maslow's hierarchy

As prisoners in the death camps in Auschwitz Elie and his father go through and see horrible things. Their health is in danger due to lack of proper food and very little sleep. They are marched and work for long hours under constant danger of sickness, being hurt or killed. They do feel a sense of belonging in their shared misery. Being together is better than going through it alone. In the beginning when they feel strong their esteem is good. As they see and experience the cruelties and horrors of the march and the death camps their spirits and energy to survive are challenged.Their love and concern for each other and those they become close to urges them to keep fighting to survive. As Elie sees how desperate people get to survive he realizes how ugly people can become when they are scared and hungry. They were turning on each other, killing and stealing to live. Like animals. They were losing their faith and humanity. In real life when you are well taken care of and feel loved you are easier to be around. Anyone will fight if frightened or threatened. When something or someone means something to us we would do almost anything. Elie pleads with his father to hang on, to go on living. On the evening of January 28, 1945 they are both alive when they go to sleep. In the morning Elie awakens to find his father gone. Dead. "I did not weep, and it pained me that I could not weep. But I was out of tears. And deep inside me, if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: Free at last!..." Elie was at his lowest point of faith. Everyone has a bottom.