Question

Read the excerpt below to answer the question. In front of us, those flames. In the air, the smell of burning flesh. It must have been around midnight. We had arrived. In Birkenau. The beloved objects that we had carried with us from place to place were now left behind in the wagon and, with them, finally, our illusions. In at least 150 words, explain what “illusions” Wiesel is most likely speaking of in this excerpt from Night, and why he says they were left behind “finally.” Use evidence from the text to support your answer.

Answer 1

There hopes and dreams are the illusions and they had to leave them behind either because they were going to be killed or it was their only chance of survival.

Answer 2

I will expand on that so y'all can have enough words ^

Their hopes and dreams are the illusions and they had to leave them behind either because they were going to be killed or it was their only chance of survival. By making an understood comparison between Eliezer and the characters that are less fortunate than he is, Wiesel shows that love has more power than bread, soup, sleep, and physical strength/health. Whenever he abandons his father he begins to doubt that his own life is worth saving. The other characters face a conflict between love and self-interest as well. By contrasting Eliezer’s struggle with the struggles of these other characters, Wiesel shows that love keeps people alive. The concentration camp strips its prisoners of their self-respect, built-in worth, and humanity. In those conditions a lot of men choose to leave behind their loved ones in order to survive. But those are the men who do not survive. Eliezer, a weak boy who has over and over again risked his own life to help his father, comes out from the "death camps" to tell his story that love had kept him alive.