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Examples Of Dehumanization In Elie Wiesel's Night

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At some point in everyone’s life, one faces a great loss. Dehumanization is the process in which one’s positive human qualities become obsolete or nonexistent. Dehumanization is the greatest loss one can suffer from. The Nazis dehumanized the Jews, and they suffered a loss not many can relate to. In Elie Wiesel’s Night, dehumanization is shown by stripping the Jews of their identities, beating the Jews, and starving the Jews. Stripping the Jews of their identities was first shown when there was no differentiation between one another. For example, when all the Jews are forced into a single ghetto, “There was no longer any distinction between rich and poor, notables and the others; we were all people condemned to the same fate-still unknown” …show more content…

For instance, when the Jews were expelled from the barracks, “The Kapos were beating us again, but I no longer felt the pain” (Wiesel 36). Although the Kapos could have simply told Jews to leave, violence was a better solution for them. Mercy was nonexistent to the Nazis, who treated all the Jews without remorse while they worked in the camps. Similarly, when Elie received punishment for leaving his place of work, “I no longer felt anything except the lashes of the whip… Only the first really hurt” (Wiesel 57). In spite of the fact that being whipped would cause serious pain, beatings were so common that they became easier to endure. The Nazis beat the Jews so often that not even major acts of violence affected them. Beatings are one of the cruelest forms of …show more content…

Moreover, when the Jews were being transferred to Buchenwald, “... A worker took a piece of bread out of his bag and threw it into a wagon. There was a stampede. Dozens of starving men fought desperately over a few crumbs. The worker watched the spectacle with great interest” (Wiesel 100). To the Jews, food was no different than life itself. Considering the reaction to the bread, it was their only form of hope. As a consequence, once Elie and the other Jews were liberated, “Our first acts as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions. That’s all we thought about. No thought of revenge, or of our parents. Only of bread. And even when we were no longer hungry, not one of us thought of revenge” (Wiesel 115). Although they had been oppressed, stripped of their identities, and beaten, hunger was greater than hate. Starvation broke the Jews down, and it was inevitable. Starvation not only damaged the Jews physically, but also

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