Question

1.While Nazi terror is only a rumor or distant threat, Eliezer's father chooses to remain in Sighet. Once they are forced into the ghetto, Eliezer's father tells his older children that they can go live with their former maid in her village, but that he will stay in the ghetto with their mother and little sister. Eliezer says, "Naturally, we refused to be separated" (p. 20). Can you sympathize with their choice? What would it feel like for a family to have to choose to leave their home or separate from each other? Are there places in the world where families are faced with this decision now?

Answer 1

Answer:

Yes, it is easy to sympathize with Eliezer's situation where he refused to leave his parents and stay with their former maid.

For families made to leave their homes or be separated from their family members, it would feel like death, only without the physical death but separation with the knowledge that the other is somewhere but unable to know where he/ she is.

There are still some places around the world where such displacements and separations happen, like for instance, the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Explanation:

Being displaced from one's own home is one of the most depressing and disturbing experiences a person can be put through. It is not only the very idea of leaving the place we call home, but it also is the removal of all things associated with one's memories of that place and being forced to distance oneself from the place that has been our whole world and belonging.

So, Eliezer’s refusal to leave his parents and their little sister is something that one can easily sympathize with. While the thought of leaving one's home is hard enough, having to leave some family members too is hard to even imagine. Disrupted families or families broken by circumstances is one thing that one can sympathize with all over the world.

Families who had to leave their homes or be separated because of circumstances they cannot prevent is one of the hardest decisions to be taken too. There are no feelings that can describe the feeling of being torn apart or made to leave one's home. Those who'd gone through the experience know how hard and painful it is, for it felt like death too.

There are still places around the world where such events still happen. One example would be the situation of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. Their plight is one of homelessness and separation from one's loved ones amidst the search for belonging and a place they can safely call home.