Elie Wiesel Reflection

Elie experienced many changes, as a person while he was in Auschwitz. Before Elie was sent to Auschwitz, he was just a small naive child that new very little

The thoughts of condemnation and lack of self-preservation wouldn’t have ravished his mind. Page eighty-six later reveals how Elie “soon forgot him” and became more selfish by “think{ing} of {himself} again. ”Throughout much of the book, Elie writes on his selflessness towards protecting and caring for his father, but after facing so much he grows more and more selfish. This quote shows the insensitive nature that Elie developed through his time spent in the concentration camps. Lastly, Elie continually confesses his personal conflict with emotional dormancy through his

“ 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…”(54). Life at a concentration is one for himself. It is too much of a risk caring for someone else in those conditions. This form of thinking is what a majority of inmates take on in order to survive. Elie is frustrated at having to take care of his father instead of himself. “He was right, I thought deep down, not daring to admit it to myself. Too late to save your old father…You could have two rations of bread, two rations of soup… It was only a fraction of a second, but it left me feeling guilty.”(111). Immediately he feels guilty at those thoughts but he keeps having them. He doesn’t want to feel glad to stop having to worry about his father yet deep down he would.

Before he went to Auschwitz, Elie exhibited many positive character traits. Some positive character traits he exhibited were the qualities of being motivated to succeed, faithful to God, and confident in humanity. “Yes, we even doubted his resolve to exterminate us. Annihilate an entire people? Wipe out a population dispersed throughout so many nations? So many millions of people! By what means? In the middle of the twentieth century!” (Wiesel 8). In this piece of text, Elie states that he

The Holocaust began around 1933 when Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany and leader of the Nazi Party. During that time, the first concentration camp, Dachau, was established to torture and kill Jewish people. Soon after, in 1935, Nuremberg Race Laws against Jews were decreed and depriving Jews of German citizenship. Germany then invaded Poland, starting World War II in Europe. With the start of World War II came many more concentration camps, and millions of deaths. Six million European Jews lost their lives during this horrific time. Many survivors shared their stories after they were freed, so that the world would know of the horrors they experienced. Elie Wiesel, a survivor of the Holocaust, told his story in his book, Night. Elie Wiesel was a teenager during the Holocaust, but lived on into his eighties and continued to speak out against what the Nazi’s did to his family.

The date is April 11, 1945. A 17 year old boy looks towards the ominous gates of the Buchenwald concentration camp after nearly two years of misery and sees his first sign of hope: an American tank standing at the entrance of the gates. This young boy was Elie Wiesel, a survivor of the gruesome events that occurred in concentration camps during WWII. Elie shares a chilling memoir about his experience in his book Night. Throughout the novel, Elie and other Jewish inmates constantly used their families as their primary motive to overcome hardships even while being challenged by tough circumstances.

Torture and suffering is a thing happening all around the world that should be stopped. The time of the Holocaust was a taunting, and dark times in the world, where torture and suffering seemed the right thing to do to people. Elie wiesel was a victim of the torture and suffering by the Germans, in his book Night, and spoke up when he survived. In the book ¨Night¨ by Elie Wiesel, the main character, Elie, changes due to the time in the infamous death camp Auschwitz.

Night by Elie Wiesel focuses on 15 year old Elie’s experiences during the Holocaust. Elie endures circumstances which are so extreme to the point they are almost unbelievable. Elie’s account of his experiences during his life in the concentration camps has taught readers around the world about how to appreciate everything they take for granted, how desperation can make people do crazy things, and the importance of motivation in tough times.

The murder of thousands can not only impact the universe, but the ones that live in it. For instance, victims of the Happiest had to deal with, not only losing all of their loved ones but the deaths of others around them. In “Night”, Elie is expiring death, of not only his loved ones, also other Jews who were taken by Hitler. The loss of your family is petrifying. But watching others have their lives slipped away from their fingertips, is indubitably scary. In the book “Night” by Elie Wiesel, Elie changes drastically throughout the book, because of the time he spent in Auschwitz, one of the most infamous concentration camps.

Before Elie went to Auschwitz, he possessed many positive character traits, such as being curious, responsible, and disciplined. Weitsel writes, “Together we would read over and over again the same pages of the Zohar. Not to know it by heart but to discover the very essence of divinity” (5). Studying with his tutor and mentor was something Elie loves to do. He grew up in a small town as a strict Orthodox Jew. He loves to learn and read about religion, but he longs to gain a deeper understanding of God and spent many hours with his tutor Moishe, which shows his curiosity for knowledge and discovery. Elie also shows great responsibility in these miserable and anxious times. “Go and wake the neighbors, said my father. “They must get ready…” (Weisel,14). His father asks Ellie to go warn the others in the Ghetto that they must pack their belongings and be ready to leave. Elie’s father trusts him and treats him as an adult. He is often asked to help

Another theme that elie shows in the book is in a terrible or even horrible situation you always need your humanity at side. Elie meets a french girl when he was at one of his terrible times she showed that the humanity was still in her no matter what happened. “I dragged myself to my corner. I ached all over. I felt a cool hand wiping my blood-stained forehead. It was the French girl. She gave me her mournful smile and slipped a bit of bread into my hand. She looked into my eyes. I felt that she wanted to say something but was choked by fear. For a long moment she stayed like that, then her face cleared and she said to me in almost perfect german: ‘Bite your lip, little brother. . . . Don't cry. Keep your anger and hatred for another day, for later on. The day will come, but not now. . . . Wait. grit your teeth and wait. . . .’ ” (Wiesel #51). The significance of this quote is how she had the humanity to help someone and make them feel better after all of it. She put him first before anyone. Her kindness and her words showed that she still had her humanity to be there for him. She even put her life on the line for him. She never spoke so they thought she was french but as said “...In almost perfect German...” she spoke kind words that even if a kapo heard her she would have died. For they would have punished her. Later in the book elie would have been punished or even killed for what he had done to be with his father. “The SS officers were doing the selection: the weak, to the left; those who walked well, to the right. My father was sent to the left. I ran after him. An SS officer shouted at my back: "Come back!" I inched my way through the crowd. Several SS men rushed to find me, creating such confusion that a number of people were able to switch over to the right—among them my father and I. Still, there were gunshots and some dead. The importance of

Before Elie’s experience in the Auschwitz concentration camp, he had many character traits such as being unwise, innocent, and impatient. When Elie first arrives at Auschwitz and receives his first meal, his father warns him to ration his food. For example, “I was terribly hungry and swallowed my ration on the spot” (Wiesel 44). During Elie’s first meal in Auschwitz, he gobbles it down and does not think about what might happen later. When his father starts to give him some advice, he is already finished with his meal. Elie acts unwisely and does not think ahead to what might happen in the later days. Earlier in the story, Elie and his family are waiting their turn to be put onto a train that will be sent to a concentration camp. Before they enter the train Elie asks, “ ‘When will it be our turn, father?’ I asked my father” (Wiesel 18). This quote shows that Elie really has no idea what is happening and what will happen to him. Elie has no idea that “his turn” will end up with him in a concentration camp. He is innocent and does not think about what bad might happen to him. Upon entering Auschwitz, Elie sees people being thrown into the fire and decides to die a quick death rather than suffer. Wiesel states, “ ‘If that is true, then I don’t want to wait. I’ll run into the electrified wire. . .’” (33). Elie is afraid of what is to come upon him arriving in the concentration camp. Because of this fear, his thoughts become driven by fear and cause him to think impulsive thoughts. Elie would rather die in the fence, than be worked or starved to death. Elie acts very unwisely in his reactions to seeing people killed. To sum up, before Elie changed as a person, he had traits such as being impatient, unwise, and innocent.

When discussing the personality of Elie, the subject is not as strong as an individual but is not a negative aura. As said before, he spent a lot of time with his father therefore he had his father to guide him and be his support. He did however, suffer from a loss of a family member, his father, right before him and remained to stay strong enough to be released from the holocaust to return to two of his surviving sisters. There was a point in the story where Elie and his father were sent to a line for the crematory, then moved into a different building where they were stripped and barricaded. This may have shaded his personality from interfering with his surroundings due to the confusion of what was happening and also the sure fear in everyone surrounding him.

The holocaust is notorious for its dark and horrific past. Among the horrible tragedies was the story of Elie Wiesel and his family. The experiences that Elie has faced throughout his years of life has have greatly influenced his perspective on society. In his speech, he explains how he was a survivor of the holocaust, what he has been through, and what he has done after the holocaust to help improve society and to preach his humanistic ideas. He explains how everyone is equal. Society must work together to make sure a horrific act such like the holocaust will never happen ever again. The holocaust deeply affected Elie Wiesel’s perspective on society and in his speech, he makes sure to make sure history does not repeat itself.

Before Elie went to the concentration camps, he had many good character traits such as loyalty, Religious, and Impatient. For Example, on page 33, it says “If that is true then I don’t want to wait. I’ll run into the electrified barbed wire. That would be easier than a slow death in the flames” (Wiesel). During this part of the book, Elie and his dad had just arrived at Auschwitz and were being put in a line that was leading to death. Nevertheless, this shows that he is being impatient because he was facing death head on and knew that he might die so he was choosing a quick death rather than burning and slowly dying. Another trait Elie showed before the concentration camp was loyalty. For instance, on page 36, Elie stated “Please sir I’d like to be by my father” (Wiesel). In this part of the book Elie and his family were being separated at the camp and Elie lied about his age so he could stay with his dad. In contrast Elie showed loyalty to his dad by not going with his mom and sister and staying with his dad. This was a very big decision by Elie because he chose the hard way by staying with his dad even if that meant death.