Elie Wiesel Guilt Quotes

Through the lives of people around the world, there is guilt in every action that is done. This guilt can surface from something simple or complex, depending on the person who is feeling the guilt. It is impossible to go through life without feeling guilt at one point because it is human nature. Max has plenty of reason to feel guilt, even if he is not guilty himself. Max is the type of person who seems like they would self-reflect and be very aware of their surroundings at all times. He opened himself up to Liesel as he was living with her family by describing all the recent events in his life to her, and even by giving her a present describing all his feelings in an abstract way. At a point in the book, Max becomes very sick and falls into a coma for a long time. After he finally wakes up, he remarks, “In your situation, a dead Jew is just as dangerous as a live one, if not worse.” (333) By this remark, it is obvious that Max feels apparent guilt and shame for something as innocent as getting sick. He felt this because he knew that if he had died, he would have greatly risked the safety of the household that he was staying in. The last thing that Max wanted to do was to get Liesel’s family in trouble, especially after such a strong bond he had formed with them. Overall, Max even feels guilty just by staying with Hans’ family. He probably
Most of the characters had this feeling, but the feeling of guilt was most apparent in Hans, Liesel’s father. Hans feels guilt even for his past, such as when he managed to escape Death in World War I because of Erik, his friend, who signed him up for handwriting duty. He felt guilty because if it was not for Erik, he would have been dead instead of Erik dying. Therefore, Max and Hans are very similar yet in different ways. Just because both men lived and tried to live their lives to the fullest, it does not mean that they never took shame or guilt in their