...Maschler AP Literature-Band 6 May 1, 2011 Major Works Data Sheet- Night Title: Night Author: Elie Wiesel Date of Publication: 1958 Genre: autobiography, memoir Historical information about period of publication: World War II, and the Holocaust, ended in April 1945 when the liberating Allied armies came through the conquered territories in Nazi Europe. Night describes 16 year old Elie’s loss of faith in God, humanity, family and morality in general. Elie, therefore, vowed to not speak of his experience in Auschwitz, Buna or Buchenwald (or any event between 1943 and 1945, from the beginning of the occupation of Hungary to Germany’s liberation in 1945) for ten years, until he had time to internalize this dramatic loss, and regain his faith and possession of his memory and life. In 1954, after realizing that even less than ten years after the end of the Holocaust, the world was already forgetting and Jews were abandoning their roots, the time had come to testify and justify to the world that Hitler had not succeeded. Biographical Information about the author: Eliezer “Elie” Wiesel was born on September 30, 1928 in Sighet Romania, where his memoir Night begins. In his childhood (up to the Nazi occupation of Romania) his father encouraged his study of the Torah, other Judaic texts and other literary works. As described in the beginning of Night, Elie was also curious about the realm of Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism. From 1944 to 1945, Elie...
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...affected the lives of several Jews who survived it. In Night by Elie Wiesel, Eliezer witnesses the evil humans are capable of during the Holocaust. During his time in the concentration camps, he begins to change as a person. In the book, Night by Elie Wiesel the evil nature of humankind leads to the destructive changes of Eliezer's beliefs, his humanity and his personal relationships. Elie Wiesel utilizes Eliezer's loss of faith, his loss of humanity and his relationship with his father to show that the war between good and evil not only takes place between countries but also within the mind of a human. In the novel, Eliezer's loss of faith is a result of the unspeakable horrors...
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...those people was Eliezer Wiesel, author of the book Night (2006), and holocaust server. His story is not the only story out there. The move “Life is Beautiful” (2000) follows the story of a young man and his son though the holocaust. In the novel Night and in the movie “Life is Beautiful,” the holocaust is portrayed both similarly and differently through the fathers and the sons, developments of the fathers, and the faith development in the two boys. The most juxtapose aspect of the two stories was the relationship between the fathers and the sons. Both fathers care about their sons, but in Night (2006) they were not close at the beginning. “It’s dangerous to fall asleep in the snow. One falls asleep forever. Come, my son, come… get up” (Wiesel, 2006, p. 88). Eliezer and father grow in their relationship throughout the book, but at this moment shows how close they now are. After running for a long time, they can rest; Eliezer’s father won’t let him. Out of fear of losing his son, and...
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...As children grow up, they start to become more and more independent. When there is a loss in the relationship between a child and his/her parents, the child is forced into independence. This is something that happens in both The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and Night by Eliezer Wiesel. For Liesel in The Book Thief, she is initially at loss for her relationship with her father Hans Hubermann when he has to go out to war and serve his country. For Eliezer in Night, he is faced with forced independence when his father Shlomo dies as a concentration camp prisoner during the Holocaust. But, if there is no hope tied to the independence, then he/she has no motivation when they are independent, making it less significant and purposeful in comparison to when someone does have hope. By analyzing the actions and decisions of both Eliezer and Liesel when they are forced into independence, it shows that when there is hope related to it then the independence they have is more meaningful in comparison to...
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...The book Night by Elie Wiesel is a story about the Jews during the time when the Germans were trying to rid the world of all the imperfect people. The biggest group of people they were trying to get rid of was the Jews. There were many different reactions from the survivors/victims of the Holocaust. I know if it was me that was caught up in a disaster the scope of the Holocaust that I would have many different feelings and reactions. I know a few people who have suffered a personal tragedy, me included. In some ways there are similarities to Night whereas some of it is not. Some people say that the Holocaust should be seen as different in kind from the tragedies common to human life. A good question to ask oneself is, how great of a tragedy would it take to lead you to question the goodness of God? As the story of Night develops Eliezer’s understanding of God changes. Eliezer’s relationship with his father changes as the story progresses. Some might say this change is related to his understanding of God. His reaction to his father’s death is different than how most people would react. The scene at the mirror at the end of the story suggests that something happened to Eliezer during the story. Wiesel makes the remark “man questions God” which has a suggestion on Judaism’s attitude toward God. I believe that it is ironic in light of the story. The story of Night suggests that there is a problem with being a survivor. Some people believe that Wiesel was justified in his change of...
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..."Night" by Elie Wiesel is a terrifying account of the Holocaust during World War II. Throughout this book we see a young Jewish boy's life turned upside down from his peaceful ways. The author explores how dangerous times break all social ties, leaving everyone to fight for themselves. He also shows how one's survival may be linked to faith and family. The novel starts out in a small highly Jewish populated Hungarian town named Sighet. The people's lives and community somewhat revolve around each other and religion (Judaism). More importantly we see immense care and concern among the citizens; they all help one another and are true to their similar beliefs and values. Eliezer's life starts out revolving around God, as he goes on his journey studying the cabbala and other forms of Jewish religious texts. Initially Eliezer's belief is a product of Jewish mysticism that God is everywhere and that nothing exists without God, and in the start his faith in God is absolute. During the Holocaust, things change irreparably. The peaceful calm Jewish community that Eliezer once grew up with was shattered into a realm of chaos and selfishness. Eliezer believes that if all the prisoners were to unite to oppose the cruel that the Nazis inflicted upon them, then maybe he could understand the Nazi menace as an evil abnormality, but instead he sees that the Holocaust exposes the selfishness, evil, and cruelty of everybody; not only the Nazis, but also his fellow Jews, and even himself. I...
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...In the Book Night Eliezer on New Years really wanted to tell his father happy New Years but he thought that he would not think anything would change since they were stuck in camps and he thought they would never get out. Elie did not know what was going on when they woke up on New Years. Elie did not know what to do because he did not know what to do without his father. He moved works and would not work unless his father was there because his father would talk to him help him get through it. Elie and his father never really talked after New Years since Elie moved barracks and work. Elie’s father did like the fact that Elie moved blocks and did not really get to see him very much. Elie after New Years moved blocks and works and he told them...
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...Author: Elie Wiesel Night “One day I was able to get up, after gathering all my strength. I wanted to see myself in the mirror hanging on then 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. (Wiesel 109)” This is Eliezer’s final statement at the end of the intriguing and heartbreaking book Night by Eli Wiesel. A boy named Eliezer, who represents Elie, narrates Night, but details set apart the character Eliezer from the real life Elie. Despite warnings about German intentions towards Jews, Eliezer, a Jewish teenage boy, his family and the other Jews in the small Transylvanian town of Sighet (now in modern-day Romania) fail to flee the country when they have a chance. As a result, the entire Jewish population is sent to concentration camps. There, in a camp called Auschwitz, Eliezer is separated from his mother and younger sister, but remains with his father. As Eliezer struggles to survive against starvation and abuse, he also grapples with the destruction of his faith in God’s justice and battles with the darker sides of himself. Forced into a desperate situation, Eliezer feels a conflict between supporting his ever-weakening father and giving himself the best chance of survival. Over the course of the book, Eliezer and his father are sent from Auschwitz to a new concentration camp called Buna and then, as the Allies (the British and...
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...Book Review #2 Night By Elie Wiesel The atrocities that were committed against Jews during WWII will hopefully be remembered forever. This seems a bit counterintuitive for me because when something so terrible happens I would just as soon forget about it. History as we know has a tendency to repeat itself and the only way to prevent that from happening is to keep our history in mind as we consider what our future might hold. With that in mind, I can say that I enjoyed reading Night and imagine that I will read it again one day. In class we did not go into great detail about the Nazi’s “Final Solution” and what it really meant to the people who it was pertaining to. Our book only briefly touches on this subject as well, almost as if it is avoided in our textbook. The opening setting of Night is in the small town of Siglet in northern Transylvania which was annexed by Hungary in 1940 with Eliezer a 15 year old Jewish boy who narrators the story. Eliezer lives with his Mother, Father, and three sisters. His father was a prominent Jewish member of the community often being called upon by others for council. They all knew about Hitler and had heard about his intentions for the Jews, yet they did not believe that the world would allow such hatred and blatant disregard to humanity. Essential they had hinged their livelihood on hope and the goodness of mankind. By autumn of 1941 Hitler was the master of the continent of Europe and he used that power to carry out his...
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...At the beginning of Night, Eliezer describes himself as someone who believes “profoundly.” His experiences at Auschwitz and other camps have affected his faith. At the beginning of the book, it shows that he still has firm beliefs in his faith and in Him, as evidence by this quote, “I was up at dawn. I wanted to have time to pray before leaving,” (Page 18). By him saying this, we can conquer that Elie still has faith. Due to his faith not yet being deteriorated, he continues to pray. Even when subdued to anti-Semitism and racism, he still believes that God is with him. He continues to keep his faith, as he is still a firm believer. Later on, Elie’s faith begins to become lucid. An quote that shows this within the book is, “For the first time, I felt anger rising within me. Why should I sanctify His name? The Almighty, the eternal and terrible Master of the Universe, chose to be silent. What was there to thank him for,” (Page 33). He said this because he is watching people being killed right in front of him. He is...
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...The role of faith in “Night” is interesting. They have one of the biggest tests of faith. There are multiple people in the book who are still praying and giving their worship to God, except for Eliezer. He has kind of given up on his faith at the beginning of this book and doesn't get it back until the very end. It seems that praying to the Lord just seemed like living. We see this on page 4 when it says “Why do you pray?” He asked after a moment. Why did I pray for you? Strange question. Why did I live in the U.S.? Why did I breathe?” He has to go through these mental and physical challenges without faith. His faith at this book's beginning was firm; he even cried when he prayed. This can also be found on page 4 when it says, “He watched me...
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...Eliezer is more than just a traditional protagonist; his direct experience is the entire substance of Night. He tells his story in a highly subjective, first-person, autobiographical voice, and, as a result, we get an intimate, personal account of the Holocaust through direct descriptive language. Whereas many books about the Holocaust use a generalized historical or epic perspective to paint a broad picture of the period, Eliezer’s account is limited in scope but gives a personal perspective through which the reader receives a harrowingly intimate description of life under the Nazis. First and foremost, it is important to differentiate between the author of Night, Elie Wiesel, and its narrator and protagonist, Eliezer. That a distinction can...
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...WRITING ASSIGNMENT 1 1. To what did the Latin religio refer? a) The Latin word L. religionem (nom. Religio) is defined as “a respect for what is scared, reverence for the gods”, and according to the text refers to the fear or awe a person feels in the presence of a spirit or a god. 2. Taoism and Confucianism are nontheistic religions, that is, religions for which belief in God or gods is nonessential. While gods are not alien to either Taoism or Confucianism, belief in/of gods is not central to either tradition. What are a couple of other religions that can be called nontheistic religions? a) A few additional examples of some nontheistic religions are Agnosticism, Atheism, Buddhism, Secular Humanism and Scientology. 3. What is Paul Tillich's definition for religion, and why do Hopfe and Woodward consider its development too broad? a) Paul Tillich defines religion as, “that which is of ultimate concern”. Hopfe and Woodward consider the development of Tillich’s definition of religion too broad for a world religions course because a philosophical exploration of Tillich’s definition of religion, yields many an individuals personal belief of what is of ultimate concern hardly lending to the general understanding of popular or mainstream religions they hope to accomplish in this text. 4. Explain E. B. Tylor's theory concerning the origin and evolution of religion. What is animism, and to what, "ultimately" and "finally," did Tylor think it evolved? a) E.B. Tylor’s theory...
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