Question

Read the excerpt from chapter 7 of Night.

One day when we had come to a stop, a worker took a piece of bread out of his bag and threw it into a wagon. There was a stampede. Dozens of starving men fought desperately over a few crumbs. The worker watched the spectacle with great interest.

Years later, I witnessed a similar spectacle in Aden. Our ship's passengers amused themselves by throwing coins to the "natives,” who dove to retrieve them. An elegant Parisian lady took great pleasure in this game. When I noticed two children desperately fighting in the water,

"Please, don’t throw any more coins!”

"Why not?” said she. "I like to give charity . . .”

Based on the details in this excerpt, what is the author’s primary purpose?

to show how people everywhere need help
to show how his opinion of humankind has changed
to show that cruel behavior is not limited to only one situation
to show that people may do things without thinking of the consequences

Answer 1

to show that cruel behavior is not limited to only one situation

The author presents two separate but similar scenes—prisoners fighting over thrown bread and passengers throwing coins at diving children—to highlight that people take pleasure in others' suffering in different contexts, showing the cruelty is widespread rather than isolated.