Elie says throughout the book how “Naturally, we refused to be separated.” (20) when talking about his father and himself. This connects to the theme because Elie doesn’t want to be separated from his father and that shows how important it is to stay with family. The picture of arms linked together symbolizes people staying together and not wanting to be separated. This relates directly to the quote because the people with their arms linked represents what Elie is saying about refusing to be separated from his father during selection. It connects to the overall theme as well because when families stay together and refuse to be separated, they can link arms and motivate each other to keep going