The Role Of Violence In Elie Wiesel's 'Night'

In “Night” Elie and his father, Shlomo, endure a large magnitude of pain and suffering throughout their time in the concentration camps torturing them to the point of never returning to their original state of mind. Having been forced to walk for miles and work long days and long nights with no pay and looking death in the face day after day can ultimately drive a person to the point of insanity. There are similar events in history having to deal with a large mass of people being wrongfully evicted of their homes and relocated to poor, animal like conditions. Like the Japanese internment camps. In the US if you were 1/16th Japanese you would be sent to an internment camp where living conditions were that of pigs and horses.

The overall effect to him as a human being is actually changing his entire mindset from time to time and even makes him think about suicide. His father, on the other hand, endures much more than Elie, even being beaten up because of Elies actions. In “Night” the author uses multiple literary devices to show how violence caused Elie to change his entire mindest and thought process, and along with his father causing him to contract an illness and become another victim of Hitler's rampage of hatred towards Jews. Zalman starts to complain about having some stomach issues, the pain is so unbearable that he falls to the ground and gets trampled over, death relieving him of his pain. “A small red flame… a short… Death enveloped me, it suffocated me. It stuck to me like glue… the idea of dying ceasing to be, began to fascinate me(86).” Elie uses personification and a metaphor to effectively show how he saw his friend die, and see that his pain was easily removed from him. After seeing Zalman die, he started to think of himself and how bad his foot ached, how all he had suffered and started to think about dying, the thought stuck to him like glue. He could be relieved of all his pain and suffering in an instant like a small red flame… a shot.. suicide could have been an

In one instance when Idek is having another rampage, Shlomo is the victim of his wrath. “At first my father simply doubled over under the blows but then he seemed to break in two like an old tree struck by lighting(54)”. Elie uses a simile to effectively show how violently Shlomo was beaten, when Elie describes his father getting beaten saying he seemed to break in two he seemed to break in two like an old tree struck by lighting. It tells/shows the reader how badly Shlomo was being beaten and how he handled the blows strongly at first, seeming to “double over under the blows” but since he had already been beaten before this shows the weakening of his father starting to overcome him due to the constant violence he endures. When they finally reach the camp they’re exhausted especially Shlomo. He is extremely weak, the continuous beatings by the Kapo, the marching and long train ride, absence of food, and the exertion of his strength had brought him to one of his lowest points. “Let me rest here...no more strength… He had become childlike: weak, frightened, vulnerable(105).” Elie uses a simile in order to show the effects violence had on him mentally and physically Shlomo has been beat on countless times, and even bearing with the aftermath whilst marching for miles and not eating for days dramatically