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 demonstrates dehumanization, we analyze each option:

• The first option ("There are eighty of you in the car... If anyone goes missing, you will all be shot, like dogs") compares the passengers to dogs, stripping them of human dignity and treating them as expendable, which is a clear example of dehumanization.
• The second option is about a woman mourning separation from family, focusing on personal emotion, not dehumanization.
• The third option is about information exchange for a gold watch, related to transactional behavior, not dehumanization.
• The fourth option describes shame and fear, focusing on internal emotions, not dehumanization.

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."