Rising Above Hatred

Night Essay

Night, a memoir written by Elie Wiesel, and the Twilight Zone episode “He’s Alive” are both depictions of the Holocaust. Night describes Elie’s account of the concentration camps, and “He’s Alive” features a man named Pete who wanted to purify the United States by eliminating all foreigners, which is essentially an allusion to the genocide of European Jews during World War II. The message of “He’s Alive” is that humans are responsible for the creation of hatred but are also capable of destroying hatred. Rob Serling warns that hate stems from prejudice and ignorance, and similarly, Elie’s memoir portrays actions of hate that are caused by bigotry and oblivion.

The central theme conveyed in the Twilight Zone episode “He’s Alive” is that humans are responsible for the creation of hatred but also have the ability to destroy it. Rob Serling says, “Where will he go next, this phantom from another time, this resurrected ghost of a previous nightmare - Chicago; Los Angeles; Miami, Florida; Vincennes, Indiana; Syracuse, New York?” Hate is symbolized as a phantom because it is sinister and intangible. Hate doesn’t have a solitary location where it resides; like a phantom, it lurks everywhere. People also incite hatred by spreading derogatory ideas about another person or group of people, hence the comparison of hate to “a resurrected ghost of a previous nightmare.” In addition, Pete’s friend, Ernst, insulted Pete during his speech by stating the detrimental effects of his movement. The audience that was previously listening to Pete’s speech followed Ernst when he leaves. Ernst’s courage to challenge Pete’s ideas demonstrates the potential effect of a person’s words; he changed the opinion of an entire audience and ...

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...many people have been victims of bigotry.

In conclusion, Night and the Twilight Zone episode “He’s Alive” represent the discrimination of the minority through the Holocaust. The central theme of “He’s Alive” is that people are responsible for creating hate but they also have the ability to destroy it. The episode portrays the harmful effects of hatred and the reward of defiance against such an unreasonable movement. When Ernst voiced his opinion during Pete’s speech, it persuaded the audience to view against Pete’s beliefs. Night and “He’s Alive” also shows how hate is caused by prejudice and ignorance, creating chaos and injustice. The characters in both Night and “He’s Alive” face hardships because they succumbed to others’ ideas of hatred and didn’t resist them. Ultimately, acceptance is the most effective solution to cease hate from forming and spreading.