Elie Wiesel Dehumanization

360 Words1 Page

Elie Wiesel uses a metaphor, a rhetorical question, a euphemism, and a simile to demonstrate the effects of dehumanization. Wiesel uses a metaphor to demonstrate that dehumanization causes people to change physically and mentally. For example Wiesel states “From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me”(Wiesel 83). This quote demonstrates that the abuse and the endurance the Jews endure, changed how Jews look at themselves and the world. The use of the word “depths” implies that the mirror could be walked into or something could be put in it. In conclusion dehumanization causes people to go through changes that affects them mentally and physically. Wiesel uses a rhetorical question to demonstrates the effects of dehumanization

Show More
Related

  • The Dangers of Fear

    948 Words  | 2 Pages

    Irish Playwright, George Bernard Shaw, once said, “The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity.” Inhumanity is mankind’s worse attribute. Every so often, ordinary humans are driven to the point were they have no choice but to think of themselves. One of the most famous example used today is the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night demonstrates how fear is a debilitating force that causes people to lose sight of who they once were. After being forced into concentration camps, Elie was rudely awakened into reality. Traumatizing incidents such as Nazi persecution or even the mistreatment among fellow prisoners pushed Elie to realize the cruelty around him; Or even the wickedness Elie himself is capable of doing. This resulted in the loss of faith, innocence, and the close bonds with others.

    Read More

  • Figurative Language In Night Wiesel

    356 Words  | 1 Pages

    Throughout his novel, Night, Wiesel’s use of figurative language paints a picture of the emotional impact on the Jews to help the reader visualize how traumatizing the Holocaust is for the prisoners. One type of figurative language Wiesel uses throughout this novel are metaphors. The first example is during the trip the trip to the concentration camps of Auschwitz on the cattle cars. Aboard the car that Wiesel is also on is an old lady named Mrs. Schächter. Wiesel establishes that Mrs. Schächter is becoming mad, when she shouts, “‘Jews, listen to me,’ she cried. ‘I see a fire! I see flames, huge flames!’ It was as though she were possessed by some evil spirit” (Wiesel 25). Wiesel uses a metaphor here to help the reader visualize how mad she

    Read More

  • Dehumanization In The Book Night By Elie Wiesel

    523 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wiesel’s autobiography Night easily displays the dehumanization of the Jews. Wiesel clearly sees this process of the Germans taking away the Jews humanity. On the very last page of the book, Wiesel observes, “From the depths of a mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me.” By saying this he knows that he is someone different. The events that he suffered through has affected him and as much as he hates it, he has no humanity

    Read More

  • Metaphors In Night By Elie Wiesel

    1616 Words  | 4 Pages

    One of the most significant metaphors occurs at the end of the novel. Shortly after Eliezer is rescued from the concentration camp, he sees his reflection for the first time since he has been invaded by the Nazis. Wiesel states in his novel, “He looks in the mirror and sees the face of a corpse staring back at him” (Tackach 3980). This is an extremely powerful message as Wiesel is demonstrating how the soul of every Jew died from what they experienced during the Holocaust. Most Jews could never look at themselves as the same person again. Wiesel uses this metaphor to illustrate the significant change that the concentration camps caused to each victim

    Read More

  • Humanity In Elie Wiesel's Night

    579 Words  | 2 Pages

    to the dehumanization of the Jews. He uses descriptive adjectives to shed light on what is truly happening. He also uses irony to help the reader understand the cluelessness of himself and the Jews. Wiesel’s way of writing in the book demonstrates the theme of dehumanization through false

    Read More

  • Dehumanization in Night by Elie Wiesel

    1785 Words  | 4 Pages

    callous to the death of their peers, and going so far as to murder fellow

    Read More

  • Dehumanization In Fahrenheit 451

    1260 Words  | 3 Pages

    When a community attempts to promote social order by ridding society of controversial ideas and making every citizen equal to every other, the community becomes dystopian. Although dystopian societies intend to improve life, the manipulation of thoughts and actions, even when it is done out of the interest of citizens, often leads to the dehumanization of people. In Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Montag, the main character, lives in a dystopian society that has been so overly simplified and homogenized, in order to promote social order, that the citizens exist as thoughtless beings. The lack of individual thinking, deficit of depth and knowledge, and the loss of true living is what has transformed Montag’s city into a dystopia and made the

    Read More

  • Elie Wiesel The Perils Of Indifference

    1733 Words  | 4 Pages

    “The Perils of Indifference” In April, 1945, Elie Wiesel was liberated from the Buchenwald concentration camp after struggling with hunger, beatings, losing his entire family, and narrowly escaping death himself. He at first remained silent about his experiences, because it was too hard to relive them. However, eventually he spoke up, knowing it was his duty not to let the world forget the tragedies resulting from their silence. He wrote Night, a memoir of his and his family’s experience, and began using his freedom to spread the word about what had happened and hopefully prevent it from happening again.

    Read More

  • Hope Despair And Memory By Elie Wiesel Rhetorical Analysis

    635 Words  | 2 Pages

    Oppression is the systematic method of prolonged cruelty and unjust treatment, often intended for those who are deemed “different” by a hierarchical society. It’s a basis that can be found in the plot of a fictional movie or novel, but most importantly, it’s an aspect of both past and modern life that has affected multiple nations. Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, is a humanitarian who embodies the personal experiences of what being oppressed feels like – how it itches at one’s skin like the hatred and stares directed at them. The reason he is so important is because of his stories; what he has seen. The insight and intelligence he has brought forth further educates those who had previously accepted the world with their eyes closed.

    Read More

  • Wiesel Rhetorical Analysis

    647 Words  | 2 Pages

    Along with rhetorical appeals, Wiesel also uses many rhetorical devices such as parallelism and anaphora. Wiesel depicts parallelism when he says, “to fight fascism, to fight dictatorship, to fight Hitler” (Wiesel lines 103-104). The parallelism and anaphora, in the quote, provide emphasis on the discrimination and abuse that has taken place around the world. Repeating the same initial phrase shows the significance of the words Wiesel is speaking. Wiesel mentions the victims of this extreme tragedy when he states,” for the children in the world, for the homeless for the victims of injustice, the victims of destiny and society.” (Wiesel lines 17-19). This use of anaphora and parallelism emphasize the amount of people the Holocaust has affected and impacted. The parallelism being used adds value to his opinions and balances the list of people Wiesel is making in his speech.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Dehumanization In Night By Elie Wiesel

    787 Words  | 2 Pages

    One might treat others like beast, but is the treated consider human? The novel Night is an autobiography written by Elie Wiesel. He explains the dehumanization process of his family, Elizer, and his fellow Jews throughout WWII. Throughout the novel the Jews changes from civilized humans to vicious beings that have behavior that resembles animal. The process of dehumanization begins after the arrestation of the Jew community leaders. The process continues through the bad treatment given by the Nazi to the Jews, in the concentration camps. Finally the Jews are dehumanized to the point where they begins to go against each other; so that they could have a higher chance of survival, at the end where the Jew were forced to move from camp to camp.

    Read More

  • Dehumanization And Polarization In Elie Wiesel's Night

    1283 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dehumanization is shown when Wiesel was in Auschwitz and a guard “looked at us as one would a pack of leprous dogs clinging to life.” (Wiesel 38). This shows dehumanization because the guard is not looking at them as humans but as sick dogs. Another example of dehumanization is when the Jews were on the cattle cars and a German officer says “If anyone goes missing, you will all be shot, like dogs.” showing that the officer does not think of them as human beings but as dogs. The stage of genocide, polarization, is shown in the book when the Germans created the ghettos for the Jews, “Then came the ghettos.” (Wiesel 11). This shows polarization because it separated the Jews into two separate ghettos. Another example of this is when the hungarian police made the Jews leave the ghettos to go to the death camps and concentration camps “The time has come… you must leave all this…” (Wiesel 16). This shows polarization because it splits up the ghettos even more thinly because they are moving them to different locations and splitting the ghettos at different times. Dehumanization and polarization were shown in the book and are quite obvious stages of

    Read More

  • Elie Wiesel Dehumanization In Night

    805 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout the memoir, Wiesel demonstrates how oppression and dehumanization can affect one’s identity by describing the actions of the Nazis and how it changed the Jewish people’s outlook on life. Wiesel’s identity transformed dramatically throughout the narrative. “How old he had grown the night before! His body was completely twisted, shriveled up into itself. His eyes were petrified, his lips withered, decayed.

    Read More

  • Inhumane Acts in Night by Elie Wiesel

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • 1984 Dehumanization Analysis

    949 Words  | 2 Pages

    In 1984, George Orwell presents an overly controlled society that is run by Big Brother. The protagonist, Winston, attempts to “stay human” in the face of a dehumanizing, totalitarian regime. Big Brother possesses so much control over these people that even the most natural thoughts such as love and sex are considered taboo and are punishable. Big Brother has taken this society and turned each individual against one another. Parents distrust their own offspring, husband and wife turn on one another, and some people turn on their own selves entirely. The people of Oceania become brainwashed by Big Brother. Punishment for any uprising rebellions is punishable harshly.

    Read More

More about Elie Wiesel Dehumanization

Open Document