Elie Wiesel wrote this book to share his experience of the Holocaust so that kids like me can learn about what really happened. His journey from his home, to the ghettos, to the concentration camps teaches us what happened. He believes that the Germans are nice at first, but then the sad truth comes out as he is herded into ghetto's then to a cattle car where he was transported to concentration camps. The first one he was transported to he lost his mother and sisters. He lived through some of the hardest times in history.

The main character that appears in the entire book is Elie. I liked Elie the most because I liked his attitude, the way he looked at every thing, and his drive to never give up or desert his father. I liked this because in that situation I would want to be like that. My favorite part of the book was when Elie woke his father up from sleeping in the snow. I felt like I was there, I had a real connection with that moment. In my opinion that part of the book was very detailed. The scene just came to me and I felt like I was walking right beside him watching the events unfold. I liked the detail he used and the dialogue that the SS had. He didn't edit or change it in his book, he told us the truth and that made me like and understand the book even more.

The setting of Night is totally different from our world today, and I hope I never have to live through it. This book could prevent another semi-successful genocide. It could teach people the outcome of a genocide and see what would happen from the victims point of view. There would be many more Jews alive today, had it not been for Hitler and the Nazi's. I don't believe that that this book could be improved because it was what he truly saw.

I think Night is mainly directed towards teenagers, people who enjoy learning about history, people who like suspense novels, and people who like non-fiction books. Night is the sick truth of what happened in the Holocaust. This is by far one of my favorite books. Does his father and he make it out alive? Find out for yourself.

In the book Elie Wiesel writes (p.24), "There are 80 of you in the car, the German officer added, if any one of you goes missing, you will all be shot like dogs." In this quote Elie Wiesel shows just how ruthless the Germans could be in their task of deporting the Jews, it also shows just how cruel the Germans were to their prisoners, they packed them into cattle cars 80 at a time and referred to them as "dogs". In referring to the Jews as dogs the Germans dehumanized the Jews by not treating them as human, but as animals.

Another passage where we see dehumanization was when on p. 37 Elie Wiesel writes on how the first concentration camp changed the prisoners, "In a few seconds, we had ceased to be men." This quote shows just how bad the Jews were treated at the first camp they arrived to. After arrival they were sorted, stripped, and forced to run from barrack to barrack, after this process had been going on a wile Wiesel writes that they had "ceased to be men". This is just one of the many ways that the Germans dehumanized the Jews in this book. This passage shows dehumanization because the Germans took away the prisoners human qualities, the Jews were forced to run like animals under the Germans control.

In another quote Elie Wiesel describes their German tent leader, (p.48) "Our tent leader was a German. An assassin's face, fleshy lips, and hands that resembled a wolf's paws." This quote is describing how the dehumanization affected both the Jews and the Germans. In the quote the leader of the tent in Buna is described with an assassin's face and hands like a wolf this could mean that he is both deadly like a wolf or an assassin, this is an example of how dehumanization affected the guards, in an earlier quote (p.28) the guards surrounded the prisoners "like wolves".

 

Wiesel's use of the motif of Night was used on pg.22(Bantom) when he is addressing Mademe Schachcer when she is moaning, and on the third night she yells "Fire! I can see a fire! I can see a fire!" This motif of night had a profound effect on the character Eliezer. At this time Eliezer is on a train because he was just deported. When Madame Schachcer is screaming about a fire, this is an example of a motif because it is at night, and it's also foreshadowing. In the camps, Eliezer felt both phyisically and mentally seduced at night.

On pg.83 is when he is phisically weak at night, on pg. 87 is when he is mentally weak at night. The motif of night had a profound effect on Elizers phisical and mental state while he is running while he is sleeping, and his distrust in God is making him weaker inside.

When the author wrote Night, Elie uses the motif of silence to make an effect towards the novel. At this point, the character Eliezer wants to save his dad. His father has gone through so much that he just go on. Throughout the novel, Eliezer is always pushing his dad to keep up him, and not to fall behind. The motif of silence has a negative effect towards both Eliezer and the rest of the Jews.

On pg. 100, Eliezer's father wanted to rest , but Eliezer was taking him out of temptation because with rest and silence comes death. During the days that he was free, he had food poisoning, and was on the verge of death, but when he got up to look at himself since the ghetto, he gazed at a corpse.

On pg.109, this quote was given, "One day I was able to get up, after gathering all my strength. I wanted to see myself in the mirror hanging on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto. From the depth of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me." This quote meant that silence lead to everything that happened to him, and this is the outcome. The motif of silence and night had a profound effect on Eliezer, the use of silence had an effect on both the Jews and on Eliezer, and also described their plight in the camps.

“It is as though both narrator and listener have seen the holocaust through the author's eyes. This translation of Wiesel's book conveys all the terror, anger and despair that the Nobel Peace Prize winner endured as a 15-year-old boy.” (Wysocki 1).

Barbara Wysocki supports my thesis by saying Wiesel has brought the reader into the story by telling his tales of horror. The reason the book is not too harsh on the reader is because this is what really happened. It is not a science fiction book about violence and killing. This is a significant event in the history of the world. The things these prisoners went through were horrifying. Wiesel is telling the story how it should be told.

Lisa Katz, writer from about.com, says “the book is not pleasurable reading” (Katz 1) because of the way Wiesel describes the death camps. The reason the book is not too harsh on the reader is because this is what really happened. I think Wiesel wrote this book with a little bit of horror yet not to the point where it is impossible to read. This is a first hand witness at the scene. Wiesel did not just make this story up to write about violence and killing with no purpose. The way he wrote it really brings the reader into the story and feels like they are witnessing these horrific events.

“Not far from us, flames, huge flames, were rising from a ditch. Something was being burned there. A truck drew close and unloaded its hold: small children. Babies! Yes, I did see this, with my own eyes children thrown into the flames. (Is it any wonder that ever since then, sleep tends to elude me)” (Wiesel 32). This quote is the bottom line to what Wiesel thinks about his experiences at the German concentration camps. Utopia.utexas.edu believes that Wiesel's description of the babies being burned is too disturbing and not enjoyable to read. Wiesel does a very good job describing the babies being killed because it is giving the real truth behind what happened.

Stephanie S. of Teenink agrees with my thesis statement and says Night gives what you need to know. They think that the book won't give you facts, numbers, and pictures of the Holocaust; it just gives you the truth behind the death camps. The book is filled with emotion of all sorts but it is not too depressing because it is what really happened and we all need to know about it.

The point that needs to get across is that Night is not too harsh on the reader. It is good to read a book about the Holocaust like this one because it really brings the reader into the story. The reader feels the pain that Wiesel felt during the time he was in the camp because the way Wiesel writes the book.

Through out the entire book Elie Wiesel wanted the reader to realize how horrible the Holocaust was and how horribly they were treated in the camps and the trains. One way he wants the reader to realize this is through telling us how mean and uncaring the SS officers were. Such as “”There are eighty of you in the car,” the German officer added. “If anyone goes missing, you will all be shot, like dogs.”(Pg. 24) It shows the utter disgust that the German officers had with the Jews and he did not care the least for them. He also would tell us details of his years in Auschwitz that we thought could never have been true. “”You are in a concentration camp. In Auschwitz… “A pause. He was observing the effect of his words had produced. His face remains in my memory to this day. A tall man, in his thirties, crime written all over his forehead and his gaze. He looked at us as one would a pack of leprous dogs clinging to life.”(Pg. 38) That they even told the prisons of the concentration camps of what they expected and wanted, but with a smile on their faces and a loathing glow in their eyes. He also described moments of his life in the concentration camp and how horrific their everyday lives were. “The SS made us increase our pace.

“Faster, you tramps, you flea-ridden dogs!”… time to time, a shot exploded in the darkness. They had orders to shoot anyone who did not sustain the pace.” The SS would gladly shoot any of the prisons if they had the chance and probably shoot a few for the fun of it because they were bored. “WE were given bread, the usual ration. We threw ourselves on it. Someone had the idea of quenching his thirst by eating snow. Soon we were all imitating him. As we were not permitted to bend down, we took out our spoons and ate the snow off our neighbor's backs. A mouthful of bread and a spoonful of snow. The SS men who were watching were greatly amused by the spectacle.”(Pg. 96)

Elie also wanted the reader to notice how much people can cling to life because of the amount of love, even in the most harsh of environments. He shows this constantly through the book and how he clung to life because he wanted to look out for his father. “My father was sent to the left. I ran after him. An SS officer shouted at my back: “come back!' I inched my way through the crowd. Several SS mne rushed to find me, creating such confusion that a number of people were able to switch over to the right- among them my father and I.”(Pg. 96)

Finally Elie Wiesel wanted the reader to know how horrendous war is and that it wasn't like most people thought. He did this by telling the reader oh events when the front-line got close and bombings occurred. “Everyone came out of the blocks. We breathed in air filled with fire and smoke, and our eyes shone with hope. A bomb had landed in the middle of the camp, near the Appelplatz, the assembly point, but had not exploded. We had to dispose of it outside the camp.” (Pg. 60) This quotation shows us that just one of the bombs that had landed at Auschwitz could have killed hundreds of prisoners' lives and that living on the front-lines is very dangerous.

Elie Wiesel makes the reader feel the effects, which he intended when he wrote this memoir. He does it through many styles and techniques, which are suitable in the ways he used them. Elie achieved his goal superbly and with no error.

The first thing that Wiesel loses is his faith. He began his life very faithful and very interested in religion. However, on Rosh Hashanah, he finds that he cannot pray to a God that lets such atrocities continue. In Night, he writes:

“This day I ceased to plead. I was no longer capable of lamentation. On the contrary, I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused. My eyes were open and I was alone - terribly alone in a world without God and without man.”

As the Front moves nearer to Buna, the Nazis force the Jews to move to a different camp. However, the way this mass evacuation takes place is on foot, and running. They run for an inhumanly long time, which at the end kills some. During the last bit of the run Wiesel writes about the separation of the physical body and the soul:

“The commandant announced that we had already covered forty-two miles since we left. It was a long time since we had passed beyond the limits of fatigue. Our legs were moving mechanically, in spite of us, without us.”

After the liberation of Buchenwald, the surviving Jews remain a skeleton of their former selves. There was no though of revenge or sadness, only survival and recovery. The torture that was forced upon the Jews' bodies and minds turned them into much like a shell of what they used to be, reverting to the most basic human instincts (although not to say they were primitive, but rather that they could have no other thoughts than survival after their ordeal). Elie Wiesel demonstrates the final product of this dehumanization, which puts together the entirety of the atrocity forced upon the Jews.

"One day I was able to get up, after gathering all my strength. I wanted to see myself in the mirror hanging on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto. From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me. "

This shows the final stage of the Nazis dehumanization of the surviving Jews, stripping them of the things that they value. In Wiesel's case it starts with his family and faith and ends with his soul. These three quotes, however demonstrate how the holocaust affected not only the Jews who died, but those who survive.

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 don’t 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 didn’t wish revenge upon those who’d 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 don’t 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)

Elie Wiesel is a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust. In his book, Night, he gives detailed accounts of his tragic life in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps. This book is filled with horrific accounts of horrible, horrible happenings which took place in the concentration camps.

Hearing about the horrors which took place in the concentration camps is tough to hear about. Reading Night, written from a first-hand point of view, sheds a new light on how the Jews themselves felt while experiencing the suffering which they endured in the 1940s. There are so many different stories in this book that are simply heart breaking. After reading certain parts I would have to set down the book and stop to contemplate.

Night is intriguing and well-written but moreover, it will open your eyes, make you stop, think, and be grateful for what you have. It is a short book and I hope after hearing about it you will go pick it up and take the time to read it. Books like these enrich our lives and in truth, make us better people.