Hopelessness In Elie Wiesel's Night

Is it possible to lose awareness in the face of chaos not only of the situation itself but also of the other people involved, as well as of oneself? Despite the complexity of this question, it appears to be thoroughly answered in the novel Night by Elie Wiesel. As a matter of fact, the author and his fellow Jews remain unsuspecting of the warnings that unfold throughout the novel. Moreover, it is only until Wiesel is exposed to the malevolence of the Holocaust that he is finally able to fathom that everything has lost significance, except for “the word chimney” which Elie perceives as “the only word that had real meaning in” the Auschwitz concentration camp (Wiesel 39). Beyond the literal meaning, this metaphor reveals that the Holocaust causes Elie and his fellow Jews to become insensitive to the pain of those around them, and to lose sight of who they once were.

At first glance, one may not fully comprehend that Elie is utilizing the aforementioned metaphor to convey much more than just the meaning behind the word “chimney” (Wiesel 39). In fact, he is attempting

When Elie’s father is physically harmed for first time, Elie is“petrified” that his father “had just been struck” and that he “had not even blinked” (Wiesel 39). This demonstrates that Elie is truly taken aback by his change in behavior, indicating that he may not have reacted the same way to this action before he was exposed to the horrors of the Holocaust. Yet, he is not the only one that experienced this alteration, Elie also mentions that he “once saw” a pipel “beat his father for not making his bed properly” (Wiesel 63). The pipel more than likely felt entitled to do this because due to their pretty faces, pipels were often, but not always, treated better in concentration camps than other prisoners. Nonetheless, the marks that the Holocaust left on each of its victims are