Night By Elie Wiesel Theme

From the time where Elie had to decide to fight for his father’s life, to the time where he questioned his beliefs, Elie has had to make many life-changing decisions. As some of his decisions left negative consequences, some were left a positive outcome. In the end, all the decisions Elie had made in the camps has made his life miserable or at its best. For better or for worse, the events that Elie encountered makes his life unforgettable as realizes there was more to life than he had thought of

Often, the theme of a novel extends into a deeper significance than what is first apparent on the surface. In the novel Night by Elie Wiesel, the theme of night and darkness is prevalent throughout the story and is used as a primary tool to convey symbolism, foreshadowing, and the hopeless defeat felt by prisoners of Holocaust concentration camps. Religion, the various occurring crucial nights, and the many instances of foreshadowing and symbolism clearly demonstrate how the reoccurring theme of night permeates throughout the novel.

“Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” - George Bernard Shaw. George Shaw’s famous quote describes that to achieve, you must change yourself. On May 1944, Elie Wiesel and his family were forced out from his home in Sighet, Romania to live in Auschwitz, Germany. He and his two older sisters survived the holocaust, Elie then wrote his experience in 1960. During the span of the book, “Night” by Elie Wiesel, the novel demonstrates that traumatic events can change a person drastically. In the beginning, Elie lived with his family in Germany, his mother, his father, and his three siblings. The Germans forced the Jews to hand over their valuables, live in ghettos and finally moving them to concentration camps, including Elie’s family. He was disunited from his mother and three siblings, but managed to stay with his father. At first when he entered the camp he was pessimistic and discouraged when he saw the townspeople crying including his father. After, Elie then learned to take care of himself and his father during tragic events, he stuck to his ambitions and values which led him to go through many obstacles , despite the limitations, and be free of the camp of Auschwitz. As he set out Eliezer was an immature and carefree 15 year old who developed into a responsible young adult.

The book opens with Elie’s life before him and his family were taken away. The story continues talking about how when they arrived in Auschwitz his mother and sister were taken to the crematorium with other women and children who were not strong enough to work in the camps. The only people left from Elie’s family were him and his father. Throughout the whole book Elie talks about how his father was his only motivation to keep going. When Elie’s father dies he contemplates to keep going or just to give in. In the end he is liberated and is freed.

In the novel “Night”, author, Elie Wiesel uses imagery to share his experiences as a jew during the holocaust. Wiesel’s use of imagery helps demonstrate the tone and purpose of the entire novel. Elie Wiesel’s journey starts off  subtle but in the end leaves the reader heartbroken.    Throughout the story, Wiesel describes his tragic memories during the nazi concentration camps, which establishes a dark and somber tone. His descriptions and use of imagery creates the tone and purpose of “Night”.

Elie Wiesel’s book “ Night “ takes place during the crucial events of the Holocaust. Elie and his family are taken to a ghetto and later on taken to a concentration camp called Auschwitz. They were taken there for one reason and one reason only, they were jews. Elie witnessed murder and soulless acts at his stay in Auschwitz, death was in the air. Elie and his father only had each other. One theme that is seen throughout the novel is that times like this can bring two people together to build a better relationship.

Elie reflects on the first night at the camps, he says “Never shall I forget the night at that camp that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed...Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget the natural silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live…” (pg.34). Elie was explaining that was the night it all changed for him, how it will always be apart of him. After seeing what this camp had to offer, to still even be alive was a privilege. He knew then, Auschwitz was just a Jews death sentence waiting to happen. He will never forget because it will always be stuck with him, that it was so horribly traumatizing that one could be so evil to innocent people. Think about Elie’s motivation it seems to go up and down, there were different things that would build his hope up but at the same time deprive him from it. The author illustrates this point when he states “The idea of dying, of ceasing to be, began to fascinate me” (pg.86) When Elie and all the other men were told to march on, the SS officers told them to increase their pace more and more and soon found themselves running at full pace for hours and hours. The SS officers had orders to shoot anyone who could not sustain the pace. Elie was explaining how his foot was aching and he was so exhausted and desperate for it all to be over, but never seemed to end. He was so reckless at this point, but he remembers his father. Elie tells us “My father's presence was the only thing that stopped me. He was running next to me out of strength, desperate. I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his soul support?” (pg.86-87). This simply proves that this was the only reason that Elie was to go on was because he wanted his father to go on.

Throughout the memoir, Elie is put into a series of events that are very difficult to pursue but in the end, Elie is a very lucky man. Based on the author’s opinion he doesn’t know how he survived but so many others didn’t, “I don't know how I survived; I was weak, rather shy; I did nothing to save myself. A miracle?. . . It was nothing more than chance”. This quote from the excerpt supports the idea that even Elie didn’t know the reason that he survived the holocaust and so many people didn’t.

In Night Elie Wiesel was living in Sighet and was taken by the Nazis because he was Jewish. They took him and his family to a death camp where boys and girls were split up. From then he and his father never saw his sister and mother again. Elie and his father went through terrible things that nobody should’ve ever experienced. Elie almost gave up plenty

In the memoir Night, the narrator Elie Wiesel recounts the moment when he was informed and then later thrown into the horrors of Hitler's wrath. When Moshie the Beadle came back he proclaimed “Infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for the machine guns” ( Wiesel 6). This shows inhumanity because the nazis are killing kids in front of their parents. They are able to kill without hesitation or remorse. As the author describes his experiences, many other examples of inhumanity are revealed. Two significant themes related to inhumanity discussed in the book Night by Elie Wiesel are the loss of faith and the loss of compassion.

Imprisonment. Faith. Emotionless. In the memoir, Night by Elie Wiesel, Elie and his father were kept prisoners in a concentration camp in Auschwitz for being Jewish. This time period was called the Holocaust. Elie and his father were distant but later they become closer and depend on one another.

In the memoir Night, Elie states that once his father “had just been struck” he had not even blinked (Wiesel 39). These inhumane situations can lead to many other things such as trauma and even lead some people to give up. Two themes related to inhumanity as shown in the book are losing faith and also long term effects.

In Elie Wiesel’s book Night, there are several themes throughout the entire book. Some of these themes are emotional death, struggle to maintain faith, keeping dignity despite inhumane conditions, and self-preservation vs. family commitment. I feel like self-preservation vs. family commitment is shown the most throughout the book. Many charters throughout the book showed family commitment over self-preservation. The first example is when they first got to Auschwitz during the first selection.

Elie’s family was taken away by SS Nazi soldiers on a cattle car train to Auschwitz concentration camp. Immediately after arriving, all of the women, including Elie’s mother and sisters, were separated from the men. Luckily enough, Elie remained by his father’s side, but to be in a place that smells of burning flesh, and soldiers screaming abhorrent words towards Jews while holding rifles, was traumatic for Elie. He had no knowledge of what was to happen to his own mother and sisters, but had a precise vision as to their fate while at Auschwitz, the emotional strife was already high and only just beginning for him. So after being separated, Elie is seen by Dr. Mengele, survival kicks in for Elie and he lies to the Doctor

Before Elie went to the concentration camp, he had many good character traits. He was caring, curious, and compassionate. For example, “And Moise the Beetle, the poorest of the poor in Sighet, spoke to me for hours and hours about Kabbalah revelations and its mysteries.” (Wiesel 5) He showed compassion for the poorest person in the town. When Moise is expelled from the town and comes back telling the horrors of what he experienced, Elie is the only one that believes him and shows care for him. Even later in the book, he shows care and compassion for his father. “‘They're exhausted… exhausted…’ [his father said] His voice was tender. I howled into the wind: ‘They're dead! They will never wake up! Never! Do you understand?’” (Wiesel 105) Here, Elie’s father is giving up, and trying to lay down and die, staring at the people who are dead. Elie keeps pushing him because he wants to stay alive and survive. This shows the immense amount of care that he has for someone that is even suicidal. he hates anyone that will cause any type of harm to his loved ones. For example, “I had no strength left. The journey had just begun and I already felt so weak… ‘Faster! Faster! Move, you lazy