Chapter 1: The Kabbalah
The Kaballah is a Jewish holy book, and in the novel, Eliezer is a very religious and Jewish. He studies the Talmud, but he also wants to study the Kaballah, though Eliezers father thinks his son is to young to learn about the Kaballah, and it isn't something that Eliezer should spend his time on, he keeps saying to Eliezer that there are no Kaballists in Sighet. So later on the novel Eliezer meets Moshe the Beadle, and he teaches him all about the Kaballah.
Chapter 2: The Fire
Fire is portrayed in this chapter because it talks about a old lady name Mrs. Schachter, begins to moan and cry because she is separated from her husband, then she begins to scream about a terrible fire, The Jewish people try to calm her down but she keeps saying that she sees a burning furnace, then she screams out again only to get beaten, blows hard enough to kill her so one night on the train to Auschwitz, she screams again and yells out the window FIRE! And there was smoke and the smell of burning bodies.
Chapter 3: The Smokestacks
The smokestacks were important in this chapter because as Eliezer and his father were about to head off to a concentration camp in Auschwitz, they are asked their ages by a SS officer, and the age range was (18-40) but Eliezer was only 15, age is a matter of life and death, so after all that was said and done each prisoner was questioned by a doctor named Dr.Mengele which he decided which one stays and which die, so Eliezer ended up lying saying that he was 18 and a farmer instead of 15 and a student, so one of the SS officers says they either work or die in the crematorium or the smokestacks.
Chapter 4: Buna
Eliezer and his dad are assigned to work in a warehouse for electrical equipment. Idek is their "Kapo," or work leader. They learn that Idek is a little crazy and it’s best to stay out of his way. The work isn’t bad, it’s just counting pieces of electrical equipment. There are even civilians working there – Polish people and some French women.Buna seems dead, empty. Eliezer’s group starts asking around to find out which is the best work group to be assigned to. The word on the street is that you just want to stay away from the construction "Kommando" or (work group).
Chapter 5: Rosh Hashanah
The Jews inside Buna come together for a service to celebrate Rosh Hashanah. Eliezer wonders, angrily, where God is and refuses to bless God’s name because of all of the death and suffering He has allowed. Eliezer thinks that man is strong, stronger than God. During this year’s Rosh Hashanah, unlike all previous years, Eliezer is not asking forgiveness for his sins. Rather, Eliezer feels himself to be "the accuser, God the accused."
Chapter 6: Death
The prisoners aren’t marching, but running through the snow while the SS yell at them to go faster faster faster! The SS will kill anyone who can’t keep up. Eliezer’s friend Zalman gets a stomach cramp. He stops for a second to try to relieve it and he ends up getting trampled to death by all the prisoners.
Chapter 7: Starvation
The prisoners are crammed together in the train car for the night. The train stops and the SS officers order the prisoners to toss any dead bodies out of the train. The prisoners are happy to get rid of the dead to make more room in the train
