Themes and Key Points
Picture this: you're naked, outside in the cold of winter, starving, and there is to hope for is a quick death. Everyone has fears, Facing death happens to everyone, but not every one can forgive an enemy. The most prevalent themes of Night, by Elie Wiesel, are fear, facing death, and the idea of forgiving enemies.
That which we fear consumes us, but prisoners of the Holocaust consumed their fears. The Holocaust victims began their imprisonment, terrified of the fate that lay ahead: by the end of the Holocaust no one feared for their life. There were no emotions. The camp bell would ring, or the S.S. would call for all Jews to assemble for extermination, and no one cried; no one trembled, as if cattle to the slaughter.
We had forgotten everything - death, fatigue, our natural needs - Stronger than cold or hunger, stronger than the shots or the desire to die, condemned and wondering, mere numbers, we were the only men on Earth, (83) wrote Elie. After everything Elie and the others had seen, they had lost all feeling, and there was no longer any room for fear. The Nazis took away the prisoners humanity, and therefore their ability to feel.
Because we are human beings, we fear death the most. However, the captives of the Holocaust welcomed death with open arms. After realizing his fate, Elie wished to end his life, much like the many other condemned Jewish people. After Elie saw burning babies, and the burning pits for adults, Elie turned to his father and confessed that he wished to commit suicide. Father, I said, if that is so, I dont want to wait here. I'm going to run to the electric wire. That would be better than the slow agony in the flames,(31) Elie said.
Elie and many others were taught something that no one should have to learn the hard way: the world is capable of the evils they were experiencing. The Jewish people were forced to find out that they would rather commit a Cardinal sin, and die quickly, rather than be tortured to death. That is why it was not a hard task for the people of the Holocaust to face death; they embraced it.
Despite all the horrors that Holocaust prisoners endured, they sought no revenge against their enemies. Their enemies, however, were never forgiven. Elie didnt wish revenge upon those whod done wrong unto him; all he wanted was a decent meal. When Buchenwald was liberated, the men literally dove into the left over food. Even after the men had fulfilled their appetites, they still had no intention of getting revenge. Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions. We thought only of that. Not of revenge... (109) Stated Elie.
Now that these people were free, they did what was right, returned to their lives as normal people, and tried to forget about the last few sordid years of their lives. The Nazi party and Hitler would never be forgiven, but the Jewish people felt they should move on with their lives rather than becoming the monsters that held them in captivity so long.
Living in this modern day society, the current generation could never truly understand what it would be like to march through the dead of night, in five degree weather, naked, and weighing a mere 85 pounds. This generation will never experience the atrocities that the undesirables faced. This is why Elie Wiesel decided to describe the fears, the abilities to face death, and the inability for Jewish people to forgive their enemies that all of them went through.
Quotes:
"Father, I said, if that is so I dont want to wait here. I'm going to run the electric wire. That would be better than the slow agony in the flames." (81)
"We had forgotten everything - death, fatigue, our natural needs - Stronger than cold or hunger, stronger than the shots or the desire to die, condemned and wondering, mere numbers, we were the only men on Earth." (83)
"Our first act as free men was to throw ourselves onto the provisions. We thought only of that. Not of revenge..." (109)
