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Examples Of Innocence In Night By Elie Wiesel

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During the holocaust many children and teens suffered from the loss of their innocence. In the memoir Night, Elie Wiesel explained the loss of his innocence through experiences during the holocaust such as the harsh new laws and the death of his family and friends. The death of a family member and harsh punishment cause the loss of innocence. In concentration camps, the Jewish people were given harsh laws that contributed to the loss of their innocence. Before the Jewish people were stuffed into concentration camps, they were moved throughout the night to different holding places. The Hungarian police yelled at the Jewish citizens,“‘Faster! Faster! Move, you lazy good-for-nothings!’ the Hungarian police were screaming. That was when I began …show more content…

After Eliezer had seen someone he known had died, he realized, “The night had passed completely. The morning star shone in the sky. I too had become a different person. The student of Talmud, the child I was, had been consumed by the flames. All that was left was a shape that resembled me. My soul had been invaded – and devoured – by a black flame”(Weisel 37) The child weisel is referring to is the innocence. The loss of innocence is referred to as being eaten up by flames because it slowly is going away due to the death of the people surrounding him. When something gets swallowed by a fire it takes a while to start and then rapidly starts to deteriorate. Eliezer had just witnessed his father being beaten and realized, “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 (Weisel 39). The way Weisel refers to his skin as criminals flesh proving that he has lost his innocence. The definition of innocence is lack of guilt. Eliezer wanted to hurt the criminal for beating his father because he had no guilt. After he had been beaten a few times Weisel shows Eliezer not sticking up for him because he knows if he does he would also get punished. Eppler stated in her psychology study that, “...because the child is not capable of isolating intense hurt and feelings of anger. Grief is not isolated; rather it affects transactions and circumstances in every environment” (Eppler 189). The loss of innocence due to the death of a family member is revealed as a coping method. Eppler showed how children will have so much grief that they think the cause of death is their fault. The children will then lose their innocence due to

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