In Night by Elie Wiesel and Welcome to Hard Times by E.L. Doctorow, the reader witnesses the purpose of hope in one’s life. Wiesel and Doctorow fabricate their works around the trials and tribulations one suffers and what causes one to persevere to continue living. Elie and Blue, characters in the works, experience a life full of suffering and destruction. Even through this, they both live on with a purpose unknown to the reader, and perhaps unknown to themselves. Elie and Blue live on, but to no avail it seems, as both authors end their works with an ultimate destruction of the lives of their characters. However, Wiesel and Doctorow express that Elie and Blue persevere through their lives entirely as a result of hope. These authors suggest that suffering will exist in everyone’s life, and amidst this suffering one often searches for meaning. As Elie and Blue demonstrate, hope determines one’s meaning and purpose in life. Wiesel and Doctorow prove that one’s hope defines one’s existence; however, that hope only masks the futility of life, through the presentation of Elie and Blue’s construction of hope, destruction of hope, and adaptation of hope.
In order to have meaning or a purpose for existence, one must construct a sense of hope found on one’s perception of truth or value. Elie constructs his hope around his religion, faith, and family: three things grounded with a firm foundation that will never shake, at least it seems. After years of studying Jewish law and religion, Elie becomes firmly grounded in his beliefs and faith. Once uncertainty begins to settle in, Elie and others cling to their family and their prayers as they wait to hear the news Elie’s father will bring them: “To the last moment, people clung to hope” (Wie...
... middle of paper ...
...ty of hope in life. Wiesel and Doctorow express this necessity through the stories of Elie and Blue and the trials and tribulations they endure. Through their suffering and destruction Elie and Blue search for meaning, and in the end the reader learns the conclusion of their search. Elie and Blue discover that even in the destruction of hope and the exposure of the futility of life, one’s hope must evolve and adapt in order for to continue to have meaning in existence. But evolution to what end? For hope evolves only to be destroyed. The final destruction being death: an acceptance of the futility of life, yet still a creation of hope that others might learn this truth.
Works Cited
Doctorow, E. L. Welcome to Hard Times. New York: Ballantine, 1988
Wiesel, Elie, and Marion Wiesel. Night. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, a Division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006.
Could you imagine a cold breeze that just cuts you up left and right? Or perhaps long days of starvation, with the sight of grass pleasing your stomach. For Elie Wiesel this was no imagination, nor a dream, this was in fact reality. Such a horrifying experience in his life he felt he had to share in a book called Night. Gertrude Samuels, who wrote the review, "When Evil Closed In," tries to help you depict on what devastating situations Elie was put through.
Wiesel appeals to logos, ethos, and pathos in Night. The reader’s logic is not so much directly appealed to, but indirectly the description of the events causes the reader to...
Overall, the word choice of Elie Wiesel in the book Night highlights how false hope led
...ing identity to the point where it no longer exists. This identity can be lost through extreme devotion, new experience, and immense tragedy. Relationships with the most meaningful companions impact both main characters, Elie and Frederic. Due to the events they must encounter alongside loved ones, Elie and Frederic change completely, losing the identity that once existed. The most impactful events of any life are those that involve struggle and tragedy. Any tragic event that one encounters can significantly alter the purpose of life forever. Tragic events such as taking away what one may hold dearest, such as a loved one in the cases of Elie and Frederic. This type of loss can create a saddened, purposeless life in all humans.
Wiesel, Elie, and Marion Wiesel. Night. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, A Division of Farrar,
" N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2008. . Wiesel, Elie. Night.
Many themes exist in Night, Elie Wiesel’s nightmarish story of his Holocaust experience. From normal life in a small town to physical abuse in concentration camps, Night chronicles the journey of Wiesel’s teenage years. Neither Wiesel nor any of the Jews in Sighet could have imagined the horrors that would befall them as their lives changed under the Nazi regime. The Jews all lived peaceful, civilized lives before the German occupation. Eliezer Wiesel was concerned with mysticism and his father was “more involved with the welfare of others than with that of his own kin” (4).
Every man, woman, and child has his or her breaking point, no matter how hard they try to hold it back. In Night by Elie Wiesel the main theme of the entire book is the human living condition. The quality of human life is overwhelming because humans have the potential to make amazing discoveries that help all humans. Elie Wiesel endures some of the most cruel living conditions known to mankind. This essay describes the themes of faith, survival, and conformity in Night by Elie Wiesel.
Wiesel, Elie, and Marion Wiesel. Night. New York, NY: Hill and Wang, a Division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006. Print.
Elie's genuine belief in God helps him before being sent away to the concentration camps. On an average day-to-day basis, Elie "studied Talmud and by night ...would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the Temple" (p.3). He is committed to his studies of Jewish mysticism and from this, is passionate about religion and God Himself. By embedding his life into God and religion, Elie puts his sense of comfort and security into Him, as well as his complete faith. Elie's faith in God is ...
“He was finally free, but there was no joy in his heart.” This evokes sadness and pity from the author over a young boy having no joy in him. Elie Wiesel uses this technique to get human feelings of attachment to form with his speech.
Eliezer loses hope, trust, and his beliefs. He begins to rely on himself because he knew that only he can help himself and he could not depend on anyone else. "Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever..."(pg 32). Elie's father was struck, and that was when he realized he was afraid of death, and he felt guilty because he did not help his father.
Elie Wiesel, winner of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize, wrote Night with the notion for society to advance its understanding of the Holocaust. The underlying theme of Night is faith. Elie Wiesel, for the majority of this work, concerns the faith and survival of his father, Chlomo Wiesel. The concept of survival intertwines with faith, as survival is brought upon Elie’s faith in his father. Both Elie and Chlomo are affected in the same manner as their Jewish society. The self-proclaimed superman race of the German Nazis suppress and ultimately decimate the Jewish society of its time. Elie and Chlomo, alongside their Jewish community, were regarded as subhumans in a world supposedly fit for the Nazi conception. The oppression of Elie and Chlomo begins in 1944, when the Germans constrain the Jews of Sighet into two ghettos. During the time of Nazi supremacy, Elie and Chlomo are forced to travel to various concentration camps, including Birkenau, Auschwitz, and Buchenwald.
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.
Wiesel, Elie. Night. Vol. 1. New York City: Hill and Wang, 2006. 33-86. 1 vols. Print.