...endure and resist the desire of death. In a beautiful villanelle dedicated to his father, Thomas told him: “do not go gentle into that good night,” but to “rage, rage against the dying of the light” (Thomas, 1 and 3). Thomas hoped that his father would find the strength to not give up in his fight for life. Their familial love gave his father the hope to do the seemingly impossible and defy death, for a little longer. Hope is key to surviving in any situation, but it takes a lot of emotional strength to maintain. During the Holocaust, this was truer than ever for millions of people, who faced death every day, and were tortured, starved, and violated. Their hope in religion, the goodness of humanity, and themselves were continually tested and most victims’ hope were eventually lost because of their suffering. One survivor, Elie Wiesel, wrote a memoir, Night, sharing his experiences during the Holocaust and in a concentration camp, and solemnly displaying his progression of hope. Elie's gradual loss of hope caused him to lose the emotional strength that he needs to survive, which made him desperate to cling on to the familial identity that was...
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...losing grasp of it can greatly influence them. In Elie Wiesel’s novel, Night, he relives his experiences in which he’s compiled during the Holocaust that the German Nazis were held accountable for. On May 1944, towards the end of the Second World War, he at the age of fifteen, his family, and other Jews are forced by the Nazis to detach from their homes to attend their first concentration camp called Auschwitz. It was situated in Poland and his mother and youngest sister will die there while he and his father carry on their lives with the only priority of survival in their minds; little do they know, a dark future awaits them. It is in camp Buchenwald, located in Germany, to where Elie and his father transfer in the progressing years, that Nazi brutality becomes more conspicuous. This leaves him the last motive to remain alive, his father. As Elie continues to inhabit the surreal and agonizing environment with tortuous occurrences at every step, he finds it difficult to survive as an adolescent which leads to his quick transition into adulthood; thus leaving his state of innocence. Because of Elie’s loss of innocence, he is impacted by having his relationship with God suffer, being desensitized to deaths and atrocities, and reversing roles with his father. One way that Elie is impacted by his loss of innocence is his relationship with God suffers. God, though present, is prejudicial in Elie’s perspective. It appears to Elie as if God’s protection fails to liberate the Jews...
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...English 1302 29 November 2013 Losing Faith There were a lot of Jewish people who had a large faith in humanity or in what we all called God and Elie Wiesel was one of them. Their faith in humanity ended up being lost during the second Great War, which is commonly known as War World II. Though, after the war and after they were saved by the Allies, little by little their faith in humanity and God slowly came back. Even the truest believers, like Elie Wiesel, can lose their faith in all of humanity and even who they call God, but once you are shown even a slightest bit of kindness, you can gain it all back. In the very beginning of Elie Wiesel’s novel, Night, based off his experiences during the World War II, all he wanted was someone to help him in his studies of the Kabbalah. Even though his father thought him to be too young that did not stop Elie from pursuing his dreams. He ended up finding a teacher for his studies of the Kabbalah in Moishe the Beadle. Elie was not the only Jewish child whose studies meant a lot to him. David Weiss Halivini was another child who had big dreams and an even larger faith. He had a dream of being a rabbi of a small village in the Carpathian Mountains (Fox). Though he had to put his dreams on hold after the Germans came and put his family into the ghettos, just like Elie’s family. Also like Elie, he continued with his studies, not wanting to put his dreams on hold because he was moved into a ghetto. Not only did Jewish families have a strong...
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...In his memoir, Night, author Elie Wiesel recalls his experiences as a young Jewish boy in a Nazi death camp. The narrative begins with Wiesel and his family living in Sighet, Romania, when the plot of the story begins to unfold. Soon afterward, the Jewish people are deported, and the horrifying events of the Holocaust are revealed. Throughout the story, Wiesel describes the atrocities that took place during this period of genocide during World War II. As the story progresses, various relationships that Wiesel holds with certain individuals evolve, and these changes contribute to his survival. Two such characters that the author relates to through his horrifying experiences are God and his father. Wiesel starts out in the story as a firm believer in God; however, his faith in and relationship with God begins to change as a result of his agonizing experiences. Despite constantly being on the verge of life and death, Wiesel is able to carry on, partially because of this correspondence with God. At the beginning of the novel, Wiesel claims that "he believes profoundly." (1) The author has a naive, yet strong, faith in God at an early age, and he is constantly studying the Talmud and spending time in the Temple with his religious mentor, Moshe the Beadle. Months later, the Jews are placed in the ghettos, and then are expelled in cattle cars soon after. During the transport, the Jewish people receive false hope of good conditions in the labor camps, so "they give thanks to God." (24)...
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...(Goldsmith, n.d.). This quote by Oliver Goldsmith (n.d.) focuses on how every life is a journey that they need to go on. No matter what happens in live, the only place to go is forward. In the movie "Life is Beautiful" (2000) and Elie Wiesel's (2006) book Night, Elie and Joshua's lives are not bright. They are going through one of the hardest times of their lives, whether they know it or not. God provided for both boys to keep their paths straight and keep them moving through the torturous times. With love, life is hard to live; thankfully, both Elie and Joshua had their fathers to stand beside them and give them the encouragement to...
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...In Eliezer Wiesel’s Night, he focuses on father and son relationships. In the beginning Elie and his father did not have a very strong relationship. “my father was a cultured man, rather unsentimental. He rarely displayed his feelings, not even within his family, and was more involved with the welfare of others than his own kin”, Elie says. His father was not a man of emotion and treated Elie as if he was a spoiled rotten kid. Wiesel details father-son relationships to show how natural, loving bonds deteriorate when individuals are faced with intolerable situations. For example, a prisoner murders his father for a taste of bread, demonstrating the breakdown of humanity. The prisoner then ends up getting jumped and is also killed. Another...
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...The sparkle that once gleamed in my father’s eyes had transformed into a black endless pits of despair. Every ounce of fat and strength had fled the once lively body as my father slowly approached death. His eyes sealed shut and his breathing became labored as officers continually beat him to death. Life at concentration camps were a living hell. Elie Wiesel describes these horrific events through his marvelous biography, Night. As a young Jewish boy, Wiesel was taken from his lifelong home and dumped into the Aushwitz concentration camp. Later in Wiesel’s journey, he was transported to the Buchenwald work camp. Elie Wiesel experienced indescribable terror as he saw the worth of his life be downgraded to absolutely nothing. The Jews...
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...assignment is Night by Elie Wiesel. Night is a memoir about Wiesel's horrific experiences at the German concentration camps Auschwitz and Buchenwald. In Night, there are two main conflicts. We see Wiesel struggle with his faith in god and his faith in humanity itself. In the beginning of the book, we get to see a bit of Elie's life. Elie is a 13-year-old Jewish boy living in Sighet, Transylvania. "By day I studied Talmud and by night I would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the temple" (20). Elie finds a mentor in Moshe the Beadle, a poor Hungarian immigrant that possesses a deep understanding of Jewish mysticism. Moshe and Elie pray together. Moshe the Beadle also helps Elie with his studies in...
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...jealousy, and power. A perfect example of the latter would be the Holocaust where humans tortured and killed other humans because they were different. In Eliezier Wiesel’s memoir, Night he describes the extreme cruelty and suffering he endures in Auschwitz and other concentration camps as a child inmate during the Holocaust. Wiesel can neither explain nor understand the reasons for human cruelty that he witnesses and endures during the Holocaust, but learns that cruelty breeds more of the same and in the end survival and self-preservation is all that matters. Night sample thesis statements: You may borrow one, make it your own or write one from scratch: 1. Question: Analyze Elie and other characters’ struggle with faith. You can approach this chronologically or by effects. What is Elie’s final judgment on the benefit/cost of faith? Consider Elie’s interpretations of God’s intentions and use of visual imagery (such as death and night imagery). Thesis: At the beginning of the novel Elie has a desire to grow his religious faith and connection to God; however, as the story progresses and he witnesses tremendous suffering and loss his faith is shaken and lost. 2. Question: Analyze the essence and effects of dehumanization and human cruelty in Night on the perpetrators and/or the victims. Does Night help explain why people are capable of terrible crimes against...
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...beliefs. Elie Wiesel in his novel Night, a novel about Wiesel’s life during Holocaust, displayed many of these bonds. Wiesel documented people’s bonds with their Jewish faith to stay alive for the majority of those who suffered through the holocaust were Jews. He told of bonds to oneself to stay alive although quite selfish. Finally, Wiesel utilized the close relationships between family members to argue that family bonds give individuals a reason to live. Wiesel first proves that family bonds help individuals survive by showing the father son relationship between Elie’s father and himself. This is seen throughout the entire novel. It is seen when they reassure each other that Elie’s mom and Tzipora, his sister, will be alright as they are separated. They are being sent to certain death but Elie and his father try and comfort each other so that they do not breakdown and basically die at the loss of their family members. Another instance of the family bond saving one of their lives is when they were on the train cars going to Buchenwald. The Nazi’s had just shouted to drop all the dead into the snow. Two men came to take Elie’s father for he looked dead, but Elie saved him saying “’No’ I cried ‘he isn’t dead! Not yet!’… He was breathing weakly. ‘You see…’” (Wiesel 94). This clearly shows that because of Elie’s family bond with his father made him save his father’s life by shouting to the two men to leave his dad. A final instance of the connection between Elie and his...
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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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...Eric McCambridge ENG 360 Paper #1 September 30, 2014 The Differing Modes of Writing Used to Describe Winter in Night and None of Us Will Return The onset of winter was a particularly troubling time for prisoners in the Nazi concentration camps. Prisoners were offered few pieces of clothing and, coupled with the fact that they were often working outside, were subject to the harsh and unforgiving conditions of winter. Because of their poor protection from the cold, it was during winter that the most prisoners perished. Elie Wiesel and Charlotte Delbo, both survivors of the concentration camps, describe their lives within the concentration camps during the winter season in their books, Night and None of Us Will Return, respectively. Though they are both describing the same season and similar living conditions, their written accounts of the winter months differ greatly. When recounting his evacuation from Buna in the winter of 1944, Wiesel takes a decidedly more reportorial approach to his story. Delbo, on the other hand, focuses more on reflection when writing about the same winter in Auschwitz. While both are writing about the same period of time in relatively the same area in Europe, each author manages to evoke different emotions from the reader when describing their personal experience with winter. During the winter of 1944 in Auschwitz, Charlotte Delbo is clinging to life. She is malnourished and exhausted, yet she still finds beauty in her surroundings and...
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...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. If I mentioned everybody who has impressed, inspired, taught, influenced and helped me along the way, this book would be several volumes long. Although I’ve had to be selec- tive, I hope that I’ve conveyed the push and pull of events and relationships that affected me and continue to shape and enrich my world today. Since leaving the White House I have embarked on a new phase of my life...
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