Reflection Paper on Night by Elie Wiesel In this essay, I will analyze the book Night by Elie Wiesel, a memoir about his experiences during the Holocaust. Night is a firsthand account of Wiesel's heartbreaking journey through multiple Nazi forced labor camps, where he struggled to maintain his faith, preserve his humanity, and stay connected to his father. Firstly, Wiesel chose to write Night for several compelling reasons. Firstly, he felt a profound responsibility to give meaning to his survival, recognizing himself as one of the few who had the privilege to survive. (viii) Additionally, he aimed to ensure that the tragedies of the Holocaust would not be forgotten, understanding that forgetting would grant a final victory to those who inflicted unimaginable suffering. (viii) Finally, Wiesel believed that only a firsthand account could convey the full …show more content…
ix. Now, I’ll dive into the four main themes of Night: dehumanization/brutality, compassion/kindness, hope/faith, and darkness/night. Dehumanization and brutality are substantial themes throughout the memoir, illustrated when the Jews are crammed into cattle cars for transport, stripped of their dignity and dehumanized. (6) While scenes of compassion and kindness are rare in such a sad book, one example is the doctor's act of generosity in providing Elie with extra food while in the hospital. (78-80) The themes of hope and faith are largely intertwined, with prisoners clinging to the belief that God will help them even in the face of unspeakable horrors, such as witnessing the execution of the pipel who was a symbol of hope for them. (63-65) Finally, night and darkness symbolize not only the physical night but also the sense of despair and hopelessness that the prisoners feel, particularly as they witness the hangings of their fellow inmates. 61-65. Lastly, I will explore the transformation of Elie Wiesel throughout the memoir. Like many who went through similar
One day, when Elie returned from the warehouse, he was summoned by the block secretary to go to the dentist. Elie therefore went to the infirmary block to learn that the reason for his summon was gold teeth extraction. Elie, however pretends to be sick and asks, ”Couldn’t you wait a few days sir? I don’t feel well, I have a fever…” Elie kept telling the dentist that he was sick for several weeks to postpone having the crown removed. Soon after, it had appeared that the dentist had been dealing in the prisoners’ gold teeth for his own benefit. He had been thrown into prison and was about to be hanged. Eliezer does not pity for him and was pleased with what was happening
The memoir, Night, exhibits a story that represents the adversity of millions of Jews during the Holocaust, while following the narrative of a young boy who works through the harsh marginalization of the people of his religion. Elie Wiesel writes from a passionate and raw place, resulting in the harsh, but true reality of his experiences as a child. Eliezer, in the book, describes his exposure to Nazi leadership during the Holocaust from before the ghetto system was installed, to the liberation of concentration camps. In the memoir Night, Elie Wiesel utilizes misfortune and tribulations in various people’s lives to illustrate the changes in faith that a person endures throughout life, in order to demonstrate how self-motivation can carry a
In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, gives a backstory to what happened to his family and all the Jews that were taken to the concentration camp during Hitler’s reign in Germany; Wiesel’s story begins in 1944 when they were deported to the concentration camps to Auschwitz. As Wiesel’s story develops throughout the book we see a young Eliezer go from child to maturing in to a young man and taking care of his father when he becomes gravely ill.
Elie Wiesel had his whole life to tell when he retold and wrote down Night. He was not telling these truths because he felt that it would be entertaining, or funny, or scary. He wanted to warn readers that this should never happen again. By giving the perspective of an actual Holocaust victim, an oppressed individual of the camps they were forced into, it can give a more human aspect to Night. This book emphasizes the point of why this should never happen again, the true cruelty, and the dehumanization and indifference from every single angle, and emphasizes the dehumanization of the prisoners, the suffering they endured, and how they subconsciously not only stopped the guard’s sympathy for prisoners but also the sympathy for each other, and
With the traumatic events comes painful memories that one might wish to store away and forget about. However, that brings up the argument on whether Wiesel should keep his painful memories or not. I agree with the notion that Wiesel should keep his painful memories due to the fact that it allows others to be informed about the events of the Holocaust and it
When the Jews were marching to the burners, many of them began to recite the prayer of the dead, “For the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank Him for?” (33). This is important because this is when Elie question his faith with God, and he loses his spiritual innocence and begins to experience trials that God placed in front of him.
What would an individual do if their entire life was being stripped from them? Well, that’s exactly what Elie Wiesel had to figure out throughout the book, Night. The autobiography, Night, is about a teenager and his family trying to survive the Holocaust. The main characters in this book are Elie Wiesel, Tzipora, the dad, and the mom. The Wiesels get taken to a concentration camp just because they are Jewish. Elie Wiesel had to overcome facing death and hardships just to barely survive another day.
The book Night by Elie Wiesel is a first-hand experience of the brutality and mistreatment that was endured during the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel opens up to share all his detailed experiences in this novel and how they affected his most important relationships in life. Elies connection with his father and his relationship with God affect him greatly at night. In the book Night, Elie’s relationship with his father is greatly affected by the experiences they encounter. For example, the author says, “If only I didn’t find him!
“If in my lifetime I was to write only one book, this would be the one.” Said Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, who uses his book Night to highlight the true terrors of what happened during his life in the concentration camps during World War II. As the author and main character in Night, Elie describes his personal experiences that drastically changed his life forever. As a result, we can tell Elie is a dynamic character because he begins to question his faith in God and in his religion, his attitude towards his father and his father’s survival changes, and his childhood and innocence are lost. First and foremost, Elie begins to question his faith in God and in his religion.
Elie Wiesel has fought the good fight for world peace since he was young. He has done this by writing his book Night. This is a book of his life and experiences in Auschwitz the Nazi concentration camp. Through the horrors he endured his faith which originally brought him to Auschwitz was shaken. Even from the day he was liberated to the day he died im sure that his faith was never the same.
Elie Wiesel was born on September 30, 1928, in Sighet, Transylvania. He grew up with three sisters and had a strong interest in religious studies. In 1944, Nazis forced Jews who resided in Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania to relocate to labor and death camps in Poland. When Elie was at the age of 15, he and his entire family were sent to Auschwitz. Elie lived in camps with inhuman conditions and was almost starved to death. He was eventually freed from Buchenwald in 1945. Out of all of his family members only him and two of his sisters survived. Elie then moved on to become many great things like a writer which won him a Nobel-Prize. He wrote many books including the one i am reading “Night”. Elie also taught Judaic studies at the City University
The deindividuation of the Holocaust sufferers as a result of German hatred pitilessly strips Wiesel of hope and true belief in his God and causes him to contemplate the idea of Death to end his
The book “Night” by Elie Wiesel is a story about Elie and his journey through the tough times of the holocaust. This book is a sad true story about how Elie and millions of others were treated during the hard times of World War II. Elie’s story shows us how scary and difficult it was for him and many others during this time. We can look at this book and notice how the night affected people in the camps. We see can how the dark, mysterious, and fearful night brought people together,and also how it brought a feeling of safety to some. By looking at this one story, we can observe that darkness had taken over the earth, and there was no longer any light in the day, only darkness in the night.
The autobiography “Night” by Elie Wiesel first takes place in Sighet, Transylvania (1944) and continues in Auschwitz, Birkenau, and Buna. The main characters of the book are Elie, his father and Moishe. The purpose of the autobiography is to bring light to what’s been in the shade. The autobiography highlights the horrors of the Holocaust with its descriptive wording, leaving anyone who reads this filled with a variety of emotions.
January 30, 1933 the Holocaust began,This was the birth of one of the worst horrors in war history, The Holocaust was the transportation of many people of all races, to the ghettos, then being transported to a concentration camp to where nearly 11 million people died in the span of 12 years . Many stories have been displayed of the apathetic, brutality of living in conditions of the concentration camps, but one particular story stands on how exactly it was to live in. Night by Elie Wiesel; this is his story.