Chapter 4: The Exchange Of Ideas

India Size and Location Class 9 Important Questions Social Science Geography Chapter 1

Chapter Four Focus 4-2 The Exchange Of Ideas Classroom Discussion Summary 1. The Catholic Church had always been the most powerful institution in Europe.

Important Questions for Class 9 Social Science Geography Chapter 1 India Size and Location

• Chapter Four Focus 4-2 The Exchange Of Ideas Classroom Discussion Summary 1. The Catholic Church had always been the most powerful institution in Europe.
• Chapter 4 - The Exchange of Ideas. A religious movement that rejected the Roman Catholic Church and established the start of the Protestant Churches. Political scientist. A person who describes and analyses political processes and institutions.
• Instant downloads of all 1391 LitChart PDFs (including The Great Gatsby). LitCharts Teacher Editions. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. The original text plus a side-by-side modern.

India Size and Location Class 9 Important Questions Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What is the longitudinal and latitudinal extension of India?
Answer:
The longitudinal extension is 68°7′ E to 97°25′ E and the latitudinal extension is 8°4′ N to 37°6′ N.

Question 2.
Name the island group of India lying in the Arabian Sea.
Answer:
The Lakshadweep Island.

Question 3.
What is the southernmost latitude of India?
Answer:
Southernmost latitude of India is 8°4′ N.

Question 4.
What is a narrow channel of sea which separates two land masses known as?
Answer:
Strait.

Question 5.
What is the total length of the coastline of the mainland of India including its islands? HOTS
Answer:
Around 7,516.6 kilometres.

Question 6.
Which places in India experience sunrise first and last respectively?
Answer:
Arunachal Pradesh experiences sunrise first, and Saurashtra in Gujarat last.

Question 7.
Which longitude represents the Standard Meridian of India?
Answer:
Longitude of 82° 30′ E.

Question 8.
Why has India selected a Standard Meridian of India with an odd value of 82° 30′ E?
Answer:

• Because it is divisible by 7°30′, a standard adopted by almost all the countries of the world.
• It lies almost in the middle of India, and as such, it suits us the most.

Question 9.
How many states does India consist of?
Answer:
29.

Question 10.
How many Union Territories does India consist of?
Answer:
7.

Question 11.
Name the place said to be the situated on three seas. Name the seas also.
Answer:
Kanyakumari. The seas are the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal.

Question 12.
Name the Indian states which share borders with Pakistan.
Answer:
Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Question 13.
Name India's neighbouring countries in the north-west.
Answer:
Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Question 14.
Which neighbouring country is situated in the south-west of India?
Answer:
Maldives.

Question 15.
Name India's neighbours on the northern borders.
Answer:
China (Tibet), Nepal and Bhutan.

Question 16.
Which two island countries are India's southern neighbours?
Answer:
Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Question 17.
Palk Strait and Gulf of Mannar separate which two countries?
Answer:
Sri Lanka and Indian

Question 18.
In which year did Indira Point submerge under water due to Tsunami? ,
Answer:
The southernmost point called Indira Point (earlier called Pygmalion Point) got submerged in Tsunami in 2004.

Question 19.
In which island is active volcano found in Andaman and Nicobar islands?
Answer:
Barren island.

Question 20.
Andaman and Nicobar Islands lie in which direction with respect to the mainland of India?
Answer:
Southeast to the mainland.

Chapter Title Ideas

Question 21.
What is the time difference between the westernmost and the easternmost tips of India?
Answer:
Two hours.

Question 22.
Name the largest country in the world, and what is India's position?
Answer:
Russia is the largest country, and India stands seventh in terms of size.

Question 23.
Which neighbouring country is located on the West of India?
Answer:
Pakistan.

Question 24.
Name any two neighbouring countries of India which are lying in the east. HOTS
Answer:
Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Question 25.
Name the two routes by which India is connected with Europe, North America and South America.
Answer:

• The Cape of Good Hope,
• The Suez Canal.

Question 26.
Which countries make the Indian subcontinent?
Answer:
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Question 27.
Name a country that shares a common boundary with India?
Answer:
Afghanistan.

Question 28.
Name any two states of India that shares its land boundary with Bangladesh.
Answer:
West Bengal and Assam.

Question 29.
Name any two Indian states that share its boundary with Nepal.
Answer:
Uttar Pradesh and Assam.

Question 30.
Name any one state that has international border.
Answer:
Gujarat.

Question 31.
What is the position of India in respect of area of the world?
Answer:
7th position.

Question 32.
Name the neighbouring countries that share their boundaries with India.
Answer:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mynmar, Banglandesh, China (Tibet), Nepal and Bhutan.

India Size and Location Class 9 Important Questions Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What is the longitudinal extent of India? Mention the degree of longitude for the Standard Meridian. State the importance of Standard Meridian.
Answer:
The longitudinal .extent of India is 68°7'E and 97°25'E.
The degree of longitude of Standard Meridian of India is 82° 30′ E.
According to the International accepted convention, the Standard Meridian of a country must be either a multiple of 7.5 or 15 or it has to pass through some important city. Though 82° 30′ E meridian does not pass through the exact centre of the country, but it is still chosen as the Standard Meridian as it passes through an important city called Mirzapur. It is (5 frac{1}{2}) hours ahead of GMT.

Question 2.
What is latitudinal extent of India? How is the latitudinal spread in India advantageous to her? State two points.
Answer:
The Indian Union is situated between about 8°4′ N and 37°6′ N. Sony sound forge 13. This north-south extent is about 3200 km in length.

• The southern part of India gets more heat from the sun than the northern parts.
• The difference between the duration of the day and night is far more in the northern parts than in the southern parts.

Question 3.
Explain the significance of India's eminent position in the Indian Ocean.
Answer:

• This helps India to establish close contact with west Asia, Africa, Europe from western coast and with south-east and east Asia from the eastern coast.
• The sea routes have contributed in the exchange of ideas and commodities.
• The ideas of Upanishads and Ramayana, Indian numerals and the decimal system could reach to many parts of the world.
• The spices, muslin and other merchandises were taken to other countries.
• Influence of Greek sculpture and styles of dome and minaretes can be seen in our countiy.

Question 4.
Describe the implications of India's longitudinal extent.
Answer:

• India's geographical location is favourably important for international trade.
• Due to its central location in the eastern hermisphere, India lies on the major trade routes.
• It has helped in establishing close cultural and commercial contacts with these countries.

Question 5.
Name the major islands groups lying in the Arabian Sea. Explain any two m^jor features of it. .
Answer:
The major island groups lying in the Arabian Sea are the Lakshadweep group. It consists of many small islands located opposite to Kerala coast in the Arabian Sea.
Features:

• It is composed of small coral islands that cover a small area of 32 square kilometres. Kavaratti Island is its administrative headquarters.
• It has great diversity of flora and fauna.
• Lakshadweep consists of 11 islands.
• Most of the area is cultivated with coconut.
• A bird sanctuary is located in Pitti Island which is inhabitated by humans.

Question 6.
In what way the central location of India in the Indian Ocean has been to its advantage?
Answer:
India is a centrally situated country in relation to west Asia, Africa and Europe on the western side and south-east Asia and Australia on the eastern side:

• India is favourably located on the world's highway of trade and commerce.
• It has helped in establishing close cultural and commercial contacts with these countries.

Question 7.
What is meant by the Indian Standard Time? What is its importance?
Answer:
Indian Standard Time (1ST)-is that which is accepted all over India. We have accepted 82° 3(7 E longitude as the Standard Meridian of India. It was accepted as it lies almost in the middle.
The Indian Standard Time has a great importance:

• It has prevented a lot of confusion and has brought harmony in time throughout the country.
• The local time at each longitude is different. So in order to follow one timing, India has accepted the 82° 30'E as the Standard Meridian of India.

Question 8.
Why is the difference between the durations of day and night hardly felt at Kanyakumari but not so in Kashmir?
Answer:
Kanyakumari is just 8° away from the Equator. As Equator receives the direct sunrays, there would not be hardly any difference between day and night. Whereas, Kashmir is 37° away from the Equator. So, the difference between the duration of day and night is about 5 hrs.

Question 9.
Explain why Ahmedabad and Kolkata are able to see the noon sun exactly overhead in a year but not Delhi. VBQ
Answer:
Ahmedabad has latitude 23°N and Kolkata 22.5°N, while Delhi is at latitude 28°N. This means that the first two cities lie within the Tropic of Cancer. The Tropic of Cancer is the circle of latitude on the earth that marks the apparent position of the sun at the time of the northern solstice. It is also the farthest north latitude at which the sun can be directly overhead. So in Delhi, the sun is never directly overhead.

Question 10.
List six countries of the world bigger than India. Compare the size of India with these countries.
Answer:

• Russia,
• Canada,
• United States of America,
• China,
• Brazil,
• Australia.

Question 30.
Name any one state that has international border.
Answer:
Gujarat.

Question 31.
What is the position of India in respect of area of the world?
Answer:
7th position.

Question 32.
Name the neighbouring countries that share their boundaries with India.
Answer:
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mynmar, Banglandesh, China (Tibet), Nepal and Bhutan.

India Size and Location Class 9 Important Questions Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What is the longitudinal extent of India? Mention the degree of longitude for the Standard Meridian. State the importance of Standard Meridian.
Answer:
The longitudinal .extent of India is 68°7'E and 97°25'E.
The degree of longitude of Standard Meridian of India is 82° 30′ E.
According to the International accepted convention, the Standard Meridian of a country must be either a multiple of 7.5 or 15 or it has to pass through some important city. Though 82° 30′ E meridian does not pass through the exact centre of the country, but it is still chosen as the Standard Meridian as it passes through an important city called Mirzapur. It is (5 frac{1}{2}) hours ahead of GMT.

Question 2.
What is latitudinal extent of India? How is the latitudinal spread in India advantageous to her? State two points.
Answer:
The Indian Union is situated between about 8°4′ N and 37°6′ N. Sony sound forge 13. This north-south extent is about 3200 km in length.

• The southern part of India gets more heat from the sun than the northern parts.
• The difference between the duration of the day and night is far more in the northern parts than in the southern parts.

Question 3.
Explain the significance of India's eminent position in the Indian Ocean.
Answer:

• This helps India to establish close contact with west Asia, Africa, Europe from western coast and with south-east and east Asia from the eastern coast.
• The sea routes have contributed in the exchange of ideas and commodities.
• The ideas of Upanishads and Ramayana, Indian numerals and the decimal system could reach to many parts of the world.
• The spices, muslin and other merchandises were taken to other countries.
• Influence of Greek sculpture and styles of dome and minaretes can be seen in our countiy.

Question 4.
Describe the implications of India's longitudinal extent.
Answer:

• India's geographical location is favourably important for international trade.
• Due to its central location in the eastern hermisphere, India lies on the major trade routes.
• It has helped in establishing close cultural and commercial contacts with these countries.

Question 5.
Name the major islands groups lying in the Arabian Sea. Explain any two m^jor features of it. .
Answer:
The major island groups lying in the Arabian Sea are the Lakshadweep group. It consists of many small islands located opposite to Kerala coast in the Arabian Sea.
Features:

• It is composed of small coral islands that cover a small area of 32 square kilometres. Kavaratti Island is its administrative headquarters.
• It has great diversity of flora and fauna.
• Lakshadweep consists of 11 islands.
• Most of the area is cultivated with coconut.
• A bird sanctuary is located in Pitti Island which is inhabitated by humans.

Question 6.
In what way the central location of India in the Indian Ocean has been to its advantage?
Answer:
India is a centrally situated country in relation to west Asia, Africa and Europe on the western side and south-east Asia and Australia on the eastern side:

• India is favourably located on the world's highway of trade and commerce.
• It has helped in establishing close cultural and commercial contacts with these countries.

Question 7.
What is meant by the Indian Standard Time? What is its importance?
Answer:
Indian Standard Time (1ST)-is that which is accepted all over India. We have accepted 82° 3(7 E longitude as the Standard Meridian of India. It was accepted as it lies almost in the middle.
The Indian Standard Time has a great importance:

• It has prevented a lot of confusion and has brought harmony in time throughout the country.
• The local time at each longitude is different. So in order to follow one timing, India has accepted the 82° 30'E as the Standard Meridian of India.

Question 8.
Why is the difference between the durations of day and night hardly felt at Kanyakumari but not so in Kashmir?
Answer:
Kanyakumari is just 8° away from the Equator. As Equator receives the direct sunrays, there would not be hardly any difference between day and night. Whereas, Kashmir is 37° away from the Equator. So, the difference between the duration of day and night is about 5 hrs.

Question 9.
Explain why Ahmedabad and Kolkata are able to see the noon sun exactly overhead in a year but not Delhi. VBQ
Answer:
Ahmedabad has latitude 23°N and Kolkata 22.5°N, while Delhi is at latitude 28°N. This means that the first two cities lie within the Tropic of Cancer. The Tropic of Cancer is the circle of latitude on the earth that marks the apparent position of the sun at the time of the northern solstice. It is also the farthest north latitude at which the sun can be directly overhead. So in Delhi, the sun is never directly overhead.

Question 10.
List six countries of the world bigger than India. Compare the size of India with these countries.
Answer:

• Russia,
• Canada,
• United States of America,
• China,
• Brazil,
• Australia.

Each one of these is two to five times larger than India.

Question 11.
With reference to India, name the following surrounding it:
(i) Mqjor islands,
(ii) Seas, oceans and bays.
Answer:
(i)

• Lakshadweep,
• Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

(ii) Sea → Arabian Sea
Ocean → Indian Ocean Bay → Bay of Bengal

Question 12.
Assess the significance of the central location of India in the Indian Ocean.
Or
'India has an important position on the globe.' Justify by giving three arguments.
Answer:
Central location of India is of great significance because:

• India has a central location between the East and West Asia.
• India is a southward extension of the Asian continent.
• The Trans Indian ocean routes connect the countries of Europe in the West and the countries of East Asia.
• Deccan Peninsula protrudes into the Indian Ocean and help India to have contact with West Asia, Africa and Europe from West Coast and with South East and East Asia from Eastern Coast.
• India's eminent position in Indian Ocean justifies naming of an ocean after it.

India Size and Location Class 9 Important Questions Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
'India has a long coastline which is advantageous'. Explain. HOTS
Answer:

• India has the longest coastline on the Indian Ocean. This long coastline (7,517 km) has given a tremendous boost to India's maritime trade. Almost 90% of India's international trade is carried on through sea.
• India has this long coastline mainly due to the Deccan peninsula extending into the Indian Ocean and dividing it into two water bodies, viz., the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal.
• India's central location at the head of the Indian Ocean and its long coastline have much helped in its interaction through the sea. The sea routes passing through the ocean provide easy connectivity to India with the West and the East.
• India has developed many major ports on its western and the eastern coasts. Some of them, such as Mumbai, Kochi, Vishakhapatnam etc., have become centres of India's flourishing shipping industry.
• This long coastline on the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal has helped India to establish close maritime contacts in the following ways:
  • With West Asia, Africa and Europe from the western coast.
  • With East Asia and the South-east Asia from the eastern coast.

Question 2.
How is India's geographical location favourable for international trade?
Answer:

• Due to its central location at the head of the Indian Ocean, countries of East Africa, West Asia, South and South-East Asia, and East Asia could be reached through sea routes.
• Unlike landlocked countries (surrounded by land on all sides), it has an easy access to the outside world. The ocean routes from East and South-East Asia, and Australia to Africa, and Europe pass through the Indian Ocean.
• India is connected with Europe, North America and South America through both the routes-the Cape of Good Hope and the Suez Canal.
• India can also reach Canada and USA through the Strait of Malacca after crossing the Pacific Ocean.
• India is favourably located on the world's highway of trade and commerce both to the east and the west.

Epos 4 excel v1.4.4 released epos 4 excel date. Question 3.
How did India's contact with the rest of the world contribute in the exchange of ideas and commodities? Explain.
Answer:

• India held ah important position in the ancient world. It had trade relations with many countries. One of the famous land routes was connected to the famous silk route of China.
• These routes contributed in the exchange of ideas and commodities since ancient times.
• The ideas of the Upanishads and the Ramayana, the stories of Panchatantra, the Indian numerals and the decimal system thus could reach many parts of the world. The spices, muslin and other merchandise were taken from India to different countries. On the other hand, the influence of Greek sculpture, and the architectural styles of dome and minarets from West Asia can be seen in different parts of our country.
• India had trade relations with South-East Asian countries like Cambodia, Java, Sumatra, Bali, Sri Lanka, Burma and Siam.
• From the time of Kanishka, Indian traders started going to China, Afghanistan and Central Asian countries.
• During the Medieval period, India came in close contact with many foreign lands such as the Arabs, the Turks, the Mongols, the Chinese and the Europeans.

Important Questions for Class 9 Social Science

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Social Science

Chapter 4 'The camp looked as though it had suffered an epidemic�'

Summary:

Chapter 4: The Exchange Of Ideas Traditional

The leader of the camp and the head of Eliezer's tent both take a special interest in children and give them extra food. Eliezer explains that children are traded among homosexuals at the camp. When Eliezer arrives at the camp, it seems empty. As usual, the prisoners shower and are given new clothes. Veteran prisoners tell them that Buna is a good camp and that they should try to avoid being placed in the building unit. The head of Eliezer's tent is a fat and predatory-looking German. His assistant tries to get Eliezer's shoes by offering to put him and his father in the same unit, but Eliezer refuses, even after he offers an extra ration of food. The shoes are taken from him anyway. After a medical examination, Eliezer is randomly put in the orchestra block and befriends some musicians, who tell him that he has been placed in a good unit. All he has to do is count bolts and bulbs in an electrical warehouse, and he gets his father transferred to his unit. The only real hazard is Idek, the Kapo, who sometimes flies into violent rages. Eliezer befriends two Czech brothers named Yossi and Tibi. He hums Zionist chants and discusses Palestine with them, and they all plan to leave Europe as soon as they are liberated.

In this chapter Eliezer recounts a number of incidents that stand out in his memory. Each episode is brief, and the narrative is somewhat fragmented. The head of the orchestra block is a Jew named Alphonse who sometimes gives them extra soup. Once Eliezer is summoned to the dentist to have his gold crown removed, but he feigns illness two times and eventually gets to keep it. The dentist's surgery is shut down because the dentist is to be hanged for extorting some of the gold he extracted from patients. Eliezer plans to use his crown to buy bread and describes how his life had become focused around his stomach and food.

One day the Kapo, Idek, flies into a rage and starts beating Eliezer. A French girl who passes as Aryan comforts him in German, and many years later, Eliezer sees her again in Paris. She admits that she actually is Jewish and had false papers at the camp and that the only time she spoke German at the camp was to him.

Another day his father is beaten with an iron bar for working slowly, and Eliezer feels anger directed at his father only, for not knowing how to avoid the abuse. Then, Franek the foreman demands Eliezer's gold crown and begins abusing his father for two weeks when Eliezer refuses to give it to him. Franek torments Eliezer's father daily for marching out of time, and Eliezer tries to help his father practice marching, but his efforts are to no avail. Finally, Eliezer surrenders his gold crown. After first taking away his rations, Franek starts to give Eliezer extra soup. After a fortnight, however, all the Poles (including Franek) are transferred out of the camp.

On another day Eliezer walks in on Idek having sex with a girl. Knowing that Idek moved all the prisoners to a different building for this specific reason, Eliezer bursts out laughing. Later, he receives twenty-five strokes of the whip from Idek in front of everyone. Eliezer faints, loses control of his muscles, and is threatened by Idek never to tell anyone what he saw. On a Sunday, the air-raid sirens go off. Everyone was confined inside their blocks, and guards were ordered to shoot prisoners who were outside on sight. In the turmoil of the air raid, two cauldrons of soup are left outside on a path. The prisoners long for the soup but are terrified to leave the barracks. Hundreds of men watch as a single man crawls to the soup, thrusts his head into the liquid, and then dies. The planes begin to bomb the camp, and the prisoners are hopeful that Buna will be destroyed. They regain some hope. After the last bomb, the prisoners remember that they are still in a death camp, but they are cheerful and hopeful about the future.

A week later, the SS officers set up gallows and begin having hanging ceremonies during roll call. The first man to be executed had stolen two plates of soup. Strong and muscular, he is unafraid at his own execution and shouts 'Long live liberty! A curse upon Germany!' right before dying. Although Eliezer is surrounded by death all the time at the concentration camps, he is overwhelmed by this man's solitary execution. Another man Juliek is jaded and just wants it to be dinnertime. After the execution, everyone is forced to march past the condemned man's hanging body and to look into his face. Eliezer remembers the soup being particularly good that night. Eliezer saw many executions, and the victims, having already lost their capacity for emotion, never cried. Only once did the jaded, dried-up prisoners weep at an execution. An Oberkapo and his pipel (a young boy who acted as his assistant) who everyone liked were suspected of blowing up a power plant on camp, but they refused, despite torture, to give any information about it. The little boy, who had the face of a sad angel, was sentenced to be hanged. The prisoner who usually served as executioner refused to perform his task and had to be replaced by an SS officer. When it came time for the execution, the child said nothing, and the whole camp observed in silence. Since the child was so light, he didn't die immediately when he fell, and he remained alive, hanging for half an hour. All the prisoners wept that day, and one man kept asking where God was. That day Eliezer's soup tasted like corpses.

Analysis:

The narrative in this section is very fragmented, with specific events depicted in a brief, episodic manner. Wiesel devotes a few paragraphs or a page to each event, and they are generally unconnected and do not form a linear narrative. In other words, time is broken up in this part of the novel. This narrative technique mimics how Eliezer experienced time during this period of his life. While living in the concentration camp, the days were very regimented, with a rigorous schedule of meals, work, and roll call. The days were more or less all the same, and only the days in which Eliezer experienced extreme brutality or something very unusual stand out at all. Thus, Wiesel's narrative technique recreates his lived experience of random, unconnected events amidst the monotony of everyday camp life.

Chapter Name Idea

In this section Eliezer also describes the economy system of the concentration camp. Even though the prisoners have no real material possessions, they still create a barter system amongst themselves. In the absence of money, extra rations of bread or soup become their currency. The SS officers and prisoners in authority positions sometimes participate in the barter system, but they also have the power to entirely circumvent it. For example, an assistant head offers Eliezer extra food in exchange for his food. Even though Eliezer defies the assistant by refusing to give up his shoes, the shoes are taken from him anyway. Similarly, Eliezer is forced to give up his gold crown, although he does eventually receive extra food for it. At the beginning of the section, Eliezer notes how young boys are commodified by some authority figures as sex servants. These boys receive better food than the other prisoners. In the concentration camp, extra food becomes a precious commodity since everyone is constantly preoccupied with their hunger: 'I now took little interest in anything except my daily plate of soup and my crust of stale bread. Bread, soup�these were my life. I was a body. Perhaps less than that even: a starved stomach.' By promising extra food, individuals are able to gain power and obtain favors from other prisoners.

As the prisoners remain longer in the concentration camp, they gradually begin to lose touch with their human emotions. When his father is beaten by an iron bar, Eliezer does not even feel any pity or compassion: 'I kept quiet. In fact I was thinking of how to get farther away so that I would not be hit myself. What is more, any anger I felt at that moment was directed, not against the Kapo, but against my father. I was angry with him, for not knowing how to avoid Idek's outbreak.' Along with the other prisoners, Eliezer is becoming concerned only with his own survival. In trying to remain alive, the prisoners cease to care about others and want only to eat and avoid being beaten. When the prisoners witness the first hanging execution, Juliek whispers, 'Do you think this ceremony'll be over soon? I'm hungry�' This progression towards emotional numbness and fierce self-centeredness is a kind of reverse character development: the prisoners do not grow and mature, but instead regress into a perverse kind of childlike, emotionally void state. Occasionally, however, there are still rare displays of human emotion, such as when the French woman comforts Eliezer and when the prisoners weep at the hanging of the child prisoner.

The spectacle of the dying man crawling to reach the two cauldrons of soup is perhaps one of the most haunting images of the entire novel. It emphasizes how stripped of personality the prisoners were and how obsessively fixated they were on food and simple survival. Treated barbarously by the Nazis and severely undernourished, the prisoners have become hungry animals intent only on acquiring more food. For the dying man, reaching the cauldrons of soup represents a supreme accomplishment, and he musters up all of his energy just to reach his goal. It is tragic and very disturbing that the Nazis succeeded in reducing human beings to that base level of existence.

Chapter 4 The Exchange Of Ideas

The hanging of the young boy greatly affects all inhabitants of the concentration camps. It arouses feelings of pity and sorrow that are a rarity in the jaded atmosphere of the death camp. The Nazis intend the public hangings to be an unspoken threat to the prisoners to keep them in line. However, they seem to cross the line when they hang the child. Even though they kill thousands in the crematory on a daily basis, the hanging of the child becomes an act of unspeakable and horrid cruelty. The prisoners all weep, and Eliezer feels like the Nazis have succeeded in killing God himself: 'Behind me, I heard the same man asking: �Where is God now?' And I heard a voice within me answer him: �Where is He? Here He is�He is hanging here on this gallows.' In killing the child, the Nazis come dangerously close to destroying Eliezer's faith in God. Wiesel writes, 'That night the soup tasted of corpses.' After witnessing the execution, Eliezer feels like death is everywhere, and he is unable to enjoy his soup because all goodness has been destroyed.