Night Essay Outline

Angel Lambert
January 17 2014
Section: E
Night Essay Final Drat
Night Essay Outline
The Jewish people experience situations that have a lot of life changing effects on them
during the holocaust. They become people they wouldve never imagined they would be. The
novel Night by Elie Wiesel takes place in Europe during World War . !uring World War "
millions of European Jews suffer at the hands of the Na#is. The Jewish prisoners are too
frightened to speak up because theyre in fear of losing their lives. The collective identity of the
Jewish people is taken away during this infernal era. n Night three themes that impact Elie the
most are family" silence and dehumani#ation.
The first theme that impacts Elies life is family. !uring the $olocaust the Jews begin to
turn against each other because of the harm the Na#is are causing families and familial
relationships to tear apart. %abbi Eliahou is a good man" admired by all the Jewish people of
&ighet. !uring the run in the snow Elie has noticed that %abbi Eliahous son has left his father
behind during the run from 'una. The fight for survival has caused the relationships of the
Jewish prisoners to fade. ()nd" in spite of myself" a prayer rose in my heart" to that *od in
whom no longer believed. +y *od" ,ord of the -niverse" give me strength never to do what
%abbi Eliahous son has done. /Wiesel0. The horrifying terrors of the $olocaust have cause
many Jewish prisoners to turn against their families. They are forced to focus on themselves to
make sure that they survive. !uring the transportation in the cattle cars from *leiwit#" Elie
witnesses a prisoners own son beat him brutally for a piece of bread. $aving no compassion for
his own father" the son doesnt reali#e what he is doing. The terrors of the $olocaust have caused
the prisoners son to become cra#y. %elationships between the Jewish prisoners grow slowly
apart" the prisoners lose interest in caring and being there for each other as the Elie and his
1ather have a strong relationship coming into the $olocaust" Elie makes it a priority to always be
there for his father. Throughout the $olocaust Elies father beings to grow weaker. Elie begins to
Night Essay Outline
think about getting rid of the burden which is his father" to free himself. +any relationships
between the Jewish people have been destroyed because of what being in the $olocaust has
inflected on them.
The second theme that has an effect on Elie is silence. The $olocaust and its horrible
wrong doings have caused many Jewish prisoners to become afraid of what could happen to
them. The Jewish prisoners were afraid to speak up or to do anything against the Na#is. They are
!etriie" of the thought that they can lose their lives. ( considered 2umping him" strangling him.
'ut had neither the courage nor the strength./Wiesel 3450. !uring the $olocaust there are
many bystanders" people who are witnessing what is happening to the Jews. +ost of them do not
do anything to help the Jewish prisoners. They sometimes contribute to making their lives more
miserable. (&oon pieces of bread were falling into the wagon from all sides. )nd the spectators
observed these emaciate" creatures ready to kill for a crust of bread./Wiesel 3430. The Jews
believe that *od hasnt been there for them" that he is allowing everything to happen to them and
isnt doing anything to stop it. ( no longer accepted *od6s silence. )s swallowed my bowl of
soup" saw in the gesture an act of rebellion and protest against $im7 /Wiesel 880. &ilence
within the Jewish people is a matter of life and death" it has also affected their faith they have
with god.
,astly dehumani#ation is the last theme that affects Elie. The Jews were not treated like
human beings9 they were seen has savages and slaves. They constantly had their humanity taken
away from them. The Jewish prisoners have lost their humanity and their appearances" the Na#is
make all the Jewish prisoners resemble each other. (Their clippers tore out our hair" shaved
every hair on our bodies ./Wiesel :;0. The Na#is think that Jewish people are repulsive9 they
treat them like ob2ects and not humans. When the Jewish prisoners are first brought into
Night Essay Outline
'irkenau they are not 2ust allowed to take a normal shower instead they are disinfected" this
shows how the Jewish prisoners are seen as ob2ects because people shouldnt get disinfected.
When the Jews were taken to the concentration camp" they no longer had names in the eyes of
the Na#is9 instead they are given number tattoos that identified them. (The three veteran
prisoners needles in hand tattooed numbers on our left arms became a<==3: from then on. had
no other name. /Wiesel >?0. The Jewish prisoners are being deprived of their human @ualities"
because theyre seen as tools instead of humans.
n conclusion the relationships between the Jewish prisoners break apart" the gruesome
treatment that the Jews have to endure cause them to keep stillness. The Jewish prisoners are
stripped of their humanity. The themes that affect Elie the most is his family" silence and the
dehumani#ation he en"ure"# +any people go through different themes in their lives every day.
'ut sometimes they dont take notice to how much of an impact a certain theme can have on
their lives. Elie Wiesel explains the different themes he went through during and before the
holocaust that it can cause a great impact.