So today, during 2nd period, we talked about how in the book Night. One of the scenes we talked about was when the man, Stien, recognizes Elie's father. His father does not recognize the man but Elie does and the man asked Elie if they have received any news from his wife. Elie lies to the man saying that she did send a letter saying she was alright.
In class we talked about why he would lie to the man. I feel like Elie shouldn't have lied to the man. I think the best thing would have been for him to tell the man that he hasn't heard anything from his family but that that doesn't mean that they aren't ok. How would other people deal with this situation?
I believe it was a good thing that Elie lied to Stein. Although it was not the truth, Elie gave Stein hope. Stein had said if he found out his family was killed, than he would just give up on living. When Stein discovered that his family was dead he gave up on living. I think that in certain situations lying is the best case scenario. Elie was trying to give Stein something to live for, rather than giving him a death sentence.
ReplyDeleteI think that what Elie did was the right thing to do. Elie provided Stein the hope he needed in order to live for his family. In that situation I would've lied because it would have resulted in Stein living or giving up and dying. In the situations Mr. Stewart gave in class, I would most likely have told the truth because the circumstances of those examples wouldn't be life or death.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Elie should have lied. Sure he gave him hope but it's false hope. You deal with the suffering because you think something will come out of it, just to find out in the end that what you thought you were fighting to stay alive for is gone. Personally I wouldn't want anything sugar coated or to be lied to, but I can see why people would want to be lied to.
ReplyDeleteI believe that in the situation, given that the odds of Stein dying were much higher than the odds of him living, Elie definitely did the right thing. I would rather die believing that my family had escaped the atrocities I was facing. In a less extreme situation I think that the right choice would of been to tell the harsh truth so that the man could grieve but the extreme situation made hope more important than reality and in that sense, Elie did the right thing.
ReplyDeleteI believe Elie did the most beneficial thing he could. By telling Stein that his family is alive Elie gave Stein a motivation to keep on living in a place like Auschwitz. If i where in this situation i personally would rather be lied at then told the truth because beside my own will of wanting to survive knowing that my family is "alive" would help me with the horrible conditions i would be in.
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