Analysis of Cases of Persecution is Hatred in two pieces of liteture Night and “The Perils of Indifference”

The hate given to minorities breeds the torment of others. This torment is experienced hands on by Elie Wiesel in the book Night, where he expresses his own story of his time in the Holocaust. In this memior their are many times in which the horrific abuse of the prisoners is fueled by hate. In addition, In his speech “The Perils of Indifference” spoken at the White House, he conveys how he ended up a victim to this torment with indifference and hate. It is evident that these two pieces of liteture Night and “The Perils of Indifference” share the theme that malice leads to persecution. 

Hatred leads to persecution because the more you express it the more people will believe it. Firstly let’s look at one man who was full of hate and spread it rapidly, Adolf Hitler. His deep hatred for Jews led to the persecution of millions. Inside the concentration camp Wiesel realized that “the war which Hitler and his accomplices waged was not only against Jewish men, women, and children, but also against...Jewish memory” (Night). Hitler despised everything about the Jewish and shared his opinions with the world attracting more and more followers. Ultimately leading to Wiesel’s and many others demise. One man was able to wreak so much damage in the world by way of hate. Another example of this hatred is when HItler claimed that “he will annilihate all Jews” (Night). He gets very close to doing so and even Wiesel believes that he will succed in it. Wiesel’s suffering was an unjust effect of the hatred given to all Jews like him. This hatred affected him immensly, even to the point of him considering ending his life. He states that just “one more stab to the heart, one more reason to hate. One less reason to live” (Night 66). Not only did hate lead to persecution but it also gave reason for the victims to embrace hatred as well. A single person’s hatred can have a drastic effect on others. 

Futhermore, hatred also leads to persecution because it gives reason for people to cause harm. Night gives evidence of this when in the concentration camps Wiesel is attacked by Idek his superior because of his dislike towards him. Jewish people had no clue of the hatred they would receive. They never thought it possible that a person could hate an entire race so much that millions would suffer because of it. From the mistreatment of African Americans to the exile of Native Americans. Hatred is a worldwide characteristic that led to the persecution of innocents.