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How Does Elie Wiesel Change In Night

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In the novel Night, Elie Wiesel gives an account about his life in a concentration camp. His focus is of course on his obstacles and challenges while in the camp, but his behavior is an example of how human beings respond to life in a concentration camp. The mood, personality, behavior, and obviously physical changes that occur are well documented in this novel. He also shows, as time wears on, how these changes become more profound and all the more appalling. As the reader follows Elie Wiesel’s story, from his home in the ghetto, to his internment at Auschwitz-Birkenau, to his transfer and eventual release at Buchenwald, one can see the impact of these changes first hand.
First, the reader views Wiesel’s personality changes as a result of life in Auschwitz. Perhaps the most obvious change is his steadily increasing disinterest of religion. Before his internment, Wiesel demonstrates a growing interest in the religion of his parents. During the day, he studied Talmud, a legal commentary on the Torah, or the Jewish Ten Commandments. At night, he would worship at the synagogue, “to weep over the …show more content…

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

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