Picaresque In Elie Wiesel's Night

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The picaresque genre is known for characters changing in a harsh world in order to survive. Stuart Miller, a picaresque expert, says, “Picaro’s one constant trait is his will to live, he will live any way he can” (Miller 71). The world is sinister where characters move from master to master, lose their humanity and loyalty, and struggle with faith in a world where fortune reigns supreme. Elie Wiesel’s Night exemplifies the traits of a picaresque novel as Elie attempts to survive in the dark, unforgiving world becoming a picaro. As he is moved from camp to camp, Elie loses his humanity and loyalty while his faith is challenged as fortune becomes the true god.
In Night, Elie loses his humanity as he moves from one horror to another. …show more content…

After Elie sees babies thrown into burning pits, Elie's memory paints a gruesome picture of the effect of seeing the atrocity: “Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever… Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul" (34). The atrocities illustrate that God holds little sway over Elie’s life since fortune runs the world for the picaro. Elie's good fortune is always short lived. This is a trait that is common to picaros in the picaresque genre. The classic picaro, Lazarillo de Tormes describes his life: "out of the fryer and into the fire" this happens in Night as Elie moves from one terror to the next and good fortune is short lived in the universe of chance. Stuart Miller describes fortune for the picaro: “the picaro never achieves comic mastery of the world for long… Even in success, threat of fail exists” (Miller, 32). The inability to have good fortune for long is a problem that plagues Elie. Elie and his father are placed in the same group after being screened by the SS. Elie says, "The baton pointed to the left. I took a half step forward. I first wanted to see where they would send my father. Were he to have gone right I would have run after him. The baton, once more, moved to the left. A weight lifted from my heart… Still I was happy, I was near my father (Wiesel, 32). However, this new found joy is short lived when a fellow prisoner points out their destination: "Poor devils, you are heading for the crematorium" (32). This reversal of their luck demonstrates the picaresque nature of the world. Elie's constant reversal of his luck is shown with his teeth as well. A dentist plans on taking Elie's golden crown. However, before the surgery the dentist is hung for breaking the law: "I felt no pity for him. In fact, I was pleased with what was happening to him: my gold crown was safe" (52). This enjoyment is short

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