How Did Optimism Impact People

Optimism negatively impacted the citizens, as it kept them hoping for the better. The residents assured themselves that nothing could have ever happened to them. They ignored Moshe’s cries of help. Their optimism blocked sight of the real world situation, had it not been for their optimism, maybe action would have been taken and Ellie and his family would have been saved from this cruel extermination. In a way, they used this optimism to relieve themselves that they would be okay, however it just prevented them from taking precautionary measures.

2. People coped with the stress of the cattle cars by disengaging themselves from reality. Many people focused on God and used His words to keep themselves sane and patient. Other times, prisoners of the cattle cars used extreme methods to deal with the overwhelming pressure. For example, when Madame Schächter had broken out in despair, the residents tied her up in order to keep themselves orderly. Seeing her “break” made the residents go crazy, her cries scared them and made their nerves shoot up. No one seemed to be concerned with calming her down and look out for her. In fact, they are driven by the attention to shut her down. This is a true example of how much war impacted people. The dehumanizing that the Nazis showed, really affected the victims of this genocide and how they began to treat one and another.
The significance of this quote is that it allows for people to bind together as one and face these barbarous acts of crime as a union. By being able to comfort each other, it provides great support to the victims. By acting as complete strangers towards each other, the conflict will grow and it will be harder to endure the cruelty expressed by the concentration camps. I completely agree with this statement as it discusses how important it was for the victims to still find kindness in their hearts and protect each other. During this time, everyone needs to work as a team in order to