Horrors of The Holocaust in Night by Elie Wiesel Essay Example
Imagine being separated from your family and being sent to work until you die, all because of whom you choose to believe in? In Elie Weisel’s touching memoir, Night, the readers join Elie Weisel and his harrowing experience throughout the Holocaust. He compares the Holocaust being almost like a “Night,” however, it is safe to say that nobody was able to see any stars. Aside from that, Mr. Weisel highlights his struggle to keep his Jewish faith as he tries to live through the torturous conditions of Auschwitz.
Firstly, throughout the novel, Elie explains his experiences throughout the Holocaust. He explains the Holocaust as a never ending “Night,” hence the title. By using this motif, it helps the readers to feel as if they are in Elie’s shoes as he wakes up each day with less and less hope of surviving. An example of this “Night” motif was near the beginning of the story, when Elie was packed onto a cattle train with other Jews to be sent to the concentration camp. On page 25 he explained, “Some pressed against the bars to see. There was nothing. Only the darkness of night.” This was one of the first examples of this motif,, and it foreshadows the terrors they will go through once they reach the concentration camps. This part of the story is like the sun going down on their freedom and turning into this endless darkness that Mr. Weisel explains. Another example of this was when he explained, “The days resembled the nights, and the nights left in our souls the dregs of their darkness” (100). This quote explained how the actual nights themselves resembled darkness, death, and almost a complete loss of faith for the people enslaved at the concentration camps. Also, by saying that the days resembled the nights, it compares them to living in constant fear and uncertainty as if they are in the dark and can’t see what’s in front of them.
Secondly, throughout Night, Elie explains his struggle to remain faithful to God as he is put through tortuous conditions. After facing fellow Jews being incinerated on a daily basis, he began to question how the God he believed in could possibly allow this to happen to his people. On top of this, he had issues realizing how other Jews, like himself, could possibly still believe in God. He explained this on page 63, which states, “What are You, my God...compared to this afflicted crowd, proclaiming to You their faith, their anger, their revolt?” Aside from this, when a dead boy was hanging in the gallows, he compared the boy to God. This signifies how God and his Jewish faith was dead to him. He stated this as, “Where is [God]? Here He is- He is hanging here on this gallows” (62). This is significant because it shows how he felt helpless and had nothing to hope for as the book progresses.
To conclude, the memoir, Night, is a very eye-opening book which explains the terrors of the Holocaust and educates the readers on how bad it really was. By using a motif of “Night” to describe his experiences, the reader is able to get an idea of the light of freedom being stripped from the Jews. Additionally, his faith dwindling away shows how he, and many others, felt helpless and how they were questioning how their God could never allow this to happen to his people. After reading this, it is very clear that the Holocaust is a very sensitive topic for many Jewish people today, many years later, and it gives a sense of awareness that something of this nature should never occur again.
