Night Book Review
Wiesel's Night is about what the Holocaust did, not just to the Jews, but by extension, to humanity. People all over the world were devastated by this atrocious act, and there are still people today who haven't overcome the effects. Today many people still have to sleep at night knowing that they are going to have nightmares about what happened to them.One example of the heinous acts of the Germans that stands out occurs at the end of the war, when Elie and the rest of the camp of Buna are being forced to transfer to Gleiwitz. This transfer is a long, arduous, and tiring journey for all who were involved. The weather was painfully cold, and snow fell heavily; the distance was greater than most people today will even dream of walking. The huge mass of people was often forced to run, and if one collapsed, was injured, or simply can no longer bear the pain, they were shot or trampled without pity. An image that secured itself in Elie's memory was that of Rabbi Eliahou's son leaving the Rabbi for dead. The father and son were running together when the father began to grow tired. As the Rabbi falls farther and farther behind his son, his
The incident that perhaps has the greatest effect on Elie is the hanging of the pipel. He is a young boy with an "innocent face" who is condemned to death because he is implicated in a conspiracy, which results in a German building being destroyed. When the time for the hanging approaches, the Lagerkapo refuses to kick out the chair, so SS officers are assigned to do it. Unlike the necks of those he is hanged with, the young boy's neck does not break when he falls, and he suffers for over a half-hour. However, the effect of the spiritual beating by the Germans was already being felt. The reader sees this when Elie's father politely asks the gypsy where the laboratories are. Not only does the gypsy not grace his father with a response, but he also delivers a blow to his head that sent him to the floor. Elie watches the entire exhibition, but doesn't even blink. He realizes that nothing, not even his faith in God, can save him from the physical punishment that would await him if he tried to counterattack the gypsy. If the gypsy's attack had come just one day earlier, Elie probably would have struck back. son ran on, pretending not
Some common words found in the essay are:
Rabbi Eliahou's, Holocaust Jews, eat eat, war elie, faith god, eat eat eat, people world, food poisoning,
Approximate Word count = 770
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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