Like the other response states, the narrator, Elie Wiesel—reflecting on his experiences as a teenager during the Holocaust—uses many more words with positive connotations prior to chapter 6. Even so, throughout the book, Wiesel inserts numerous asides speaking from his present position, in which he understands certain facts that he did not as a teenager. For instance, right before Elie and his family leave on the train from Sighet, Elie recalls someone saying,
As far as I'm concerned, this whole business of deportation is just a big farce. . . . They just want to steal our valuables and jewelry . . . so much easier to do when their owners are on vacation. . .
This comment reveals the almost hopeful attitude of the group before arriving at the death camp. Wiesel then says this is the "kind of talk that nobody believed." This suggests that, while...
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the Jews maintained an outward appearance of hope, deep down, they also understood something bad was happening.
This mild optimism is completely obliterated by chapter 6. Now that Elie has been in the concentration camps for an entire summer, his ability to see the positive side of things is gone. Chapter 6 begins with the prisoners' evacuation in a bitter winter snow as the Allied army approaches. Elie even considers suicide multiple times as he marches for what seems like an endless amount of time.
As the end of the text approaches, Elie feels less attached to his father, for whom he has felt responsible throughout their time in the camps. At one point, Elie realizes he forgot to get his father during an alert. He writes,
If only I didn't find him! If only I were relieved of this responsibility, I could use all my strength to fight for my own survival, to take care of only myself. . . Instantly, I felt ashamed, ashamed of myself forever.
This excerpt shows that Elie has been so worn down that he considers abandoning his father, just as he has seen other boys do to their fathers.
In chapters 1-5, Elie Weisel and the Jews he is with are still hopeful and full of faith. They continue to believe that nothing horrible will happen, that they will be saved, that life will return to normal. In these chapters, everyone is still human. They are still full of human kindness and caring for those who are suffering. They have not yet sunk to the level of animals, even though they are treated in this manner.
By chapters 6-9, reality has set in and the language is darker, more depressing and lacking that hope of salvation. Elie has lost his faith in God, as many of the Jews who have witnessed such atrocities against humanity (babies, children, the elderly) have. At this point in the book, it is everyone for himself. All bonds between friends and family members no longer exist. Survival is everything, and one may sacrifice his own father for a small piece of bread to calm his aching stomach. They have succumbed to the de-humanization of the Nazis in these atrocious camps.