Elie Wiesel's Night

959 Words2 Pages

The memoir, Night, was written by Elie Wiesel and is about his experience in Auschwitz. The memoir starts with an introduction to the people who lived in Wiesel’s town. It shows the reader how Wiesel lived and his relationship with his family. Whilst introducing the reader to Wiesel’s life pre-Auschwitz, the opening scene also introduces strengths and weaknesses in Wiesel’s community. The opening scene introduces the theme that to be a leader is to be selfless, and this theme is prevalent in the rest of the memoir. In the scene, the readers are introduced to Wiesel’s family and community. This gives a small snippet of the life that he lived before becoming a victim of the Nazi war crimes. In this fragment of Wiesel’s life, we see that Mr. Wiesel …show more content…

When the Germans came to take the town to the camps, Mooshie reminded the community that they could have left, and avoided going in the first place. This theme of ignorance is also displayed later on in the book when Wiesel and his father leave to go on the death march. If they had known that the Russians would …show more content…

Wiesel could have survived (Wiesel 82). In both instances, lack of knowledge, or ignorance, led to the demise of someone. In the first example many are killed in the camps because of their lack of knowledge that Mooshie Samano 3 was right, and in the last example Wiesel could have saved his father and avoided the harsh death march. The first chapter also revolves around Wiesel’s devotion to his faith and leads the reader to the theme that faith is stronger when tested. Wiesel is depicted as a boy who loved practicing his religion and learning about it. However, throughout the book, his faith is tested due to the circumstances he is put in. Wiesel’s passion for his religion was prevalent in the years before Auschwitz, and he was devoted to learning more every day. However, after enduring the struggle that was Auschwitz and seeing terrible things, his faith in God shifts and leaves him a denier. Wiesel questions his own God and whether or not he still believes in the religion he once loved so much. However, when hearing the selfish story of Rabbi Eliahu’s son, he prays after months and begs for “the strength never to do what Rabbi Eliahu’s son has done”. Wiesel 91. Although Wiesel questioned his faith due to his terrible experience in the concentration camps,

Open Document