Character Changes In Night By Elie Wiesel

He was once kind, thoughtful, and caring of others. But, as his sufferings increased, he becomes heartless, filled with hate, and begins to abandon all that he once held dear. He stops praying early during his imprisonment, and in general becomes selfish. His only concern is himself, and how he is going to eat and survive until the next day. Once concerned about others, he is now focused on himself. Wiesel also feels “free” when his father dies, presumably because he no longer has to look out for or take care of anyone but himself. Wiesel also details another example of changing behavior in the camp, as he tells the story of a son who killed his father simply for a piece of stale bread. These and other behavioral changes describe the kind of environment Wiesel and others were exposed to in the

“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed....” –Elie Wiesel expressed shortly after his harsh experience with the Holocaust. As many read through Elie’s book Night, they recognize what Elie fought through while he was staying in the Concentration Camps. People have realized the brutal conditions that the he had gone through and have came to the thought of how it effected his future and what he has done ever since the horrible Holocaust.

In life, people go through different changes when put through difficult experiences. In the book Night, Elie Wiesel is a young Jewish boy whose family is sent to a concentration camp by Nazis. The story focuses on his experiences and trials through the camp. Elie physically becomes more dehumanized and skeletal, mentally changes his perspective on religion, and socially becomes more selfish and detached, causing him to lose many parts of his character and adding to the overall theme of loss in Night.

Have you ever had a day where you were excited and then someone made you so angry, you could hardly stand it? As humans, we are constantly changing and adapting to fit our environment. Humans also can have mood changes due to age, rough times or any other difficult driving force. In the book “Night”, by Elie Wiesel, Elie experienced many changes because of what he experiences. Elie had to change in order to survive and keep his loved ones by his side. Over the course of the book, Elie evolved the way he acted towards people, loved ones, and the things he thought he knew to be true.

Throughout a lifetime, people undergo many different identities to discover their true self. Elie Wiesel, the author of the memoir Night, suffered a major event that changed his identity forever. In his experience at the concentration camps during the Holocaust, Elie had to fight to stay alive even during the most resilient moments. This event shaped his life and brought Elie to endure different perspectives in his time in the camps. Eliezer’s identity changed throughout the memoir from faithful, to fearful, to hopeless.

The Gypsy who was in charge, punched his father with such intensity that he fell down and squirmed back to his place in line. “I stood petrified. What had happed to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent.” Wiesel goes through a rollercoaster of emotions when dealing with his father. At times, Chlomo became his only hope and the only reason that he did not die. At other times, he felt that his father was a burden and was pulling him down. He couldn’t march well or keep up with the others. Through all of this despair and anguish their bond became stronger than ever.

Elie has lots of character traits that helped him get through Auschwitz, such as resourceful, traitor, and determined. In Night, Elie states “I went back a week later. With the same excuse: I still was not feeling better” (52). Elie came up with excuses to get out of getting his gold crown out. He got resourceful and came up with the idea to keep making an excuse that he was not feeling well, until they got a new doctor and he got to keep his gold crown. He used what he already had to get more out of people later and use his tooth as an advantage. Not only was he resourceful but he was also a traitor. Elie just let his father die and his father was still breathing yet he didn’t move.“My father groaned once more, I heard: ‘Eliezer…’ I could see that he was still breathing- in gaps. I didn’t move” (Wisel 111). He just let his father died and didn’t even try to help him and he died and his last words were “Eliezer…”, but he is thinking for his own future and if he will live or not. He betrayed and was a traitor to his father and didn’t even say goodbye. He was also very determined on living as said by Elie in the expert from his book, “‘Listen to me, kid. Don’t forget you are in a

Elie Wiesel struggles to fight through the concentration camp he must deal with many unfriendly encounters. “I had watched it all happening without moving. I kept silent. In fact, I thought of stealing away in order not to suffer the blows. What’s more, if I felt anger at that moment, it was not directed at the Kapo but at my father. Why couldn't he have avoided Idek’s wrath? That was what life in a concentration camp had made of me…” (pg. 54). Elie wrestles with the idea of how to respond and even if he should react he debates that if he does respond then he will get beat, but if he does not respond then he must watch his father be beat so he thinks to himself what would be more painful? By the end of the beating it is kind of ironic how Eliezer is more

When Elie and his father first entered the camps, his father was struck and Elie did nothing to help his father: "What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails in this criminal's flesh" (39). This shows that, although Elie did not share a close relationship with his father, he still feels that he should stand up for his fahter for the fact that they are father and son. Elie is very violent in that he would have "dug his nails in the criminals' flesh." Evidently, Elie is furious towards the offender. Unfortunately, Elie does not do anything when his father is struck because he does not want to draw attention to himself. Nevertheless, the bond between Elie and his father does strengthen: "And what if he were dead, as well? He was not moving. Suddenly the evidence overwhelmed me: there is no longer any reason to live, any reason to fight" (98-99). Elie reveals that he truly depends on his father for survival. Because he believes his father is no longer alive, he loses all hope for surviavl. Although Elie expresses anger towards his father from time to time because he is being a burden, he still feels that his survival is meaningless without his father. The strong bond that the two developed once they entered the concentration camps proves that nothing can come between them so easily.

In Elie Wiesel's memoire, instincts of self-preservation overwhelm all other human emotion. While at Auschwitz Elie and his father were transferred to new barracks were Elie's father was beaten by a gypsy inmate who was in charge for politely asking were the bathroom was. Elie describes his reaction of standing petrified and thinking "What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminal's flesh. Had I changed that much? So fast? Remorse began to gnaw at me. All I could think was: I shall never forgive them for this. My father must have guessed my thoughts, because he whispered in my ear: 'It doesn’t hurt.' His cheek still bore the red mark of the hand." (3.117-120)Elie's lack of reaction showcases how the environment of the concentration camp was already conditioning Elie to put his needs of survival ahead of his human identity. Weasels description of the events show how the brutality of the camps have changed Elie's actions and thoughts because Elie knows that interfering in the encounter would mean sacrificing basic survival; love and human emotions are no longer a priority.

That was what life in a concentration camp had made of me...”.Even though he wanted to stand up for his father he didn’t do anything and watched Idek beating his father because he was too scared to get beaten by Idek,just like his father did. Other example might include on page 109,when at the end he stands up for his father against his neighbors and insults them; he says, “I began to insult his neighbors. They mocked me. I promised them bread, soup. They laughed. Then they got angry; they could not stand my father any longer, they said, because he no longer was able to drag himself outside to relieve himself.”.He stood up for his father but he didn’t dare to threaten the neighbors and be braver against them and protect his father from his neighbors. These were examples were Elie wanted to stand up for him self or his father but he didn’t or when he did he didn’t do it seriously, because he was too scared. If he stood up for himself/his father the kommandant might have killed him but at least he would’ve died with bravery and his daring. He should have been more serious and speak

During his time in the concentration camps, Elie’s outlook on life shifted to a very pessimistic attitude, showing emotions and actions including rebellion, forgetfulness of humane treatment, and selfishness. Elie shows rebellion early in the Holocaust at the Solemn Service, a jewish ceremony, by thinking, “Blessed be God’s name? Why, but why would I bless Him? Every fiber in me rebelled” (Wiesel 67). Elie had already shifted his view on his religion and faith in God. After witnessing some of the traumas of the concentration camps, Elie questioned what he did to deserve such treatment. Therefore, he began to rebel against what he had grown up learning and believing. Not only had Elie’s beliefs changed, his lifestyle changed as well. When Elie’s foot swelled, he was sent to the doctor, where they put him “...in a bed with white sheets. I [he] had forgotten that people slept in sheets” (Wiesel 78). Many of the luxuries that Elie may have taken for granted have been stripped of their lives, leaving Elie and the other victims on a thin line between survival and death. By explaining that he forgot about many of these common luxuries, Elie emphasizes the inhumane treatment the victims of the Holocaust were put through on a daily basis.

Elie Wiesel’s book “Night” shows the life of a father and son going through the concentration camp of World War II. Their life long journey begins from when they are taken from their home in Sighet, they experience harsh and inhuman conditions in the camps. These conditions cause Elie and his father’s relationship to change. During their time there, Elie and his father experience a reversal in roles.

The novel Night by Eliezer Wiesel tells the tale of a young Elie Wiesel and his experience in the concentration camps,and his fight to stay alive . The tragic story shows the jewish people during the Holocaust and their alienation from the world. Elie’s experience changes him mentally, and all actions in taken while in the concentration were based on one thing...Survival.

Before Elie went to the Concentration camp, he had many good character traits. On page 31 - 32 Wiesel states, “The wind of revolt died down. We continued to walk until we came to a crossroads. Standing in the middle of it was, though I didn't know it then, Dr. Mengele, the notorious Dr. Mengele. He looked like the typical SS officer: a cruel, though not unintelligent, face, complete with monocle. He was holding a conductor's baton and was surrounded by officers. The baton was moving constantly, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left”… “This conversation lasted no more than a few seconds. It seemed like an eternity.” In this part of the book Elie had just gotten to the camp and is getting sorted by the angel of death. This part of the text showed that Elie was brave because Elie had just talked to a man who had killed hundreds of people, and he never said he was scared or acted like he was frightened. Another trait he had before he changed was that he was hard working. One example of that trait is on page 50, “Sitting on the ground, we counted bolts, bulbs, and various small electrical parts.” In this part of the book after they got