According to the definition, inhumane is described as an individual without compassion for misery or sufferings. The novel Night by the author Elie Wiesel, illustrates some aspects of inhumanity throughout the book. It is evident in the novel that when full power is given to operate without restraint, the person in power becomes inhumane. There are many examples of inhumanity in this novel. For instance, "Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky." Through this quote Elie is explaining his first night at camp and what he saw will be in his head forever - unforgettable. In my opinion, the section in the novel when the Germans throw the babies into the chimney is very inhuman. An individual must feel no sympathy or feelings in order to take such a disturbing action. In addition to that "For more than half an hour stayed there, struggling between life and death, dying in slow agony under our eyes. And we had to look him full in the face. He was still alive when I passed in front of him. His tongue was still red, his eyes were not yet glazed." This is also very inhumane example since the child's weight wasn’t enough to snap his neck when he was hung and so he is slowly dying painful death as all Jewish people walk by him, being forced to watch the cruelty. The prominent theme that was exhibited throughout the novel was inhumanity. The quote "Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky." This quotation shows how a powerful authority had all the control to carry out disturbing actions and no common ma... ... middle of paper ... ... aware of the German’s powerful standing. In conclusion, in the novel Night, the Germens had so much force and power that no minority (Jewish individuals) could stop them. As a result, the Germans took advantage of the power they had and killed a lot of Jews in very unpleasant ways, thus illustrating inhumanity. The Germans had no feelings or sympathy for their actions and through the two quotations provided, it is evident of how the Jewish society lived in fear and helplessness. Elie will never forget what he saw the first night he was at camp and this was the build up of fear, also how the Germens executed the child shows that they are heartless by making the innocent suffer. These examples were very brutal and inhumane ways of dealing with the Jews, as a result the Germans took advantage of their power in the wrong way, abused it by doing whatever they desire.
In the book Night by Elie Wiesel there were countless acts that would be classified as inhuman. For example the hanging of an angelic pipel, or killing one’s father for a piece of bread. Although both acts are extremely inhuman, hanging a child is more inhuman than killing one’s father for a piece of bread. Yet, to kill someone’s father for a bread is more in keeping with human nature in the fact that it is done for survival.
In the memoir Night, the narrator Wiesel recounts a moment when he witnesses the most horrific actions done by men,”I pinched myself : Was I still alive ? Was I awake ? How was it possible that men, women, and children were being burned and that the world kept silent “ (Wiesel 32). Wiesel was thinking and questioning about his existence. While also caring for his father because that's all he has left. It's even more important because, what Wiesel experiences in camps has been near death and fight for survival. Two significant themes related to inhumanity discussed in the book Night by Wiesel are, loss in religious faith and father and son bonding.
The significance of night throughout the novel Night by Elie Wiesel shows a poignant view into the daily life of Jews throughout the concentration camps. Eliezer describes each day as if there was not any sunshine to give them hope of a new day. He used the night to symbolize the darkness and eeriness that were brought upon every Jew who continued to survive each day in the concentration camps. However, night was used as an escape from the torture Eliezer and his father had to endure from the Kapos who controlled their barracks. Nevertheless, night plays a developmental role of Elie throughout he novel.
callous to the death of their peers, and going so far as to murder fellow
After reading your novel, Night, I felt a mix of sadness and anger. The cruelty of the Nazi regime to the innocent Jewish people is a crime that cannot be forgotten because, as you said, it is like a victory for the Nazis when their crimes are erased from human memory. One of the most shocking scenes from the novel occurs near the beginning, where babies are being burned by the truckload. Children too young to resist burned alive because they could not work in the camps. I cannot even imagine how it must have felt to the mothers and fathers of those children to watch that. Another shocking scene was when the train was going to WHEEERE, and the dead were thrown out of the train. After suffering and when faced with harsh conditions, people were
In the memoir Night, Elie Wiesel recounts a moment when “They had orders to shoot anyone who could not sustain the pace. Their fingers on the triggers, they did not deprive themselves of the pleasure. If one of us stopped for a second, a quick shot would eliminate the filthy dog” (Wiesel 85). This shows how cruel and heartless the guards were to the jews. They were what influenced the two main inhumanities that occurred in this novel. Two significant themes related to inhumanity discussed in the book Night by Elie Wiesel are Loss of Faith and becoming closer to love ones.
When the sirens went off, the prisoners were commanded to abandon all activities and take a position. A cauldron of soup is left in the middle of the eatery. Hundreds of Jews stared at the food with immense hunger, but no one dared try to get some. One man fell victim. "Poor hero, committing suicide for a ration of soup!" (57). The Jews are so poorly treated that the man was willing to risk his life for some food. The act cost him his life. Another Jewish boy was found beating his father for bread crusts. The treatments the Jews received made them turn against their own. They did everything for their well-being. Elie did a remarkable job on Night to reveal the dehumanizing procedures they experienced. It is something that the Nazis plotted against the people they imprisoned. The tattooing of numbers on the arms of the prisoners, something that Eliezer notes, is of extreme importance. The beatings, the commands to do the irrational thing, as well as forcing them to believe that they were of no value are examples of dehumanization. The Nazis did not overpower the Jews because they were better than them or stronger than them. They beat the Jews because they were able to silence them with the way they were treated. Whether it is neglecting their opinions, or treating them with disrespect. Just like the Germans did to their prisoners. Wiesel's work reminds us that anytime a voice is silenced, dehumanization is the
Authors sometimes refer to their past experiences to help cope with the exposure to these traumatic events. In his novel Night, Elie Wiesel recalls the devastating and horrendous events of the Holocaust, one of the world’s highest points for man’s inhumanity towards man, brutality, and cruel treatment, specifically towards the Jewish Religion. His account takes place from 1944-1945 in Germany while beginning at the height of the Holocaust and ending with the last years of World War II. The reader will discover through this novel that cruelty is exemplified all throughout Wiesel's, along with the other nine million Jews’, experiences in the inhumane concentration camps that are sometimes referred to as “death factories.”
Once again the Jews were picked as scapegoats to help push the political and social agendas of those who held higher office in the form of the Holocaust. Through the processes of propaganda and mass media, the Nazi party was able to desensitize an entire nation of people towards the process of dehumanization. In the reading of Elie Wiesel’s novel Night we were able to gain a personal first hand account of what atrocities were committed against these people in the process of stripping them of their humanity. Upon entering the concentration camps, Eliezer gives us insight into the internal feelings that one experiences when he is stripped of his humanity. He states, “never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes” (Wiesel
...e has to deal with the death of his family, the death of his innocence, and the death of his God at the very young age of fifteen. He retells the horrors of the concentration camp, of starvation, beatings, torture, illness, and hard labor. He comes to question how God could let this happen and to redefine the existence of God in the concentration camp. This book is also filled with acts of kindness and compassion amid the degradation and violence. It seems that for every act of violence that is committed, Elie counteracts with some act of compassion. Night is a reflection on goodness and evil, on responsibility to family and community, on the struggle to forge identity and to maintain faith. It shows one boy's transformation from spiritual idealism to spiritual death via his journey through the Nazi's failed attempt to conquer and erase a people and their faith.
The book Night by Elie Wiesel is an autobiography that describes Elie 's time in the Holocaust. He is a sixteen year old jewish boy in the Auschwitz concentration camp. He is a thin scrawny boy, but is very strong. His hair is coal black, but looks bad because it is very short and greasy. His eyes look dark and cold with sadness in them because of the loss he’s experienced in the concentration camp. His hands are torn to pieces because he is a hard worker. He is very dirty due to not being able to shower often. Bruises are found all over him from the beating he often gets if he does not follow protocol in the concentration camp. His feet are cut up and often bleeding because he is on them so much. The bags under his eyes are so distinct because he gets no sleep. His body is broken down and hurt, even after he gets out of the concentration camp his body has still not recovered from the scars.
“For the dead and the living, we must bear witness ” (Elie Wiesel). “Night” was published by an arrangement with Hill and Wang in 1960 the memoir was by Elie Wiesel, There are three quotes from the novel that are significant and poignant.
When hard times come upon you, will you step up to help others in need or will you do anything you can to make sure that you survive? In night Elie is faced with many events and decisions that change him throughout the story. He learns how people including himself act different under the conditions of the Holocaust. These events show that during these hard times people are known to display forms of extreme cruelty or kindness.
Dehumanization Through Elie Wiesel Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night, is an account about his experience through concentration camps and death marches during WWII. In 1944, fifteen year old Wiesel was one of the many Jews forced onto cattle cars and sent to death and labor camps. Their personal rights were taken from them, as they were treated like animals. Millions of men, women, children, Jews, homosexuals, Gypsies, disabled people, and Slavic people had to face the horrors the Nazi’s had planned for them. Many people witnessed and lived through beatings, murders, and humiliations.
The novel, Night, tells the story of a teenager, Elie Wiesel, being taken and moved to the Auschwitz concentration camp and then to the Buchenwald Concentration camp. Elie Wiesel’s time in these concentration camps occurred in 1944, which were the later years of the “Holocaust” known as the mass killing of the Jewish. During Elie Wiesel’s time in these concentration camps he witnesses many deaths, such as the deaths of his family members, deaths of other member that resided in the concentration camp and even the death of his own innocence. Throughout the entire novel there are events that take place that can be categorized as dehumanization towards Elie Wiesel and other characters in the novel. In comparison, during the Rwandan genocide there were also acts that dehumanized the Tutsi people. The Rwandan genocide is categorized as the mass killing of the Tutsi people performed by the Hutu.