Silence In Elie Wiesel's Night

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When there is a car crash on the road, why do people look at the disaster and not think to help? Elie Wiesel’s “Night” showcases many of the tragedies of the Holocaust. Reflecting on those tragedies, he states in his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, “We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.” His main point was that as long as no one is doing anything about torment, it will only benefit the people in control. This theory is seen not only in Night but in many other accounts of the Holocaust and other genocides throughout history, including the Japanese-American internment camps during World War II. All of these sources show silence being treated as a green light for the oppressors to continue their actions. That is why, in light of Elie’s story and many others, it is clear that one of his central ideas is that as people have now seen and learned about these genocides, it is imperative to ensure that people know when the time is right to choose sides. …show more content…

In “Chapter 2”, the Jews in Elie’s camp were about to revolt and try to kill the Germans, but chose not to because they didn't want to die themselves (Wiesel 31). This supports how their silence, made the situation worse. If they had chosen to fight back and tried to kill the Germans, they could have helped all of the oppressed Jews. This, among many other examples, shows how silence is the cause of more problems. Additionally, the allegory “Terrible Things” has many examples of how silence helped the oppressor. “The terrible things don't need a reason, many creatures don't like frogs.” (Bunting 21) In the allegory, the frogs chose not to do anything about the terrible thing taking all of the animals. Instead, they ignore it and make excuses about why things are right, which leads to them even being taken. This allegory and the central idea both relate to each other with the topic of

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