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Carlos Esparza

Mr.Goldman

Period 4 H. Eng

03/15/18

When Night Falls

In Elie Wiesel's Night the author conveys the dehumanization of the Jews by creating a
collective memory of his experience so that a tragedy of this magnitude will not repeat in history.
During the Jew’s agonizing stay at the concentration camp their humanization was stripped away
from them daily. The Nazis dehumanized them, made them lose their identity and made them
feel like objects. This theme of the Jews being dehumanized is prevalent throughout the whole
book and starts as soon as the Jews encounter the Nazis and are segregated into the ghettos. We
see the authors perspective of himself being dehumanized as well as his fellow Jews being stolen
of their identity. During World War II, when this novel takes place, Jews were being persecuted
by Adolf Hitler, Germany’s current dictator. Jews were taken from their homes and transported
to either ghettos or concentration camps. This was part of Hitler’s plan to exterminate every Jew.
Wiesel and his family lived in Sighet, Romania. Their town was untouched by the holocaust or
the Nazis till late in the war in 1944. Soon Hungarian police and Nazi Gestapo team up to exile
the Jews of Sighet into ghettos, then they’re deported to concentration camps. During this early
part of the novel we see Wiesel being involved into his religion, studying the Torah and
Kabbalah. During the deportation of the Jews we also see him and his sister helping out be
bringing his fellow Jew’s water. This strong sense to help others and believing in a God deeply
contrasts to the end of the novel where Wiesel transforms into a non-believer of God. In the
middle of the novel we see him already questioning his faith. “But look at these men whom You
have betrayed, allowing them to be tortured, slaughtered, gassed, and burned, what do they do?
They pray before You! They praise Your name!”... But now, I no longer pleaded for anything. I
was no longer able to lament. On the contrary, I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the
accused. My eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God, without
man. Without love or mercy. I was nothing but ashes now…”(Wiesel pg.68 Ch.5) Here Wiesel
reflects upon what he blames are “God” actions. He makes “God” be “the accused”, Wiesel
questions as to if God is so great why has he let men and women be “tortured, slaughtered and
gassed”. He believes that these are the last people God should punish ( if any at all) because
“they praise your name”. This causes for Wiesel to distance himself from God. He “no longer
pleaded” to God as he believed that he was unfair to his people. After this we see Wiesel “ in a
word without God”. He then compares himself to “ashes” showing that the Germans have
implemented this thought in the Jews heads that they are just objects. We can see this reoccur on
page 85 “‘Faster you tramps, you flea ridden dogs!...’Faster, you filthy dogs!’ We were no longer
marching we were running. Like automatons...If one of us stopped for a second, a quick shot
eliminated the filthy dog…. I was putting one foot in front of the other like a machine.I was
dragging this emaciated body that was still such weight If only I could have shed it!” (Wiesel
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pg.85 Ch.6) Here not only do we see the SS soldiers treating the Jews like “filthy dogs” but the
Jews themselves also being compared to “automatons”. Wiesel draws this comparison that the
Jews “were running” without life, “like automatons” . At this point the Jews have been
dehumanized by being put through the harsh conditions like having to “march” through 20
kilometers in freezing snow. As well as being compared to objects or “filthy dogs” and being
“shot” because to be “eliminated” meant nothing to the SS soldiers as they were only
“machines”. We see this mentality bleed through to Wiesel himself, wanting to “shed it” like his
leg was only a part of a machine that was obsolete. As if it could be re-manufactured. At this
point in the novel we see Wiesel as being apathetic. At this point he’d rather remove his own leg
than continue the long treacherous “running”. Wiesel shows us the thought process that a
dehumanized Jew has went through. A loss of hope and belief in God. A loss in a final salvation
by a greater being and a loss of their faith. A want to rather die than continue living through hell.
Feeling worthless like an machine, feeling like a number or object. He shows us this not to
mourn the death of millions. But to take away a lesson, that human suffering anywhere on the
world should be treated seriously and something should be done. He shows us through this
collective memory of Jewish people what a future generation should not go through. To educate
us on how these Jewish people suffered and to preserve their memory. To preserve and
remember the millions that were lost during the Holocaust. I think this form of literature is
necessary for the advancement of humanity. We should be able to remember this tragic moment
in history so that us future generations know when to speak out when something going on around
us is wrong. This novel should hopefully inspire the next Martin Luther King Jr. or Nelson
Mandela to make the change in history that is needed.