Read the excerpt from Elie Wiesel’s All Rivers Run to the Sea. It is unbelievable how fast people adapt. It hurts to admit it, b
ut within hours of first breathing the cattle car’s nauseating air, we began to feel at home. ‘Home’ was the edge of the wooden plank I sat on as I dreamed of the Jewish exiles of antiquity and the Middle Ages. More curious than afraid, I thought of myself as their brother. Mixed into my sadness there was undeniable excitement, for we were living a historic event, a historic adventure. Which best describes the author at this point in his life? He comprehends the situation but is trying to remain optimistic. He reveals the torment he feels while riding the train to the unknown. He is too young and naive to truly understand what is happening. He is troubled by how quickly the others have accepted the current condition.
A is not correct because Elie does not 'comprehend the situation.'
B is not correct because he does not 'reveal the torment he feels.' In fact, he does <em>not feel any torment</em> because he feels 'excitement' instead.
D is not correct because Elie is not troubled by 'how quickly the others have accepted the current condition'. He writes, 'we began to feel at home'. He also mentions his curiosity and 'undeniable excitement' with regard to their 'current condition'.
He is too young and naive to truly understand what is happening.
Explanation:
Elie Wiesel was only 15 years old when he and his family were deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp in a cattle car. The excerpt in question describes his emotions and feelings as well as his impressions and thoughts during that ride "to the unknown". In reality, it was a train ride to death as most of the passengers of that cattle car would soon be killed. Historians say that approximately 90 percent of the people sent to Auschwitz were murdered on arrival. Elie's mother and younger sister were among those mercilessly killed as soon as they arrived at the concentration camp.
But Elie was still too young and naive at the time desribed in the passage. That is why he refers to himself as "more curious than afraid" and talks about "undeniable excitement" of living a "historic event, a historic adventure".
