Thursday, April 3, 2014

Night 3

           I have finished Night and can say it was definitely my favorite of all he books I have read. The way it was written just made every page more and more interesting. It did get sad at points but that only made it better to read. The aspect I liked about the book the most was the way the author made a narrative out of the events that happened. There was a lot of fiction in the non-fiction. A lot of the time there were thoughts and feeling that Elie Wiesel saw in other which he couldn’t prove true. It made the book much better to read.
            The other thing I likes was the emotions and the way the book made you want to keep reading in order to find out what happened next. One of the main themes was the idea to never give up on yourself. There was a point in the book where a German soldier said, “Courage! Just a few more hours!” (Wiesel 204). At this point the Germans where forcing the Jews to run to the next camp which was over 20 kilometers away. Those that didn’t keep pace or had to stop were shot right then and there. During the run Wiesel just thought to himself that he has to keep running and not think. Just to run and believe that he can make it. This was probably the biggest part where Wiesel had to fight in order to survive. Elie did survive long enough to write this book but he said he never looked at himself the same again. Wiesel even states, “From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me.
The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me” (Wiesel 244). This just goes to show that these people went in the camps and came out changed men.

            I would recommend this book to everyone just because it was so good.

Night 2

          At the midpoint of Night, I can say that this book has been excellent so far. Wiesel’s family was taken to the ghettos where they stayed a while. Soon they were taken to a concentration camp where the family was split apart, the boys to the right and girls to the left. Elie went with his father. There they worked long hours and eat little. It is around this point whew everyone starts to loose faith. Wiesel even prays, “But look at these men whom You have betrayed, allowing them to be tortured, slaughtered, gassed, and burned, what do they do? They pray before You! They praise Your name!” (Wiesel 157). Wiesel, being a hardcore practicing Jew, makes it hard to believe that he would say what he did. It just goes to show that these camps pushed the people to the limit and it made them feel as though God had left them.
            I thought an interesting part of the book was the connections that I was able to make to our Social Studies lessons. At a point the author says, “We also spoke often about Palestine. Their parents, like mine, had not had the courage to sell everything and emigrate while there was still time. We decided that if we were allowed to live until the Liberation, we would not stay another day in Europe. (Wiesel 126)” This goes along with the lesson we learned in class about how many of the Jews in Europe fled at the beginning of World War II to Palestine.

            So far the book has been a fast read, and every page makes me want to read more and more.

Night 1


          My free choice, I have decided will be Night by Elie Wiesel. My friend recommended it to me. Looking at the summary and info about the author and book I can assume that this book will be a good one. Night is about the experience Elie Wiesel and his father experienced during the Holocaust in World War II. He talks about what it was like inside the concentration camps and about the hell he went through. I can already predict this book with be emotional. Elie Wiesel did receive a Nobel Peace Prize for this book. Im hoping that I will enjoy this as much as I think I am.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Lord of the Flies 3

         I have finished Lord of the Flies and I can say it was pretty good. I would only give it a four out of five stars only because it got really boring at some parts but it was mostly very interesting. I do finally figure out why it is titled what it is and it just has to do with this hallucination a boy has where he talks to a pig head. Looking back to my earlier post I can say that it did revolve around human behavior. There were many things that happened in the book, in which you can expect that this also happened in early civilization. For instance, the idea of dominance was visible during the book.  Golding describes, “He was shorter than the fair boy and very fat” (Golding 7). This describes one of the main characters names Piggy. He is over weight, has asthma, and needs glasses. Because of his Piggy is looked down on. He doesn’t really help out too much and he soon starts to be rejected which the causes his death. Golding states, “Piggy’s arms and legs twitched a bit, like a pig’s after it has been killed. Then the sea breathed again in a long, slow sigh, the water boiled white and pink over the rock; and when it went, sucking back again, the body of Piggy was gone. (Golding 286). This describes piggy death. At a point in the book the boys split up into two different tribes. Piggy was rejected from joining one and then when that tribe felt as though he was trespassing, they threw him over a cliff.
         The book was very interesting when looking at how the boys behaved and survived there time on the island. This book probably wont go into my favorites list though. The plot was more of a flat line the whole time and it did get boring. Other than that very interesting. 

Lord of the Flies 2

            I’m about halfway through. No cannibalism yet. I also have yet to figure out why its called Lord of the Flies I’m predicting that the ending will explain why. So far it has been about the kids that have been stranded on this island after a plane crash. There aren’t any grownups, just the kids. The have developed a society among themselves where they each have roles and things to do. Their leader is a blond boy named Ralph. I believe part of the books theme is to look at human behavior. It kind of shows how society might have operated in the beginning of mankind. So far it seems that when you don’t have luxuries people start to get hostile and become savages. Golding states, “Jack stood up as he said this, the bloodied knife in his hand. The two boys faced each other” (Golding 109). In this quote you can see how the kids are starting to turn on each other. At this point the two kid were starting to get aggressive because Jack was supposed to keep the fire going but let it go out. Ralph the leader was angry at him.
            The thing that I always forget while reading this book is the fact that they are just kids. They hunt pigs and build huts and it is sometimes hard to forget they are just little kids. There was a time in the book where Golding says, “they suffered untold terrors in the dark and huddled together for comfort” (Golding 90). Quotes like these help be come back to the childhood innocence this kids share. This quote talks about how the little kids get nightmares so they snuggle with one another fore comfort.
I am enjoying the read. It does get a little dull at times but it always draws me back in. 

Lord of the Flies 1

         For my classic I believe I will read Lord of The Flies.  From what I have heard from friends who has discussed it, it is about this group of boys who get trapped on an island and have to work together to survive and be rescued. I have also heard that at times the book get weird. From research I see that William Golding, the author, is a very prestigious man. He has won a Nobel Peace Prize for his literature and was even knighted by the Queen. The website says that Lord of the Flies is a global phenomenon and a must read.  I predict that the boys on the island will have something to do with a plane crash. I also feel like the kids will eat each other. I don’t know. I am looking forward to this read.