...grief for oneself and others and create a sense of unity. But the continuous agony inflicted by the Holocaust stripped the prisoners of their human compassion. Apathy replaced states of sympathy and empathy, and desensitization enveloped the camps. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night shows how desensitization leads to a state of indifference towards violence enacted upon others through the use of man vs. society conflict, situational irony, and imagery. The consistent nature of the conflicts between a prisoner and the twisted society around them creates an indifference to the violence brought upon others. For instance, on the train...
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...The worst manslaughter in history, forgotten? Relieved? Forgiven? Human minds in need of such remembrance of something that accepted such a crime to wipe out an entire race? Elie Wiesel’s Night not only reminds us of the unforgivable crimes that Hitler committed, but helps us with the further understanding of the differences in human nature by culture/religion. This experience dramatically changed Elie from a dreamer and believer to someone who has no faith and lives to only eat and sleep. The death of his father would haunt him, only for Elie to find out when his dad dies, he wouldn’t care anymore. The Holocaust changed many people immensely and shot a hole in the heart of history. Before Elie was plucked into the worst manslaughter in the...
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...course of their entire life. Adolph Hitler was a German man who believed his race should rule over all other races. Blue eyes and blonde hair is what kept a person safe in the 1940’s. Hitler used the power of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (Nazis) and the strength of the paramilitary organization Schutzstaffel (SS) to establish himself as dictator of Germany. He was a very charismatic man, which was beneficial to his goal to have people support his desire to rid Germany of all “undesirable” people. Under his direction and with the aid of his followers, Hitler was successful in “exterminating” millions of non-Germans and non-Christians in a dark segment of history called the Holocaust. Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Elie Wiesel’s Night, and Gerda Weissmann’s recollections in One Survivor Remembers center around events which took place before and during World War II. These three titles observe how the human spirit is able to respond to unimaginable horrors and unspeakable situations with an indomitable inner strength, enduring hope, and creative defenses. Even in the worst circumstances, the human spirit will not surrender. In the 1940 time era, a person who was not German or Christian was tortured in many devastating and heart-wrenching ways. Slowly, everything was taken from these people, particularly the Jews. Initially, those who did not match the “perfect” identity were forced from their homes with a small amount of personal documents and other belongings and...
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...various concentration camps. Elie Wiesel’s experience as a Holocaust survivor is documented in his memoir, Night. The theme of dehumanization of war in Night shifts from the way the Nazis treat prisoners like Elie to the they treat each other and themselves. The beginning of the story highlights the way the Nazi dehumanized their prisoners. Elie had arrived with his family at Auschwitz, then he was separated from his mother and younger...
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...literature. To begin with, in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose battles with a terminal illness and morphine addiction. Regardless of the amount of compassion the other characters may show towards her, it is not enough to save her life. Likewise, in Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night, Mrs. Schächter suffers from terrifying hallucinations which cause her to scream relentlessly about fire and flames. Even if the other individuals on the train try to empathize with her, they are unable to help her...
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...attained from a human being, their outlook on life becomes devious. Having a positive on life conceives comfort in many people’s lives. When an outside fury comes along and changes someone’s life, his or her attitude is going to change drastically. In three books I’ve read, “Night”, “The Handmaid’s Tale”, and “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”, each struggle with the society they are dealt with. To be more specific, each main character has to struggle for freedom in the society that is surrounding them. When someone is enforced to go against his or her accustomed state of life, a negative state of mind is most likely going to be perceived through that person’s actions. In Elie Wiesel’s novel “Night”, a gloomy conduct is shown towards freedom, faith, and life. One of the most important rights as a human being is the capability to live willingly. Freedom gives people the right...
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...Night by Elie Wiesel is an autobiography about his experience of being forced to survive in a concentration camp. At the tender age of 15, Elie had to witness and suffer through things we could never imagine. As a Jew, one could only choose to die or work until they were too sick to function. Some people were unlucky enough to not get a choice to begin with. Unknowingly, this nightmare would change him externally and internally for life. Due to the atrocities witnessed and experienced during the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel, a once deeply religious individual, loses his faith in God, himself, and mankind. Throughout the story there were many occasions of where Elie started to question and lose his faith in God. One of the many occurances...
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...“Conflict causes growth as well as loss in people's lives” Conflict has the ability to cause both growth and loss in people’s lives. The loss of dignity, beliefs, humanity and possessions can be a result of conflict. Conflict also provokes growth in individuals in personal relationships, maturity, understanding and compassion can be hastened by conflict. Conflict can affect anyone at any time and we are all bound to experience it. No matter how hard we try avoiding it, it will always be a part of our journey through life due to our separate set of ideas, beliefs and values as individual human beings. In some cases, the conflict experienced can strengthen the value or moral already held and reinforce our beliefs. In some circumstances of conflict, one’s values and morals are strengthened despite the threat of harm to themselves or others in the future. This occurs when the value initially held by the individual is one of great significance and meaning to them, and not even the risk of suffering can distinguish that moral principle. This can be shown through the case of Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for female education in her hometown where, at that time, the Taliban had banned all girls from attending school. Malala reached out and followed her ambition, attending a school set up by her father, only to one day be shot at on her way back from school by members of the Taliban. She suffered major injuries and together with her family fled to Britain to seek treatment...
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...After Elie Wiesel and his father are resettled to Buna, he experiences two hangings. The first of which is as a result of thievery during the recent air raid, and the Germans are not appeased. During an atypical roll call, the Germans bring to the attention of the prisoners that the defiant’s consequential death should serve as a reminder. Elie writes, “The Kapo wanted to blindfold the youth, but he refused. After what seemed like a long moment, . . . when the latter shouted, in a strong and calm voice: ‘Long live liberty! My curse on Germany! My curse! My—’” (Wiesel 62). The young man that is hung on the gallows, indubitably, meets his end with denial and hatred—both of which are obvious through audible action. However, why does Elie seemingly rejoice as he is later consuming his ration? Clearly, it is due to a lack of relevance and, in Elie’s perception, is also what the man deserves. Indubitably, Wiesel’s incorporation of the lack of silence only substantiates the...
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...Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and author of “Night”, was deported along with his family to an extermination camp in 1944 where they endured hardships ranging from slavery to starvation. On April 12, 1999, in Washington, D.C., Wiesel presents his speech, “The Perils of Indifference” to President Clinton, his First Lady, White House Officials, and the American people. Referring to the tragic events of the twentieth century, Wiesel lectures on the threat that “indifference” poses, and discusses his hopes for a better future. Leading the speech, the author begins with an anecdote of his childhood, the liberation of Buchenwald. He mentioned the memories of the american soldier’s compassion and rage towards the victim’s situation during the...
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...___________________________ LIVING HISTORY Hillary Rodham Clinton Simon & Schuster New York • London • Toronto • Sydney • Singapore To my parents, my husband, my daughter and all the good souls around the world whose inspiration, prayers, support and love blessed my heart and sustained me in the years of living history. AUTHOR’S NOTE In 1959, I wrote my autobiography for an assignment in sixth grade. In twenty-nine pages, most half-filled with earnest scrawl, I described my parents, brothers, pets, house, hobbies, school, sports and plans for the future. Forty-two years later, I began writing another memoir, this one about the eight years I spent in the White House living history with Bill Clinton. I quickly realized that I couldn’t explain my life as First Lady without going back to the beginning―how I became the woman I was that first day I walked into the White House on January 20, 1993, to take on a new role and experiences that would test and transform me in unexpected ways. By the time I crossed the threshold of the White House, I had been shaped by my family upbringing, education, religious faith and all that I had learned before―as the daughter of a staunch conservative father and a more liberal mother, a student activist, an advocate for children, a lawyer, Bill’s wife and Chelsea’s mom. For each chapter, there were more ideas I wanted to discuss than space allowed; more people to include than could be named; more places visited than could be described...
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