Question

which quotation from chapter 2 of night by elie wiesel best demonstrates the author’s viewpoint about the dehumanization of the passengers?
○ “there are eighty of you in the car,’ the german officer added, ‘if anyone goes missing, you will all be shot, like dogs.’”
○ “on the first day of the journey, she had already begun to moan. she kept asking why she had been separated from her family.”
○ “when they came back, they told us that they had learned, in exchange for a gold watch, that this was the final destination.”
○ “but there was nothing outside but darkness. we returned to our places, shame in our souls but fear gnawing at us nevertheless.”

Explanation:

To determine which quotation shows dehumanization, we analyze each option:

• The first option: The German officer's threat to shoot all passengers if one is missing treats them as a collective with no regard for individual life, reducing them to a group where one's action (or inaction) leads to collective punishment, a classic example of dehumanization (treating people as objects or a faceless group, not individuals with worth).
• The second option: A woman mourning separation from family is about personal loss, not dehumanization.
• The third option: People sharing news about a destination is just information exchange, not dehumanizing.
• The fourth option: Describing a return to places with shame and fear is about internal emotions, not dehumanization by others.

The first quotation's threat treats passengers as expendable, lacking human dignity.

Answer:

A. "There are eighty of you in the car,' the German officer added, 'if anyone goes missing, you will all be shot, like dogs.'"