Themes in "Night" by Elie Wiesel Essay example

Words: 1262
Pages: 6

THemes 1.) Man’s inhumanity to man

Removal of human looks that defined who they are * Same uniform * Cut hair to remove individuality. * “In a few seconds we had ceased to be men” 37 * “I became A-7713. From then on, I had no other name”42

The harshness of the camp quickly transformed them into selfish indifferent people * “I had not even blinked, only yesterday I would have dug my nails into the criminals flesh” 39 * “you’re killing your father”101 * “The old man mumbled something, groaned and died. Nobody cared” 101 * “I shall never forgive myself. Nor shall I forgive the world for having pushed me against the wall, for having turned me into a stranger, for having awakened in me the basest, most

Pg 88 * “my father’s presence was the only thing that stopped me” 87 * “I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I was his sole support.” * “Elie even gave his dying father extra rations, despite being told to “stop giving your ration of bread and soup too your old father... in fact you should be getting his rations.” * Rabbi Eliahu and his son * “side by side they had endured the suffering , the blows; they had waited for their ration of bread and they had prayed” pg 91 * “he had felt his father growing weaker and, believing the end was near, had thought by this separation to free himself of a burden that could diminish his own chance for survival.”91 * The man on the train and his son * “You’re killing your father… I have bread for you too… for you to” 101

5.) Conscience/remorse/indifference
Indifference
* “Since my father’s death, nothing mattered to me anymore” 113 * “The old man mumbled something, groaned and died. Nobody cared” 101 * “we no longer feared death” 60 * “I was no longer arguing with him but death itself, with death that he had already chosen” 105
Manipulated conscience/Remorse * “deep inside me, if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: Free at last! * “I shall never forgive myself. Nor shall I forgive the world for