Night1

A detailed Summary of Night1

"Where is God now? (A man behind me asked)...He is hanging here on this gallows..." This is where the Holocaust left young Elie. It left him with a feeling that there is no God, or if there is, he is not as wonderful as everyone has been proclaiming that he is.

The story begins in the small town of Sighet near Transylvania were Elie lived with his parents and two little sisters. Elie studied the Talmud during the day and spent his evenings in Synagogue praying. His life revolved around his undying faith and love for God. He loved God and the Jewish faith so much that he often cried while he was praying. He and his family lived without fear and in happiness until some of the people of Sighet were deported. One of them, Moche the Beadle, returned with stories of Jews being slaughtered and babies being tortured and used as firing practice. The stories were dismissed as crazy and they told themselves that they were all safe. They believed they were in the peaceful hands of God.

Unfortunately, in 1944 German troops moved into their town. They set up ghettos and controlled their lives with fear. The people of Sighet were forced to leave th

For over a year they were forced to live and work in extreme conditions. They were made to walk miles on little sleep and even less food for continuous hours and days at a time. Men were beaten and killed for their hunger, fear, sickness and exhaustion. They had to endure the stress of selection where they were briefly examined and were selected to be killed because their weakness was a drain on the camp.

They continued marching straight up to the edge of the ditch with faith in their hearts and were suddenly told to turn left into barracks. Elie and his father were given tips by men that had been in the camp longer about how the Germans were working and how to survive. They were told what you had to say and how you had to act in order to stay alive longer. All Elie cared about was not being separated from his father.

It is then that Elie begins to wonder why it is that he has been blessing God. The people around him had begun to say a prayer for the dead and for themselves. He wonders why he should bother? No God that he knows would let such evil go on, therefore there must be no God. People around him were asking the same questions. Others told them that God was testing their faith and if they kept themselves strong and survived for as long as they could, God would be pleased and they would be blessed.

When they got into the camp Elie and his father were separated from his mother and two little sisters. They did not realize immediately that they would never see them again. After they were separated they were told to march in a line that was heading directly toward a tremendous hole in the ground in which the charred remains of Jewish corpses could be seen.

Some common words found in the essay are:
God People, God Unfortunately, Buna Gleiwitz, Elie Wiesel, Transylvania Elie, Moche Beadle, God Jewish, burning flesh, smell burning flesh, little sisters, people fight, smell burning, elie father, god people, read novel, people sighet,

Approximate Word count = 1332
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels