Night By Elie Wiesel: Character Analysis

In this world, people go through the process of dealing with both empathy and malice. As a matter of fact, almost everyone has been through times where maybe they feel understood by some and misunderstood by others. Specifically, in the book “Night”, by Elie Wiesel, a character named Madame Schachter goes through the experience of fellow Jews displaying empathy and malice during in result to her behavior. Along with this, the reactions reveal just how inconsiderate we can act when in uncomfortable situations. One example of the malice and lack of sympathy they provided her was during the cattle car ride to Auschwitz. During this ride, she went a bit insane due to the devastating separation of her family. Elie explains, “She received several blows to the head, blows that could have been

Their nerves were at their breaking point. There were also other instances where there was obvious malice being released on Mrs. Schachter. At one point earlier on in the book, Elie witnesses her being gagged and silenced by the same men. The author writes, “It was as though madness had infected all of us. We gave up. A few young men forced her to sit down, then bound and gagged her” (26). This shows just how intolerable the Jews were at that given point in time thanks to her actions. They truly had lost all signs of empathy. Madame Schachter had just become a nuisance and was, at least in their minds, a waste of space. It was natural for them to just give up and tie her down. In that situation, screaming only contributed to the growing anger of other Jews. There were, however, some Jews that wanted to help her. These were mostly other mothers who had empathy, given the fact that they had families of their own. They could most likely picture what it would be like to have their children and husbands separated from them in such an extreme and abrupt