“Survive one more day in here and something might change...You are always strong enough to get through one day” (Sweden-Becker). Cody, the protagonist in David Sweden-Becker’s The Ones, has this thought when upon her imprisonment and torture. A striking similarity can easily be seen between Cody’s mindset and the evolution of Elie Wiesel’s thoughts throughout his horrifying trials in the concentration camps, as told through his memoir Night. He is first taken from his home, then from his mother and sister. He suffers through cramped and overcrowded conditions with little food and overexertion. He sees more death and pain as a teen than anyone, of any age, should ever see. And yet, he survives. However, Elie’s self-preservation instincts deteriorate from the possession of a strong …show more content…
Denying the reality of what he sees in the camps is the only way Elie can understand the terrible events taking place around him. Even though readers understand that his experiences are factual, Elie’s subconscious gives him a way to tolerate them by demoting his surroundings to an almost dreamlike state. This initial instance of self-preservation in the camps strongly suggests the presence of a determination to keep himself alive despite his treacherous surroundings. Additionally, Elie’s relationship with his father is completely altered because of Elie’s desire for the two of them to survive together. As they continue their experience in the camps, Elie’s father is often beaten by the Gestapo, which Elie knows further weakens his already frail father. Therefore, Elie “decide[s] to give [his] father lessons in marching in step, in keeping time...The inmates made fun of [them]. ‘Look at the little officer, teaching the old man to march’” (Wiesel 52). This action demonstrates Elie’s adoption of the authoritative role in their relationship. By doing so, Elie ensures his survival because he knows his father cannot take care of himself, much less the both of them, during
At Birkenau in 1944, the father-son bond is greatly strengthened. It is here where the men separate from the women, and Elie’s mother and three sisters separate from Elie. Elie becomes completely dependant on his father for the first time. Elie has one thought when this separation occurs. “Not to lose him. Not to be left alone” (27). In Sighet, Elie never has this...
At last, his father was free. He wasn't taking any more beatings, he isn't suffering, and he doesn't have to be in the concentration camps anymore. Elie is free, he doesn't have to carry the weight of his father anymore. Three months after his fathers death nothing mattered to him anymore. The father son relationship shown in this novel, is something no one else has ever seen before. As you can see the roles switch throughout the story. In the beginning Elie’s father is strong, a role model a leader, but through the story he becomes child-like vulnerable, weak. On the other hand, Elie goes from admiring his dad, to worrying and carrying for
Elie Weisel and his family, taken from their home along with hundreds of other Jews from their hometown, were brought to Nazi Germany’s Concentration Camps. “From this moment, you come under the command of the German army…any of you who is later found to have kept anything will be shot on the spot,” (Weisel 15). Even prior to entering Birkenau, Auschwitz, or Burma, the prisoners were forced to give up all belongings under the threat of death. In a godless and unloving environment, a twelve-year-old Elie must now survive against all odds in a concentration camp. “You’re going to be burned. Frizzled away. Turned into ashes,” (Weisel 20). Adolph Hitler had no concern for the Jew’s basic human rights and swore that he would kill them all. The Jews had done nothing to hurt or overthrow Hitler, but they still became the target of his wrath.
Elie Wiesel, a Jewish boy, lives in Sighet during World War II with his mother, father, and two sisters, and he is very religious and wanted to study Judaism. However, there were warnings by some people that Jewish people were being deported and killed. Although no one believes these warnings, Elie and his family are taken to a ghetto where they have no food. After being in the ghetto Elie and his father are separated from Elie’s mother and sister because of selection and were placed in cattle cars where they had no room. They are taken to Auschwitz where they suffer from hunger, beatings, and humiliation from the guards which causes Elie’s father to become weak. By now Elie loses his faith in God because of all he has been through. Lastly, Elie’s father dies just before the Jews are liberated and Elie sees his reflection in the mirror but does not recognize himself because he looks like a skeleton.
In Elie Wiesel’s novel, Night, he tells of his struggles as a victim during the Holocaust of World War II. The following quote exhibits one struggle faced by those participating in the war, the battle between staying true to family commitment or saving one’s self, “Listen to me, kid. Don’t forget that you are in a concentration camp. In this place, it is every man for himself, and you cannot think of others” (110). As designated in the passage the Blockälteste is warning Elie to start thinking of himself and not his father. The idea of leaving someone’s own father behind is a terrible outcome of war; however it is the reality of many people who have decided to save themselves. The choice between self-preservation and family commitment is a harsh reality that exists in all wars and is particularly present in related literature.
First and foremost, Elie begins to question himself and his morals as a person. He acknowledges that the way he was behaving wasn’t like his normal self. “What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminal's flesh. Had I changed that much? So fast? Remorse began to gnaw at me. All I could think was: I shall never forgive them for this.” (39) Elie seems to have become numb to the violence going on around him at this point. Elie watched his father get hit for simply asking where the restrooms were located, yet he stayed silent to protect his own skin. He loses his faith in himself and his will to stand up for what is right.
When Elie’s father is physically harmed for first time, Elie is“petrified” that his father “had just been struck” and that he “had not even blinked” (Wiesel 39). This demonstrates that Elie is truly taken aback by his change in behavior, indicating that he may not have reacted the same way to this action before he was exposed to the horrors of the Holocaust. Yet, he is not the only one that experienced this alteration, Elie also mentions that he “once saw” a pipel “beat his father for not making his bed properly” (Wiesel 63). The pipel more than likely felt entitled to do this because due to their pretty faces, pipels were often, but not always, treated better in concentration camps than other prisoners. Nonetheless, the marks that the Holocaust left on each of its victims are
This new behavior lead him to develop new character traits. While Ellie was in the concentration camp he became angry at many things, for example “I would have dug my nails into the criminals flesh” (Wisel 39). Elie shows extreme anger when the Nazi officials are beating Elie’s father. Elie was angry because the Nazi soldiers were not treating them nicely and putting them in poor conditions. Elie is usually not a person for anger but he shows this when his family members are being hurt. Elie wants to stand up for what is right and for his family members. Despite his studying, Elie wavered in his belief in Kabbalah while he was at the camp. In the book Elie says, “‘Where are You, my God?’” (66). Elie is wondering why God is not helping the Jews. Elie had complete faith in his religion until now, when he is starting to question his beliefs. He had learned that God will punish evil and save the righteous. However, when Elie saw that God was not helping the Jews situation then asked himself the question, “Is God real?”. Elie became worried because he felt he had lost a companion that always seemed by his side at all times. He lost hope. While Elie was in the camp he had changed the way he acted towards his Dad. Before Elie was sent to the camp Elie had a love hate relationship with his dad. However while they were in the camp together they became closer. Elie showed this when, “I tightened my grip on my
The Holocaust will forever be known as one of the largest genocides ever recorded in history. 11 million perished, and 6 million of the departed were Jewish. The concentration camps where the prisoners were held were considered to be the closest one could get to a living hell. There is no surprise that the men, women, and children there were afraid. One was considered blessed to have a family member alongside oneself. Elie Wiesel was considered to be one of those men, for he had his father working side by side with him. In the memoir Night, by Elie Wiesel, a young boy and his father were condemned to a concentration camp located in Poland. In the concentration camps, having family members along can be a great blessing, but also a burden. Elie Wiesel shows that the relationship with his father was the strength that kept the young boy alive, but was also the major weakness.
During their journey, Elie loses his father due to illness however does not feel much emotion. After witnessing his own die, Elie “did not weep” and “deep inside me, if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: Free at last!...” (Wiesel 112). While going through the camp Buna, Elie and his father had develops a strong relationship with one another. However, after his father’s death, Elie “did not weep” and displays very little towards the event. Elie had felt that his father was a liability for his own survival and did not feel the need to weep over his death. Elie also states that he was “Free at last” showing that throughout the course of the novel Elie had thought as his father as pulling him back from survival. The reason for Elie feels this way is because Elie is still on his journey and his primary goal is to survive through the camps. Elie has become quite desperate through his journey of survival and searches the “recesses of my feeble conscience” for his most inner thoughts. Throughout the novel, Elie had been storing these thoughts in the back of mind. These thoughts include him thinking of his father as liability and him being free from him. At their first arrival at the camps, Elie and his father had been very close to one another going through their journey of survival. However, after
...bers that he has a father and he forgot about him in the mob. “I knew he was running out of strength, close to death, and yet I had abandoned him” (p.106). Elie feels guilty for leaving his father when he needed Elie the most. After he wakes up he goes looking for his father. He feels as if he is responsible for taking care of his father. Elie replaces his faith with obligation to his father to help keep him going thought out the holocaust.
When people are placed in difficult, desolate situations, they often change in a substantial way. In Night by Elie Wiesel, the protagonist, Elie, is sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp where he undergoes many devastating experiences. Due to these traumatic events, Elie changes drastically, losing his passion in God, becoming disconnected with his father, and maturing when it matters most.
Eliezer Wiesel loses his faith in god, family and humanity through the experiences he has from the Nazi concentration camp.
In his book Night Mr. Elie Wiesel shares his experiences about the camps and how cruel all of the Jews were treated in that period. In fact, he describes how he was beaten and neglected by the SS officers in countless occasions. There are very few instances where decent humans are tossed into certain conditions where they are treated unfairly, and cruel. Mr. Wiesel was a victim of the situation many times while he was in the camps. Yet he did not act out, becoming a brute himself, while others were constantly being transformed into brutes themselves. Mr. Wiesel was beaten so dreadfully horrible, however, for his safety, he decided to not do anything about it. There were many more positions where Mr. Wiesel was abused, malnourished, and easily could have abandoned his father but did not.
The best teachers have the capabilities to teach from first hand experience. In his memoir, Night, Elie Wiesel conveys his grueling childhood experiences of survival to an audience that would otherwise be left unknown to the full terrors of the Holocaust. Night discloses mental and physical torture of the concentration camps; this harsh treatment forced Elie to survive rather than live. His expert use of literary devices allowed Wiesel to grasp readers by the hand and theatrically display to what extent the stress of survival can change an individual’s morals. Through foreshadowing, symbolism, and repetition, Wiesel’s tale proves that the innate dark quality of survival can take over an individual.