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Bo Mcwaters

Ms. Crowell

Advanced Composition

30 April 2017

Night is Vital to Todays Youth

Elie Wiesels Night contains graphic material about the Holocaust; It is not pointless

violence though. Students in history class may learn about the holocaust, but they can never fully

understand the hardships Jewish people faced. Wiesels memoir shows people today what it was

like to live as a Jew in central Europe during the Holocaust. Night should not only be allowed in

schools, it should be required. Although many parents believe Night is too graphic for young

adults, allowing them to read it will increase the number of people exposed to the material,

which in turn will educate the readers on Jewish peoples hardship during the Holocaust.

Some parents and teachers find Night inappropriate. They say it is too violent for

students to read. Many of them think The Diary of Anne Frank is enough to depict the horrors of

the holocaust, even though the setting of the book is in an attic and not a concentration camp.

They believe Night is too real, even though it never promotes violence. If anything, the book

helps prevent violence.

Nights violence is intentional. Elie described Nazis burning babies, Jews who were beat

repeatedly, and the hanging of men. Elie Wiesel wanted to make the story as detailed as he could

in hope that no one would ever feel like him and the rest of the Jews again. He stated clearly in

his Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, Who would allow such crimes to be committed?
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How could the world remain so silent? (118). Elie blamed much of the Holocaust on the people

of the world, as well as the Nazis. No one cared much about the Jews, because the world did not

worry about what was occurring in Europe, they cared more about their own country. Exposing

the world to his book, will make people worry about world issues more and not just their own.

Night can teach everyone to be more caring and selfless about current world events.

What Wiesel wrote was a memoir, not fiction. A parent cannot hide the real world from

his or her children forever. Night is a violent, depressing book, but reality is full of pain, sadness,

and suffering. We should prepare children for that kind of hardship that will come to them

eventually. The first time Elie saw himself after years in the camps was shocked, From the

depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has

never left me. (115). He chose these words as the last lines in the story of the most traumatic

event in his life. The quote told his audience how much the holocaust has affected his life. Life is

not as easy as many adults say to their children.

Night tells a story of a group of people who only knew of oppression. Putting students in

the shoes of a Jewish boy during the holocaust can really impact someones personality. Many

would appreciate the life they have more, and might even think twice about discriminating or

stereotyping others just because they are different. Three days after the Nazis came to Sighet, the

Jews were forced to wear yellow stars, Elies father wondered The yellow star? So what? Its

not lethal. (11). His father was completely oblivious to this, but Elie know what was going on.

The star might not have been lethal, but the discrimination was. Eventually, this yellow star

became lethal. The Holocaust began mostly because of stereotypes. Hitler stereotyped to Jews as

job-stealers and disgusting people in his Nazi propaganda. Citizens began hating people based
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upon their religion. Discussing and pondering this book will make many people realize how

pointless discrimination is.

The Holocaust was an actual event in history, and it needs discussion with every teenager

in the world. Having an emotional memoir such as Night in school will show them how hard it

was for Jews during the Holocaust, which will prepare them for most of their life. It increases the

chance for a student to mature in many different ways and have a more mature attitude towards

world issues. Night is extremely vital in a high school English classroom.


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Wiesel, E. (1958). Night. West 18th Street, New York: Les

Editions de Minuit.

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