The Theme Of Maturity In Elie Wiesel's 'Night'

1023 Words3 Pages

Empathy is something gained from age. As children we all live in our small little worlds; only worrying and caring about what affects our selves. As we get older, that world broadens. The definition of maturity is recorded as, “having or showing the mental and emotional qualities of an adult” (merriam-webster dictionary). Maturity is gained through human experiences, and therefore age. As one gets older they must deal with more and more difficult situations in life, gaining both experience and maturity. Many characters in both Night and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian face great hardships and cope with the adversity; however, both Elie and Junior are not mature enough to adapt in positive ways, and so their actions and views …show more content…

When thinking about his first few days at Reardan, Junior thinks to himself:“Yeah, so I pretend to have a little money. I pretend to be middle class. I pretended to belong” (Alexie 119). Junior feels as if he opens up and shares upon his real life he will not be accepted by the students at Reardan. He knows he is different from all of them and chooses to keep this fact hidden, hoping he can assimilate and eventually be accepted. Even though he keeps so many secrets about his life. Later in the novel, Junior opens up about being poor, he writes, “If you let people into your life a little bit, they can be pretty damn amazing” (Alexie 129). Junior eventually unloads his secrets to Penelope and Roger. He gets the exact opposite action he is expecting. Knowing his rough situation, Roger drives Junior home from school multiple times. Junior matures and realises that one's social situation does not define them as a …show more content…

After seeing bodies cremated in the furnaces for the first time at Auschwitz, Elie writes, “Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever” (Wiesel 34). The sights Elie saw greatly hurt him. He saw things no one should ever see, and they changed him. Having been a deeply religious man before, Elie never recovered. He lost all faith in God and his view on life was never the same. He walked away from his religion and became cynical of human nature. However, Junior was never religious. He was born into a terrible situation, and never gained faith in god. Junior is hit hard after the tragic death of Eugene , Alexie writes, “We lost our languages, we lost our songs and dances, we lost each other. We only know how to lose and be lost” (Alexie 173). Junior not only talks about his own lost of hope but the lost of hope for all his people. Junior has seen countless pain and death in his time living on the reservation. He talks about how all Native Americans only know pain and suffering. After enduring and seeing so much sorrow all he can expect from people on the reservation is just

More about The Theme Of Maturity In Elie Wiesel's 'Night'

Open Document