Age Discrimination In Elie Wiesel's Night

“92 percent of workers who have seen age discrimination happen in the workplace or have experienced it first-hand say that it is either very or somewhat common to see.” According to Gaille (2015).
During the holocaust, a lot of ageism was shown amongst the Jewish people, particularly in Elie Wiesel's Night. Elderly characters could have prevented this discrimination by lying about their age. Unfortunately ageism is still present today, but elderly can counteract the discrimination by changing their attitudes to be more positive and kind. It is essential this issue is discussed, because it is an unfair limitation.
In Elie Wiesel's story Night, elderly people are discriminated against because they are seen as old and weak. The Nazis thought the elderly could not work as hard as young adults, though it does not mean they are useless. Based on Elie Wiesel's Night.
All elderly and young people would be killed, based on their age (Wiesel, 85). Nazis believed that based on their age they were not capable of hard labor, because when they ran they showed signs of weakness. This was important because

the Nazis could have shown sympathy toward the elderly.
Nazis and Germans could care about the elders a little. Wiesel tried to combat ageism by encouraging his father to push on. Elie had the chance to help his father by making him eat his rations, this helped his father because the food gave him the energy to continue working in the fields and words of encouragement help everyone. (Wiesel, 104-112). Nazis could have gone against stereotypes and given elderly a chance. This is important because this would have given elderly a longer life, and not as many people would have died during the holocaust. These solutions could have fixed ageism, because not many people would have discriminated against the elderly.
Although ageism is an issue in the book Night. It is also a current issue today. Most late night comedians use jokes about memory loss, which most elders have (Alfa, 2012). Ageism is still a large problem today, elders are constantly being made fun of even though “harmless” jokes. These jokes can make an elderly’s self-esteem drop.
The Age Discrimination Act of 1967 protected workers over 40 from making their own decisions, such as quitting. In 2009 the law was weakened, because there was no proof that the elderly were being overworked at their jobs and there was no need in quitting without reason (Fleck, AARP, 2014). In 1967 it was basically impossible for anyone over 40 to quit their jobs, now we have things like retirement so the elderly are not worked to death. When elders were not allowed to quit their jobs, there was no proof of elderly abuse happening in the workplace. These discriminations are still happening because no one is trying to stop ageism.
In order to end ageism in real life, people should start fundraisers in order to earn money to host an elderly prom.

The first step to starting an elderly prom would be raising money. This can be done with any kind of fundraiser. Having a fundraisers is the most important part of planning an elderly prom, because there will be the costs of decorations and food. “This intergenerational experience is excellent in that students and senior citizens learn from each other through their positive interactions. It breaks down stereotypes and barriers.” According to Stevenson (2014). Elderly proms can help boost a senior citizen’s self-esteem and break the ‘all old people are mean and cruel’ stereotype. All excess funds could be donated to an elderly home. This action plan can stop age-based discrimination by boosting elder’s self-esteem and generally making them happier

people.
Age-based discrimination is present in Elie Wiesel’s Night. The elder characters could have prevented this discrimination by lying about their age or changing their attitudes toward hard labor. Unfortunately, ageism is still present in today’s society, but hosting elderly proms to bring awareness to age-based discrimination and help put a stop to it.