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Character Changes In Night By Elie Wiesel

Decent Essays

In the novel “Night” by Elie Wiesel, the author explains his traumatic experiences during the holocaust. The story demonstrates the pain Elie and his father had to face while in concentration camps. As a young boy he had to adapt to the harsh conditions to survive the multiple camps he went to. His character traits dramatically changed throughout the story to benefit him and his father’s wellbeing. Many thoughts crossed Elie and his father’s mind on the treacherous road through Germany but in the end his father was the only thing he wanted to live for. One of Elie’s character traits during the journey through the concentration camps was self-discipline. SS officers patrolled the camps throughout the day and were always looking for an excuse to beat or kill prisoners. On the day Elie’s father asked to use the bathroom, he was slapped with extreme force that made him fall down. Elie did not reciprocate even though he wanted to. The situation demonstrated that Elie was disciplined when quoted “I stood petrified. What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails in the criminals flesh” (Wiesel, 39). This scene showed that he was disciplined because he knew that if he had retaliated the guards would have killed him or his father, …show more content…

His father was the only thing he wanted to live for and he would do anything to be with him and having the characteristic of being hard working helped him survive. It is explained when Elie mentions that “We were no longer thinking about the selection. We went to work as usual and loaded the heavy stones onto the freight cars. The rations had grown smaller, that was the only change” (Wiesel, 73). Having the trait of hard working meant he could survive and stay with his father longer and therefor he did what he was

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