Elie Wiesel showed many ways that people can be evil towards others. In the concentration camps the guards were allowed to do whatever they wanted. In the beginning of the story when Moshe the Beadle returned from deportation he told a story about what the guards did. In one passage it says. "Babies were thrown into the air and the machine gunners used them as targets." [Wiesel, 4] The Nazi's cared so little about the people they were imprisoning that they could do such cruel and inhumane things to even babies that were totally innocent. In another passage it shows how selfishly evil people can become. The prisoners are in a train and people are throwing food into the train to watch them fight for it. The passage is of an old man coming out with some food and getting beat on by his own son. The passage reads, "Meir, Meir, my boy! Don't you recognize me? I'm your father"¦you're hurting me"¦you're killing your father! I've got some bread"¦for you too"¦" [Wiesel, 96] "He collapsed. His fist still clenched around a small piece. He tried to carry it to his mouth. But the other one threw himself upon it and snatched it. The old man again whispered something, let out a rattle, and died amid the general indifference. His son searched him, took the bread and began to devour it." [Wiesel, 96] People can be so selfish that they will do anything to get what they want. This old man got food for his son, but he killed him so he would not have to share with his father.
Elie Wiesel also explored how humans can be very resilient to such evil acts. Elie survived the concentration camps because he was a resilient boy. Elie did some brave things to stay with his father even if it meant injuring himself. In one passage it talks about how after Elie had surgery