Literary Analysis Of Night By Elie Wiesel

Night by Elie Wiesel remains a shocking and terrifying memoir of a survivor of the Holocaust, the murders of six million Jews and five million Gentiles. Elie, a victim of this dreadful event, was forced to separate from his family, and to miss the life he once had. Elie transformed into a unrecognizable, scarred person by the end of his journey. Elie’s traumatizing experiences in the concentration camps of Auschwitz affected him significantly; he changed both spiritually and in his relationship with his father.

Each day,6,000 innocent lives were taken at Auschwitz-Birkenau,one of the many concentration camps in Europe. During the “Final solution” two out of every three European Jews were killed. This genocide lasted from 30 January,1933 to 8 May,1945. Elie Wiesel,a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust,shares his personal traumatic,faith breaking and experiences with inhuman treatment in his memoir, Night.

Luba Frederick, a holocaust survivor, answered “To die was easy.”, when discussing the tragic and horrible events of the holocaust. In the Nazi concentration camps, life was miserable. Jews were oppressed by Nazi’s and forced to do their dirty work. Families, jobs, dreams, were nothing more than an illusion as cruel and inhumane treatment replaced them. People felt hopeless and looked to death as an option. Many were intrigued with the idea of death, since it was easier to give up rather than choosing to continue. Majority of people stopped eating, gave up their religious faiths and hope, welcoming the darkness to embrace them. Surviving was a constant struggle for these people and the only way to overcome it was the acceptance of death.

In the book Night by Elie Wiesel there are many instances where his use of imagery helps establish tone and purpose. For example Elie Wiesel used fire (sight) to represent just that. The fire helps prove that the tone is serious and mature. In no way did Wiesel try to lighten up the story about the concentration camps or the Nazis. His use of fire also helps show his purpose. “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times scaled. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw

In the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, Elie Wiesel is a young boy who struggles to survive after being forced to live in the brutal concentration camp of Auschwitz. In Auschwitz, death and suffering is rampant, but due to compassionate words and actions from others, Elie is able to withstand these severe living conditions and overcome the risk of death in the unforgiving Auschwitz. As shown through the actions and words of characters in Night, compassion, the sympathetic pity for the suffering or misfortune of others is critical to the human experience because it enables humans to empathize with each other, empathizing which allows us to feel the need to assist others which can often be vital for survival.

Before being deported to the concentration camp, he had many desirable character traits. For instance, “Please, sir… I’d like to be near my father.” (Wiesel, 50). This shows that Elie is caring because he wants to monitor his father and protect him from harm. He maintains this deep care and concern for his father throughout the book. Additionally,“I moved closer and had a glimpse of Idek and a young Polish girl.” (Wiesel, 56) shows that he is also curious because he goes to the noises he is hearing instead of away from them. Although this incident occurred during his time at Auschwitz, it is still one of Elie’s good traits because it allows him to be more observant and aware of what is happening around him. Finally, “And most important, don’t be afraid!” That was a piece of advice we would have loved to be able to follow” (Wiesel, `

Renowned American actor David Stiers described the importance of family when he remarked “family means no one gets left behind or forgotten”(Stiers). The importance of family is that they support one another, this is displayed in this remark, and is also seen in Elie Wiesel’s story Night. Night is a story that gives readers a first person account of a fifteen year old boy’s journey through the Holocaust and the struggles that confront him. In his novel, Night, Elie Wiesel expresses the concept that family is the only thing that gets each other through hardships through his use of rhetorical devices such as dialogue, repetition, and elements of tone.

Night teaches how in times of suffering, ideas of morality are replaced with a drive to survive. For the prisoners, violence becomes second-nature, and even “the tall chimneys of the creamatorium’s furnace no longer impresses [them]” (104). Ellie becomes numb to violence and death and it no longer fazes him, and he discards the reality of his treatment. His reaction shows the extent of the crimes committed against him, as he just accepts the creamatorium as a way of life. His old senses of morality become obsolete and are replaced with a new code. Favors and gifts no longer exist, as it no longer benefits the prisoners, and instead they barter. Ellie barters “for a ration of bread [and is] able to exchange cots to be next to [his] father” (108).

Elie Wiesel's Night, argues that in times of distress, keeping family close is incredibly important. At this point in the story, Elie and his father have been put through concentration camps, labor camps, many rides in cramped cable cars, and countless hours of torture. They are incredibly weak and hungry which impairs his father’s judgment. He became weak and childish, “Don’t yell, my son… Have pity on your old father… Let me rest here… a little…. I beg of you, I’m so tired… no more strength…”

In Night, one man tells his story of the terrible experiences that he struggled through in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel gives his readers vivid descriptions of the places he was at and of the people who had crossed his path at one time or another. Elie and many other Jews struggle with their faith in God because they have felt abandoned by Him. In Night, Elie Wiesel uses repetition, symbolism, and irony to convey his loss of faith throughout the book.

They are at Birkenau and have to be separated by men and women. It is, however, the last time he would see his mother and sister, Tzipora. Eliezer is now with his father and the inmates are upset, asking why they are here and that they should have hanged themselves before coming because of the fate that awaits them. They also give advice, though, saying that Eliezer should say he is eighteen instead of fifteen and that his dad should be forty instead of fifty. Dr.Mengele then appears, asking for their ages and professions, and Eliezer follows the advice and says he is a student. During this process he sees a truck with children, children that are meant to be thrown in the crematorium. He is shocked and disgusted and would rather run into

In the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, Jews ignored the evil that is shown to them during the holocaust because they were disillusioned at the fact that Germans were going to kill them. This also affected the Jews because the Jews faith was disappearing, part of their religion is to believe what you hear and not what you see. While, Nazi soldiers were evacuating the Jews out the their homes,and some Nazis doing roll call , telling Jews to stand in line,while they make sure that all the Jews were out the homes and standing in the streets with oppressive heat. Wiesel heard some Jews saying were that they were being sent out because they wanted their goods to steals or that they were being evacuated for their own good “ Who knows they must be

Desmond Tutu once said, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness” (qtd. in "Desmond Tutu Quotes.") . Yes, despite all the evil Eliezer encountered during his time, he still found hope and a light at the end of the tunnel. He was only the age of fourteen when he was taken from his home by the Germans. Wiesel’s strength shines through in his novel of immorality and opens the eyes of many readers. Elie Wiesel encounters several instances of darkness but also everlasting love throughout his grueling experience with concentration camps and attempted genocide of the Jewish community in his book, Night.

The Jewish ethnic population of the world was reduced by one-third in the world’s most worst and known genocide, the Holocaust. Night by Elie Wiesel describes his firsthand experience going through multiple concentration camps that systematically murdered individuals of Jewish cultural heritage, and while groups such as queer people, Romani ethnic groups, individuals with disabilities, black people, as well as the Slavs, were persecuted, Night explains being apart of the Ashkenazi Jewish ethnic group. Eliezer Wiesel discusses the theme of racial inequality in his memoir Night, through his use of descriptive, vivid, yet simple statements that use foreshadowing to trope different experiences. Wiesel is expressing to the readers of his personalized traumatic experience, as well as urging it never happen to any marginalized group, not in the future or present.

1. Many scenarios and events take place that foreshadow the dangers that are coming to the people of Sighet, such as the deportation of foreign Jews from Sighet, the Fascist party seizing power, (resulting in a new government) Eliezer's close friend, Moshe the Beadle, escapes bringing his information and warnings, news about growing tension and Anti-Semitic acts in Budapest, and even more so the fact Germans arrived and the Jerdict had been sent out foreshadows grave danger. I believe that the people of Sighet, including Eliezer's family, ignore and overlook these things because they constantly reassure themselves that they are safe by saying "we even thought ourselves rather well off; we were entirely self contained." Although things are grim, the Jews of Sighet hold on to false hope that they will be saved soon, And in doing so, they conjure up excuses to the warnings of people like Moshe and tell one another that he has "gone mad." They refuse to open their eyes to see what is down the road to better prepare themselves.