In the past many horrific events have happened that many people choose not to believe. One of those events was the Holocaust. Millions of innocent people died during this tragedy, but what about the people who survived? How did this affect them? A survivor, Elie Wiesel, wrote about his experience during the Holocaust, and how it changed him as a person. In his book “Night”, the main character Elie went to the concentration camp Auschwitz. Throughout the story, he gained new character traits that he carried for the rest of his life.
Before Elie went to the concentration camp, he had many character traits; such as, being caring, impatient, and optimistic. For example, Wiesel stated on page 15, “Get up sir, get up! You must ready yourself for the journey. Tomorrow you will be expelled, you and your family, you and all the other Jews,” said Elie. In this example, Elie is going into people's homes, warning and telling them, they need to get prepared for their long journey. This shows how much Elie cares about other people. Before Elie went to the camp, he believed in his religion deeply. On page 4 in Wiesel's book, he stated, “One day, I asked my father to find me a master who could guide me in my studies of Kabbalah.” Elie’s dad responded, “You are too young for that.” In this sentence, the character Elie is wanting to learn more about his religion, even though he knows that he has to be twice his age to learn about Kabbalah. Through his words, you can see that Elie is very
The holocaust ended May 8, 1945 but it took the lives of millions of people with it. Depriving millions of innocent souls of basic rights we have today. In the book Night, we are shown the experiences and transformations of young Elie from the day he arrived in the ghetto, to his last day in a concentration camp. As a result of his experiences during the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel changes from a religious, sensitive little boy to a spiritually dead, unemotional man.
In the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, he recalls Elie and his father are brought to Birkenau, Auschwitz, Buna, and Buchenwald. And they experience starvation, abuse, and dehumanization. Wiesel reveals how disillusionment causes Elie Wiesel to change throughout the horrific experience of the Holocaust. In the beginning of the book Elie was very religious until in the middle of the book when he saw the boy getting hanged on a gallow which made him wonder where was God which made him hopeless. And at the end of the book Americans raid the camps and free the enslaved prisoners.
During the Holocaust, Eliezer Wiesel changes from a spiritual, sensitive, little boy to a spiritually dead, dispassionate man. In his memoir, Night, Elie speaks about his experiences upon being a survivor of the Holocaust. The reader sees how Elie has changed through his experiences in Sighet and the ghettos in comparison to what it was like for him in the concentration camps.
In beginning, he was a devout follower of Judaism as can be seen on page 3 where Elie admitted, “By day I studied Talmud (Jewish oral tradition), by night I would run to the synagogue to cry over the weep over the destruction of the temple.” This text evidence divulges to us what Elie was like before the Holocaust. However, by page 33, when after arriving at Auschwitz, he questions “The Almighty lord, the eternal and terrible master of the universe… What was there to thank him for?” This means that Elie is starting to question/stray away from his religion.
Before Elie was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp, he displayed some positive character traits such as; faithful, courageous, and smart. To begin, Wiesel states: “He had watched me one day as I prayed at dusk” (4) Elie is talking to Moishe the Beadle (teacher in Sighet) and wasn’t afraid to express his faith. Obviously Elie is faithful because he is praying, but this shows that he is also very passionate about his faith and doesn’t care if people know if he is Jewish. Elie had this trait before he was sent to Auschwitz, and he made his faith number one. Further into his stay at the Auschwitz concentration camp, Elie starts to let his faith drift away, leaving him with almost nothing. Next, Wiesel states: “There could no longer be any doubt: Germany would be defeated. It was only a matter of time, months, weeks perhaps.” (8) Elie and his family were getting worried about the Nazi’s invading many Jewish homes. Elie becomes very confident to the situation and tells himself that the Germans will be defeated. Confidence is deeply displayed in this piece of text evidence because he begins to make it a fact that the
In just a short span of four years, over six million Jews alone were slaughtered in an event called the Holocaust. Eliezer may have survived the odious events of the Holocaust, but the ways it has affected him will have changed Eliezer forever. The memoir the Night by Elie Wiesel shows the transformation of Eliezer physically, mentally, and spiritually during the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel’s immediate and most easily recognized changes throughout the memoir were his physical changes. At the beginning of the memoir, Eliezer is in good condition and does not have any disabilities.
Before Elie’s experience in the Auschwitz concentration camp, he had many character traits such as being unwise, innocent, and impatient. When Elie first arrives at Auschwitz and receives his first meal, his father warns him to ration his food. For example, “I was terribly hungry and swallowed my ration on the spot” (Wiesel 44). During Elie’s first meal in Auschwitz, he gobbles it down and does not think about what might happen later. When his father starts to give him some advice, he is already finished with his meal. Elie acts unwisely and does not think ahead to what might happen in the later days. Earlier in the story, Elie and his family are waiting their turn to be put onto a train that will be sent to a concentration camp. Before they enter the train Elie asks, “ ‘When will it be our turn, father?’ I asked my father” (Wiesel 18). This quote shows that Elie really has no idea what is happening and what will happen to him. Elie has no idea that “his turn” will end up with him in a concentration camp. He is innocent and does not think about what bad might happen to him. Upon entering Auschwitz, Elie sees people being thrown into the fire and decides to die a quick death rather than suffer. Wiesel states, “ ‘If that is true, then I don’t want to wait. I’ll run into the electrified wire. . .’” (33). Elie is afraid of what is to come upon him arriving in the concentration camp. Because of this fear, his thoughts become driven by fear and cause him to think impulsive thoughts. Elie would rather die in the fence, than be worked or starved to death. Elie acts very unwisely in his reactions to seeing people killed. To sum up, before Elie changed as a person, he had traits such as being impatient, unwise, and innocent.
For example, he begins to think why would God put him through the torture and bad things that he has been through. Before, Elie believed and was very interested in his religion (Judaism). His view on his God and his religion changed because of things Elie saw, the things Elie experienced, and the things Elie thought and did. Beliefs and religion is something that is hard to manipulate and change one's feelings towards. The Holocaust had extreme effects on Elie, and which will also influence his future generations, which not only affects just Elie but the whole world because of people's beliefs towards mankind and
When you go through something as horrible as the Holocaust, you change in many ways that didn’t seem possible. These changes could include struggling to maintain faith or the ability to no longer function as a man. The book “Night” by Elie Wiesel follows the journey of Elie who faced these struggles while suffering in concentration camps.
The holocaust is one of the world's most tragic events, approximately 6 million Jews died and the concentration camp Auschwitz is the world's largest human cemetery, yet it has no graves. In Elie Wiesel's autobiographical memoir Night, he writes about his dehumanizing journey in the concentration camp, Auschwitz. Firstly, Elie experiences the loss of love and belonging when he is separated from his mother, sisters, and eventually his father. Also, the lack of respect that the Nazis showed the prisoners which lead to the men, including Elie to feel a sense of worthlessness in the camp. Finally, the lack of basic necessities in the camp leads to the men physically experiencing dehumanization. As a result, all these factors contribute to the
After nearly two years of misery, a young boy finally saw the first ray of hope on the horizon; the Americans had finally arrived, and the Nazis were gone. In his autobiography Night, Elie Wiesel shares his experiences in Auschwitz-Birkenau, one of Hitler’s concentration camps. Wiesel was one of the minority of Jews to survive the Holocaust during World War II. His family did not make it through with him, and this had lasting effects. Wiesel’s identity changed completely during his experiences in Auschwitz; he lost his faith in God and he became indifferent to his survival and the survival of his family members. Despite these hardships, however, he ultimately became a stronger person than he was before.
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.
Before Elie went to the concentration camps, he had many good character traits such as loyalty, Religious, and Impatient. For Example, on page 33, it says “If that is true then I don’t want to wait. I’ll run into the electrified barbed wire. That would be easier than a slow death in the flames” (Wiesel). During this part of the book, Elie and his dad had just arrived at Auschwitz and were being put in a line that was leading to death. Nevertheless, this shows that he is being impatient because he was facing death head on and knew that he might die so he was choosing a quick death rather than burning and slowly dying. Another trait Elie showed before the concentration camp was loyalty. For instance, on page 36, Elie stated “Please sir I’d like to be by my father” (Wiesel). In this part of the book Elie and his family were being separated at the camp and Elie lied about his age so he could stay with his dad. In contrast Elie showed loyalty to his dad by not going with his mom and sister and staying with his dad. This was a very big decision by Elie because he chose the hard way by staying with his dad even if that meant death.
Traumatic and scarring events occur on a daily basis; from house fires to war, these memories are almost impossible to forget. The Holocaust is only one of the millions of traumas that have occurred, yet it is known worldwide for sourcing millions of deaths. Elie Wiesel was among the many victims of the Holocaust, and one of the few survivors. In the memoir, “Night”, by Elie Wiesel, Elie, the main character, is forever changed because of his traumatic experiences in the Auschwitz concentration camps.
While Elie was in the concentration camp he changed the way he acted. This new behavior led him to develop new character traits. While Ellie was in the concentration camp he became angry at many things. For example “I would have dug my nails into the criminals flesh” (Wisel 39). Elie shows extreme anger when the Nazi officials are beating Elie’s father. Elie was angry because the Nazi soldiers were not treating them nicely and keeping them in poor conditions. Elie was usually not a person to display anger, but he shows this when his family members are being hurt. Elie wants to stand up for what is right and for his family members. Despite his studying, Elie wavered in his belief in Kabbalah while he was at the camp. Elie was a religious boy before he went to Auschwitz, but while in the camp, he became angry at God. In the book Elie says, “‘Where are You, my God?’” (66). Elie is wondering why God is not helping the Jews. Elie had complete faith in his religion until he experienced and witnessed such horrible suffering. He had been taught that God will punish evil and save the righteous. However, when Elie saw that God was not helping the Jews situation,