Prisoner Post

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You know, when I was in high school, we had to read Night by Elie Wiesel three times. I know, it sounds crazy, but they kept bumping it up year after year because it was "too mature". So I had to read it three times before I graduated.

And it still didn't prepare me for the horrors of the holocaust. I don't think anything ever could. Especially not when we see what it does to people. Both the predictable and the unpredictable. Like Elie's experience throughout World War 2, we see Yanek slowly change. Which is to be expected, of course, but it's such a slow and subtle thing. So creeping, yet powerful enough that it's not so much subtle as much as it is strong. It's a permanent, complete outlook change.

We see Yanek begin this story as a happy, relatively carefree child. But as the war wages on and his world gets darker and darker, Yanek too becomes hardened. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. He goes through major character development, and his changes are fascinating and terrible. And in developing his newfound traits, this "toughness", he is able to survive in America.

Which, you know, isn't really that sweet of a deal. But the point is, he faced adversity and he used it to become someone greater than he was before. And that's pretty inspiring.

I can't not compare this to Night. But the thing about holocaust stories is that each one doesn't have to be unique and different. There's not going to be some secret twist at the end where everything turns out to be better, or worse, or any of that. So when we read stories like this, we have to focus on the characters. Because these strong, resilient people are the only glimmers of hope we get between these pages.

And I think that's both heart-wrenching and incredible inspiring.

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