Peyton Sewell

Ms.Kolacki

Sophomore English

9 December 2019

My Prison

Imagine for a second if you will, being forced to turn off all emotions and act as if all

things are completely different than what they really are. This was my reality as a young kid

when I was forced to go to my father's house every two days. I wasn't allowed an opinion and if

emotion started to show I was immediately told to toughen up.

When I was 2 years old, my parents separated. This was when everything I knew became

different. I now had two homes and new people in my life who I was forced to get along with. I

didn’t have a clue what was going on. The only comfort I had ever known was now gone forever.

As I grew older and grew into my 2 new families I began to learn my role in each household.

The roles were drastically different as in one household I was allowed to be whomever I wanted

to be. Where as in the other household I was forced to be someone I wasn't. I wasn’t allowed to

miss my mom, I wasn't allowed to cry when I was sad. I was simply told to stop it, there's no

need for that kind of behavior. I was afraid to be myself and let go and have fun when I would

play with my sister and step sister because I feared being yelled at for giggling too loudly or for

having too much fun. I learned over time to hold a reserve over myself so as to not draw too

much attention and to not be yelled at. It was the strangest thing not being allowed to be myself

in a place that I was told I could call my home.

 It’s funny that most adults say that kids are resilient and that they bounce back from

painful experiences, such as my situation. But in reality, it has scarred me. These traumatic

experiences in one’s life, do change who you are and will be forever.

What role does family play in one's life? Well, in Elie Wiesel's life, his father was the

only family member he had left. His father gave him a reason to keep on going. What I mean by

this is that Elie felt he needed to be with his dad to make sure he ate and stayed alive. “I gave

him what was left of my soup”(Wiesel 107). So Elie continued to stay alive to be with his father.

Family plays the role of security in Elie’s life. Family in my life shapes who I am as an

individual. It has helped me shape my interests, personality, emotions, fears, etc. For example,

my mom influenced my interest in animals. And, being at my dad's house has had an impact on

my personality. It made me shy, insecure, strong, etc.

If you think about it, Elie and I have a very similar life. Except for the fact that he was in

a concentration camp and abused physically. One way our life’s are similar is that we were both

forced to keep silent. If Elie spoke up and expressed his opinions he would have been tortured or

killed. “Prisoner number… is condemned to death. Let this be a warning and example to all

prisoners. Nobody moved” (Weisel 62). None of the prisoners spoke up to stop the hanging or to

say that this was wrong because they were too afraid. On the other hand, If I spoke up or showed

emotion I would get made fun of or yelled at. It isn’t as bad as what Elie had to go through but

we both were afraid and silent.

In conclusion, the hard times do get better. I still feel afraid of my dads and still have to

go over there but I have become way stronger than what I was before and because of going to

court I don’t have to go to my dads house as much as I used to. And, Elie never gave up and he

finally was liberated.