"I thought of my father. But I was glad all the same. To see the whole works go up in fire-what revenge!...We were not afraid. And yet, if a bomb had fallen on the blocks, it alone would have claimed hundreds of victims on the spot. But we were no longer afraid of death;at any rate not of that death. Every bomb that exploded filled us with joy and gave us new confidence in life."
The value of this quote is drawn from the fact that Elie is portraying what I believe to be the loss of his human nature. When saying this it could be taken in two very different ways. Either that Elie has become more of an animal, or he has reached a state of higher enlightenment. It is difficult to say which is being describe, but I feel that the characteristics displayed seem to relate more to the latter. On one hand, Elie sees that he is only a piece to the puzzle and is willing to sacrifice himself for a larger cause which depicts an element of higher thinking. However, the underlying motive is the desire to see the Germans weakened. This is ultimately a form of revenge, and is understandable but should not be condoned. I also think that being in the situation that he was in, Elie lost perspective, because had he died that day, we would not know his story.
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