Inhumanity In Night By Elie Wiesel's Night

In the memoir Night, the narrator Elie Wiesel recounts a moment when he was faced with inhumanity. In the story he tells us about it. “Over there. Do you see the chimney over there? Do you see it? And the flames, do you see them?(Yes, we saw the flames) Over there, that’s where they will take you. Over there will be your grave. You still don’t understand? Don’t you understand anything? You will be burned! Burned to a cinder! Turned into ashes!”(Wiesel 30). They were telling them that they were going to throw them in the fire so they could burn but they didn’t know that was going to happen. As the author describes his experience, many other examples of inhumanity are revealed. Two significant themes related to inhumanity discussed in the book

Targeting people due to their identity. Murdering tens of thousands of innocent people. Disrespecting the deceased. These three scenarios all depict man’s inhumanity to man. The oppression of mass amounts of people is often portrayed in not only life, but also in literature and film. In the novel Night by Elie Wiesel, Wiesel describes the inhumanity he endured while in Auschwitz during the Holocaust. Additionally, in the film Hotel Rwanda, the producers portray the acts of atrocities toward Tutsi and Hutu refugees during the Rwandan genocide. Inhumanity is a universal cruelty toward human life which man often “turns a blind eye to” due to their apathy.

The Holocaust, or a jewish sacrificial offering that is burned on an alter, largely refers to the massacre and slaughter of over 6 million european jews from 1933 to 1945. One of the largest genocides took place less than 100 years ago. A recently fresh event on the historical timeline, and yet there would be little known on exactly went on inside the camps without the testimonies of survivors. Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, produced the book “Night” as a way to cope with his time in the labor camps and to shed light on the reality of the inhumanity that engulfed numerous concentration camps across europe. After ten years of silence, the book was written by Wiesel to express his personal experiences inside the labor camps, as well as his testimony to horrifying and inhumane actions inflicted upon his beloved family and bunk mates. In “Night”, Elie Wiesel explores the evils in humanity by sharing his personal experiences and personal witness of inhumanity, and shares his own moral values of man.

Night by Elie Wiesel develops many themes such as: emotional death, the struggle to maintain faith, and self-preservation versus family commitment. Night is a story of a young Jewish boy, Elie, sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War. Elie is the narrator of the story. Throughout the story, Elie experiences many experiences that will haunt him eternally. Wiesel writes about Elie’s horrendous experiences, feelings, and thoughts at Auschwitz. The themes emotional death, the struggle to maintain faith, and self-preservation versus family commitment are prevalent in Elie’s story of perseverance and triumph despite hard circumstances.

The 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln once stated “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power” (“Too Much Power Qoutes” AZ Quotes). Under the leadership of Adolph Hitler, the Nazi Party tore away the basic rights of human beings based upon the belief of anti-semitism. People of Jewish faith were persecuted to unimaginable limits, and their normal everyday lives were changed for forever. Article Five of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” (United Nations General Assembly). Throughout Elie Wiesel’s autobiography Night, Elie and his family are violated of this right as a Jewish family during the Holocaust.

The human race has always struggled with the simple task of being humane. This started with the people killing over land, all the way to terrible events, such as the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel does a great job in his book, Night, talking about some of the things the Nazis did. The Nazis treated the Jewish people in the most inhumane way history has ever seen. The book approaches this just by throwing it directly in one’s face. Elie has a lot to say about humanity and inhumanity, as does Morrie Schwartz. Morrie is a Professor at Brandeis University and does a great job explaining why humanity should overcome inhumanity. Both Elie and Morrie agree that humanity and inhumanity were both very big things in their lifetime and humanity can be achieved through love, and concern for others.

"Night" by Elie Wiesel is "A slim volume of terrifying power" (The New York Time), the novel is concerning the tragic events that occurred during the Holocaust. The first section of the memoir raises an internal conflict, regarding the Jews of Sighet being ignorant about the terrifying events that are occurring outside their small town. This conflict is created when Moishe the Beadle escaped from the Gestapo and returned to Sighet to warn the Jews of the crisis, which is happening right under their noses. This is shown in the following quote, "he went from one Jewish house to the next, telling his story" (7), despite warning his community of the dangers that are progressing towards them, the Jews of Sighet ignored him and did not believe Moishe. The ignorance of the Jews is shown when

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.

Inhumanity. The cruelest of people are responsible for this. In Night, Elie Wiesel uses imagery, tone, and characterization to show the effects of inhumane actions. Night is about a young boy and his father who get separated from the rest of their family during selection of the Holocaust. This story tells how Elie survived his times in the concentration camps, even with all of the inhumane actions of the Germans.

“From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes gazed at me and never left.” (Wiesel 115). Since the inmates were treated horribly for such a tremendous amount of time, it left images of the beatings they took, the never ending-work they had to do, and the killing of their friends in their head. Two main points proven in Night by Elie Wiesel is how he created stronger bonds with people and how he lost faith in someone he use to praise and pray to every day.

The quote “Man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn” is very relevant in the Holocaust texts Night by Elie Wiesel and The Last Days directed by James Moll because it really sums up the Holocaust. Both these texts give insight to what happened inside the camps and how the survivors were changed forever. These texts both show that in times of extreme inhumanity, one can lose his faith, which leads to a loss of innocence.

In the book Night Elie Wiesel states that he saw “infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for the machine guns”(Wiesel 6). Elie saw kids getting shot so he lost hope and that's inhumanity because you don't see babies getting shot. In the book Night by Elie Wiesel inhumanity made him lose hope and inhumanity can cause more inhumanity.

Wiesel uses the strong connection of Eliezer and his father to portray the importance of family. He illustrates Eliezer as a caring son who displays responsibility over his father. As parents age and begin to have disabilities, it is a child's duty to look after them. In this case, Eliezer's father is old, but his disabilities come from the terrible conditions of the concentration camps. Nevertheless, Eliezer shows solicitude towards him.

The novel Night by Eliezer Wiesel tells the tale of a young Elie Wiesel and his experience in the concentration camps,and his fight to stay alive . The tragic story shows the jewish people during the Holocaust and their alienation from the world. Elie’s experience changes him mentally, and all actions in taken while in the concentration were based on one thing...Survival.

The novel “Night” was written by Elie Wiesel and is a memoir of his life during World War II. The book starts with his life living in Hungary with his family. It then tells of how they were taken away to concentration camps throughout the war. During Elie’s stays at the various camps you see the sacrifices he makes and how the experience changes him.