Holocaust Experience Comparisons (#4)

I am currently reading Annexed, a novel written by Sharon Dogar. In class, we are reading Night, a story written by Elie Wiesel, surrounding his Holocaust experience. I have also read Milkweed, a novel written by Jerry Spinelli. Annexed is about the boy who loved Anne Frank, Peter Van Pels. Night is about Elie, a 15-year-old Jew from Poland. Misha, from Milkweed, was a young orphan that lived in Warsaw, and later, the Warsaw Ghetto.

All of these boys had at least one dreadful experience. Peter, at the tender age of 15, saw the Nazis take away the family of his girlfriend. This is really depressing, and I think he really loved her. Elie had to deal with being separated from his sister and mother. I can't even begin to comprehend what would go through my head if this happened to me. Elie also has to endure many other demoralizing experiences, like seeing his father cry, as well as being stripped of his clothing and having all of the hair on his body shaved off. Misha has to see his friend's dead body hanging from a pole, loses the only family he ever thought he had, and gets shot. I think these are all typical Holocaust experiences, which is very frightening and disturbing to me.

All of these characters have some motivations in their lives. One common motivation is the will to survive. All of the characters all have a little spark of life left in them, and I think they all want to survive their experiences. They all also love their families, or the closest thing they have to families. Elie is focused on getting out alive, while Misha and Peter are still worrying about the comfort of their friends and families. I think this is because Misha and Peter aren't in concentration camps, while Elie is.

The characteristics of these characters are very different in the beginning of the stories, but I think their experiences will link them in some way. They are all victims and they are all growing. I've realized that Peter is much more of a pessimist than Elie and Misha are. This might be because Elie and Misha are more naïve about the Holocaust. All of these characters have similarities and are linked because of their experiences. I can't wait to finish all of their stories.