Nightjohn Theme

The book Hunter in the Dark written by Monica Hughes was a story about tragic accident that happened to a boy that took him by surprise causing his life to change. This book being published in 1982 reflects on the style used, as well as being written in a genre of a young adult literature. This book was published being a Canadian book but reached out across many countries.

The book Night is a story of family, religion, violence, and hope. This book tells the story of Elie Wiesel’s journey through the holocaust. During the novel, Wiesel writes with the purpose of teaching us several lessons. This lesson is conveyed through Wiesel’s actions, other character’s actions, as well as quotations. The lesson Wiesel taught in Night is to persevere and never lose hope up no matter how hopeless the situation may seem.

Standing up for what is right is one theme that is shown numerous times as the book progresses. As you are reading the novel, you see several characters stand up for what they think is right. The Hubermann family decides to help a Jewish man hide from the soldiers by letting him live in their basement. If the family were to get caught they would be in major trouble for hiding a Jewish man. Hans Hubermann also gives an old man (that is too weak to walk) a slice of bread while the Jews walk to the concentration camp. Right after Hans gets whipped by a soldier and starts to regret what he has done. Even though he regrets what he has done, he did it because he cared for everyone even if they were Jewish. Children like Rudy Steiner and Liesel Meminger pass slices of bread out to some of the jews walking by. They get caught and chased into the woods by soldiers. When children were living in this time period, they would have to grow up really fast because of what was happening around them. This shows children that they can do things to help people that truly do need

The author of the book Night is Elie Wiesel and the main character is Eliezer. The title Night points out to the darkness of mind, life and soul experienced by everyone who had suffered in Nazi concentration camps during World War II. The theme of Night is Eliezer’s difficulty to maintain his faith in God. In the book Night, Eliezer’s faith fades away by seeing the horrible conditions of his surroundings, the painful deaths of many innocent people and by persecution.

The young adult novel Nightjohn depicts the plight of enslaved African-Americans from the point-of-view of an adolescent so that readers can feel as well as learn about the difficulties experienced by slaves in the antebellum south. The book revolves around the prohibition of teaching slaves how to read. In the novel, a former escaped slave named John teaches a young girl named Sarney how to read. John or 'Nightjohn' as he is called, slips into the slave barracks at night when the whites of the plantation are sleeping, and attempts to spread empowering knowledge to his people. John could have remained safe in the north but he chose to return because of his belief in the power of the written word.

Night john was a book about a escaped slave. He went back into the south to help other slaves escape. He taught slaves to be able to read and write. The NightJohn book was published in 1993 and the movie was created in 1996. There was bravery and prejudice even the feeling of freedom in this book and movie. NightJohn was a brave man even with the risk of slavery over his head.

Slavery was a big problem in the south in the 1800’s. Slaves were whipped, shot, and tortured in every way possible. They were often auctioned off for money, so they had many different friends and families. Nightjohn was a free slave who had something no one could ever take from him. He had letters. He shared these letters with a female slave named Sarny for some tobacco. Slaves weren’t supposed to know letters, so they had to have private lessons and no one could know.

Miss. Nelson is Missing is a simple, light-hearted play based on the children's book of the same name. This play is about seven boisterous elementary school students who have driven their teacher, Miss. Nelson, insane by rejecting her many attempts at making learning fun, disobeying and belittling her. Miss Nelson is put under a lot of pressure by Principal Humleker to ensure that every one of her students earns an A on their exam. Miss. Nelson is a kind and caring teacher who only wants the best for her students. However, Miss Nelson has reached the end of her rope with these children when they take advantage of her good nature. As a last resort, she disguises herself as Viola Swamp, a ruthless substitute teacher to scare her students into learning everything they need to know for the test; and maybe a thing or two about respect.

In 1993, Gary Paulsen wrote the book Nightjohn. Nightjohn is a book set in the 1850s, during slavery. It shows the thoughts and views of a twelve year old girl named Sarny. Sarny is a black slave girl, who is uneducated, malnourished, and living life the best she can. Suddenly, a man by the name of Nightjohn is brought to the plantation. Sarny traded tobacco for learning the alphabet from Nightjohn. Nightjohn ran away one night, and was thought to never return, but actually he created a hidden, underground school. Nightjohn could have been inspired by two interviews, Uncle Billy McCrea’s and Walter Calloway’s.

When the master had no answers for who was teaching Sarny, he instantly took Sarny’s mammy and hung her by her hands and let her hang there for a few days until he grabbed her and made her pull the buggy she was in pain and nightJohn could see it, so he said “wait! Don’t punish her, i was the one who taught the child”. The master ordered hands to chop off nightJohn’s two middle toes (pages 71-74). If nightJohn hadn't spoken for the master to stop, mammy would have probably died. nightJohn had the courage to speak up for

Fight for What is Right Fight for what you believe in while using your passion. When you believe in something so strongly, you must use your knowledge and passion to inspire others. In the story NightJohn By Gary Paulsen, he shows that passion is the most important thing to carry with you no matter what you are going through. John, a bold slave with many scars from previous masters, is bought by Clel Waller onto his plantation to work in the fields.

On page 40, Sarny thinks to herself “A, I thought, Ayyy, Ahhh. There it is. I be reading.” Sarny has enough courage to let John teach her to read. Even with knowing the possible consequences, she has enough courage to stand up against the unjust laws of slavery and learn to read and write.

In chapter 4 of Nightjohn, by Gary Paulsen, many terrifying events happened. Alice, a field hand that became a breeder, ran away after being forced to breed. She didn’t get far, so she was eaten up by Clel Waller’s dogs; she didn’t die, but she was cut up very bad. Sarny, a 12 year old narrator, recalls two slaves that ran away and what happened to them. Jim ran away and when he was caught the next morning, he got eaten up by the dogs and died there. Pawley was sneaking out to meet up with a female slave on a different plantation; when he was caught, he got bitten the by the dogs, and got a big cut from Waller, so he bled to death. The night Alice ran away, Sarny learned the second and third letter of the alphabet from Nightjohn. Nightjohn

Night is a novel written from the perspective of a Jewish teenager, about his experiences as a prisoner during the Holocaust. The guy who wrote “Night” named Eliezer. He grew up in Sighet. As Eliezer relates in Night, the SS forced Jews to break dietary laws, and deliberately shaved their heads and tattooed them in violation of Jewish Scripture and forced to stay in ghetto or concentration camp. Eliezer’s descriptions of his behavior toward his father seem to invalidate his guilty feelings. He depends on his father for support, and his love for his father allows him to endure. Eliezer’s father, Shlomo, is the only other constant presence in the work. However, whereas Eliezer develops throughout the work, experiencing horrible revelations and changes, Eliezer’s father remains a fairly static character, an older man who loves his son and depends upon him for support. He mentions sons horribly mistreating fathers.

Authors develop many themes in stories by giving characters certain traits or by putting them in certain situations. A theme shows the true meaning behind the story. In the novel Night by Elie Wiesel a theme of violence is expressed. He shows how the theme of violence affects himself and others throughout the novel.