Blog 2 (Night)

I read the passage from the story Night today in English class. It is written in first person by someone on a horrific train ride. The narrator never gives any clue as to what gender or age they are. When I read it, I assumed it was a teenage boy. I realized by the end of the passage that my assumption was never confirmed by the narrator. I can infer that the ride was horrific from all the descriptive details the narrator gives. Lack of space, food, water and light was mentioned at different times in the 5 pages. The first paragraph states “Lying down was not an option, nor could we all sit down.” Another statement was there was no air. Second paragraph “After two days of travel, thirst became intolerable, as did the heat” is another statement that supports the idea of the bad accommodations.

About the 6th paragraph, the narrator lets the reader in on the why and where of the train ride. The narrator tells about the German officers and their rules. This information along with the previous details leads me to infer that the trip destination is not going to be pleasurable.

The next few pages of the passage introduces us to another passenger. Mrs. Schachter, she had already been greatly affected by the Germans when her husband and older son were taken from her. Now, her journey is too much for her to handle. It appears to the others, in the locked train car, that the woman is going crazy from this horrible experience. I think that maybe she is the only one aware of what is to come. Her nightly rants about seeing fire. One time she specifically addresses the Jews and says “Jews, listen to me,” she cried. “I see fire! I see flames, huge flames!” Why would she call the people Jews? The people had to know something about what was to come for them at the end of this trip. Why couldn’t they make the connection to what this grieving woman was saying? Maybe had they not been so scared, they would have seen what she saw.

Blog 1

Emil and Karl by Yankev Glatshteyn starts with a thrilling opening. The main character Karl, who lives in Vienna, is alone in the apartment he lived in with his mother. This scene takes place minutes after witnessing three large men invade their home and take his mother away with force. The last thing the men said was that they would be back for him. So now Karl must flee before they return. He chooses to go to an old friend's house. Emil is a Jewish boy who was a classmate of Karl's and a close friend at one time. Due to the changes happening in Vienna, teachers were forced to teach the Aryan children that Jews were dirty commoners and not equals. Emil was bullied and taunted by other classmates and eventually forced him out of school for his own protection. Emil's mother asked and insisted that Karl not be seen with Emil for fear of both the boys’ safety. Karl now hopes that the friendship he had with Emil will be enough to persuade Emil and his family to shelter him and take care of him during this hard time. The setting of the story takes place in Vienna Austria within the 1940s, a time when Jewish men, women, and children were being separated from the rest of the city because of their religion. The problem so far is that Jewish people are being treated unfairly and that penalties can and are being given to Jewish people and non-Jews that help them.