Night Essay- The Dehumanization of Jews
In the novel, Night, Elie Wiesel narrates his experience as a young Jewish boy during the holocaust. The captured Jews are enslaved in concentration camps, where they experience the absolute worst forms of torture, abuse, and inhumane treatment. Such torture has obvious physical effects, but it also induces psychological changes on those unfortunate enough to experience it. The Jews in the story had to overcome tremendous difficulties. The story begins with Eliezel, a young Jewish boy, describing his childhood and his religious upbringing. However, Hitler's anti-Semitic policies are just being introduced and the Jews are to be placed in concentration camps. The Jews are forced to abandon their homes, all their earthly possessions, and eventually their humanity. In the face of savage abuse and insolent treatment, the Jews stand tall and hold on to everything they can for as long as possible, but it is just not plausible for them to survive under such horrid conditions. However, these mutations of character and morality cannot be accredited to weakness of the Jews' spirit, but they can be attributed to the animal-like treatment they receive. They devolve into primitive essences, with savage, animal characteristics that are
The Jews in Elie Wiesel's Night go through many changes and mutations of personality. Faced with the ultimate test, death, the Jews, instead of demonstrating humane dedication to the God that instituted this perilous situation upon them, they deny everything that are and were ever taught in a vain attempt to survive. They deny the existence of the Almighty, they are callous to the death of their peers, and they will even go so far as to murder fellow Jews to maintain their own survival. This once peaceful and civilized society devolved into primitive animals upon being treated as such, offering the notion that we as humans must not lose touch with everything that makes us what we are, even in the face of death and disaster. At the beginning of the novel, Elie describes his community, the Jewish community of Sighet, as a very caring and unified society. When the Hungarian police, and later the SS officers, force them to move into ghettoes and eventually institute the deportation of the Jews into concentration camps, the community comes together to support one another during this time of need. They receive news of the deportees working happily in Galicia and are soon able to forget such problems. They even doubt that Hitler will continue these practices and assume that they are safe. "Yes, we even doubted that he [Hitler] wanted to exterminate us" (6). At this point, the Jews are very comfortable and go so far as to recognize Hitler as being humane. Elie's father then holds a community meeting in his backyard, where he is called away, only to find out that they are all going to be deported the next morning. Upon discovering this information, they look to each other for support and comfort. "My father ran to the left and right, exhausted, comforting friends, running to the Jewish council to see if the edict had not been revoked in the meantime" (13). However, just as their physical and mental states deteriorate, so will this unified feeling of friendship and love. Being that Elie and his father were imprisoned for several years, the regular Jewish holidays came and went, including Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur calls for the Jews to fast, but Elie and his father deny this practice, as God has not helped them out as of yet. "I no longer accepted God's silence. As I swallowed my bowl of soup, I saw in the gesture an act of rebellion and protest against Him" (66). Elie has now lost just about all his faith in God. Once a devout follower, Elie feels that it is all useless anyway. God has remained unjust and silent with regard to the Jews' time in the concentration camp, so Elie will not honor his traditions. Other Jews had chosen to deny God's divine Mercy as well. Even a rabbi lost faith in the Almighty. Once a man of God, he told Elie, "It's the end.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Night Wiesel, German SS, Conditions Jews, Hundreds Jews, It's God, Eliezel Jewish, Yom Kippur, Wiesel's Night, Elie Wiesel, All-Powerful Terrible, concentration camps, jewish boy, elie's father, jewish community, jewish community reduced, yom kippur, community reduced, ss officers, lost faith, fellow jews, treated animals,
Approximate Word count = 1877
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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