obstacles in life, and although both stories are quite depressing, I am glad they both accomplished what they needed to do in their lives.

Monica Corcoro. Posting 2. Compare and Contrast

Abby, I do agree with you about Elie having the necessities needed for surviving the Holocaust. At the beginning of Night, Elie had his family to support him and each other in the concentration camps, but later lost them due to the Nazis of course. It was as if God was planning out his fate for him. What I mean by that is when he first got moved into the concentration camps, he had no experience or guidance to help him throughout his journey, which is why his family was there to help him. Later on, when his mother and young sister died, he kind of got the hang of knowing how to survive there. Once his father died, he didn’t really need his protection or guidance anymore because he already had a very good sense of how to survive under those certain kinds of harsh conditions. What do you think Abby? Do you think God planned out Elie’s life to be that way? Why or why not?

Another thing that interested me was that Elisha had nearly the same situation, but he kind of drove his own life in certain directions for the better. Once he got out of the concentration camp, he refused to go back to his home; which I found very strange. Usually, people would want to go to the place where they feel themselves, but I think the reason why he didn’t is that he knew his hometown was nothing like it was before. It was almost as if God was trying to steer him in different places, while he just had to figure out what was best for him in the end. What do you say about that Abby? Do you think fate brings us in different directions so that we can make the right decisions?

Comparing Night and Dawn

I also want to talk about Elie in this post Monica. Elie is such an interesting character, we could spend a lot of time discussing him. In Night, I would say that Elie was a rich character. I would not say that he was necessarily rich in the amount of money that he owned, but he was rich in character. He had God. He had a great family that he cared about. He also had a passion, which was learning. Then after the Holocaust and the book turns to Dawn, it all disappears. It seems to me that he has no sense of belonging. It is depressing in a way. Elie loved his family so much, and he choose not to go back to his home.
The tone of the two books has changed also. Night was full of fear. Dawn is full of fear, but also numbness and regret. Regret is a pretty hard thing to deal with. I do not know about you Monica, but regret is one of the hardest emotions for me to personally deal with. I stay up late at night thinking about what I should have done, or what I should have done differently. I bet Elie does the same, even to his day. I bet that he regrets killing all those people. I bet that regret is the hardest emotion that Elie has to deal with. He had dreams about it in the book. He probably still has dreams about it right now. Monica, do you think that regret is the hardest emotion to deal with? And do you think it is the hardest emotion to deal with for Elie?

Comparing Night and Dawn

There is one obvious thing to talk about. That is the character development of Elisha. I am pretty proud of this character, which is a wierd thing to say. I usually don't get to attached to characters, but i'm really fighting hard for this one. The fact that Elisha is getting a stronger faith in God makes me think back to Night. Night was the complete opposite. Elie started with a strong faith, and then lost it. I bet this has something to do with the author. My guess is that he regrets his decision on loosing his faith. I need to go read some more about Elie's life after the holocaust. Because this book has a strong religious sense in the way that he is gaining faith, I bet the author might be doing the same as he goes along writing. I bet this character is a reflection on himself. What he wished he had done. Who he wished he could have been. Who he wanted to be. I hope so, because Elie really needs something to hang on too.
Also, Dawn and Night are great basic books to see real character development, and well, undevelopment in Night's case. It's really obvious to see. In Night, Elie looses all his faith. In Dawn, Elisha gains his faith. Reading these books has helped me be more aware of how a character does actually develop. Has reading tehse books helped you in your reading outside of the books, Monica?