The book Night is a memoir about Eliezer Wiesel’s greuling holocaust experience. This book discusses the the grim conditions and treatment that Mr. Weisel endured during this dark time period. Elie changed in many ways while in the camp because of the dreadful things he experienced. This essay will be focusing on the physical, spiritual, and mental changes that Eliezer went through. Physically, Elie underwent several changes that left him different from what he had once been. Before the holocaust Elie was a young boy who ate meals regularly and had no need to worry about when he would be getting his next meal or how big it would be. The carefree state of mind that Elie was in did not last. When the holocaust was in full swing he would not …show more content…
Wiesel’s mind set changed greatly from the torment he withstood during this time in his life. Mr. Wiesel applies strong emotions to events that normally others would not, which, for example he stated one page one hundred that while in Aden “Our ship’s passengers amused themselves by throwing coins to the “natives,” who dove to retrieve them. An elegant Parisia lady took great pleasure in this game.” This game made two children fight fiercely, just like the prisoners did when germans threw bread pieces into the wagon they were in. This shows that certain things remind Eliezer of his experience in the holocaust and cause him to have flashbacks which overwhelm him with emotions that most others in his situation would not have. ELiezer’s view on what others do and why also changed. When Rabbi Eliahu came looking for his son, Elie remembered seeing the son abandon the Rabbi while they were running. Eliezer thought it was terrible and prayed that he would never do the same to his father. Then on page one hundred five Elie stated “I knew that I was longer arguing with him but with Death itself, with Death that he had already chosen.” right before he went inside of the block and left his father in the cold to die. When Elie left his father outside, his actions showed that he was like the Rabbi’s son. He wanted to survive and being with someone else was a burden to him and would make his life harder than it already was. These two reasons show that Elie’s mind was changed in major ways during this dark time in history but, something more important was changed
As we all know, Elie was freed from the liberation camp. Soon after, he became sick intestinal problems and spent time in the hospital (Wiesel). While sick in the hospital, Elie wrote an outline of the events that happened during his experience with the Holocaust. Elie promised himself that he would wait ten
In life, people go through different changes when put through difficult experiences. In the book Night, Elie Wiesel is a young Jewish boy whose family is sent to a concentration camp by Nazis. The story focuses on his experiences and trials through the camp. Elie physically becomes more dehumanized and skeletal, mentally changes his perspective on religion, and socially becomes more selfish and detached, causing him to lose many parts of his character and adding to the overall theme of loss in Night.
Elie Wiesel reveals quite a few things when his attitude towards himself changes. The reader can be find in Wiesel's memoir, “Night” on pages 113 finds on page 113 that Elie no longer cares about anyone or anything other than survival and food at this point of his life during the Holocaust, on the very last pages of his book. For the longest time Elie only cared for his father and that was what kept his thrive to survive alive, watching over him, worrying about him, and protecting him was all he seemed to do. Once his father died, Elie had an entirely different view point set in his mind "Since my father's death, nothing mattered to me anymore. ...I spent my days in total idleness. With only one desire: to eat" (Wiesel 113). Elie only wanted
In the book, our narrator, Elie, is constantly going through changes, and almost all of them are due to his time spent in Auschwitz. Prior to the horrors of Auschwitz, Elie was a very different boy, he had a more optimistic outlook on life. During the first few pages of the book, Elie tells us a bit about how he viewed the world before deportation, “ I was almost thirteen and deeply observant. By day I studied Talmud and by night I would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the temple.” ( 3). Elie was, as he says himself, deeply observant and devoted most of his time to his faith. He spent almost all of his time studying and worshiping. At this point, Elie’s faith is the center of his life. Elie is also shown to do a few other things and has a few more early character traits aside from being dedicated to what he believes in. Elie also sees the best of people, a few pages later he says, “The news is terrible,’ he said at last. And then one word: ‘transports’ The ghetto was to be liquidated entirely… ‘Where will they take us?” (Wiesel 14). This is one of the only time we hear about Elie being worried or scared because of the Germans before Auschwitz, and still, despite the warnings that were given and the rumors circulating, Elie doesn’t think that the Germans are actually going to do all of those terrible things. Around this time in the book, Wiesel starts to become more emotionally weighted, but none of what has happened takes full effect until much later. There are multiple instances in the book where Elie is given reason to distrust or even hate the Germans, he talks about how the Gestapo treated him and his family on page 19 “‘Faster! Faster! Move, you lazy good-for-nothings!’ the Hungarian police were screaming.”. Yet he then goes on to say, on that very same page, that “Still our first
For example, he begins to think why would God put him through the torture and bad things that he has been through. Before, Elie believed and was very interested in his religion (Judaism). His view on his God and his religion changed because of things Elie saw, the things Elie experienced, and the things Elie thought and did. Beliefs and religion is something that is hard to manipulate and change one's feelings towards. The Holocaust had extreme effects on Elie, and which will also influence his future generations, which not only affects just Elie but the whole world because of people's beliefs towards mankind and
Furthermore, while still in Auschwitz and after he was liberated, Elie started to reveal the side of him that acclaimed many negative character traits. First of all, toward the end of the book, Elie was nonchalant and numb toward all the terrible things that happened at Auschwitz, “Very close to us stood the tall chimney of the crematorium’s furnace. It no longer impressed us. It barely drew our attention” (Wiesel 104). After moving to a new camp, Elie was unphased by seeing the new crematoriums. Now that Elie and his father were transported to the new camp, they are unfazed by everything that they see. The things they witness would shock most people, but Elie and his father are used to it. This proves that Elie changed after experiencing Auschwitz, he went from being shocked every time he saw something new at the camp, to barely even noticing those things. In addition, Elie also becomes very disinterested and apathetic after he arrived to Auschwitz, “Suddenly the evidence overwhelmed me: there was no longer any reason to live, any reason to fight” (Wiesel 99). Based on the evidence he had, Elie believed his father was dead. Throughout the whole book, Elie has been staying with his father and keeping them
Before the concentration camps, Elie possessed a lot of important and good character traits. “After we were given permission to go back to our block and have our meal. I remember that evening, the soup tasted better than ever.” (Wiesel 63). A man who was convicted of stealing had just been hung in front of thousands of prisoners. Elie had always been thankful for everything he received, even during the concentration camp. He just became more grateful for the smallest things that most people would not think would have meaning. My next point from ‘Night’, “We were the master of nature, the masters of the world. We had transcended everything- death,fatigue, our natural needs.” (Wiesel 87). Elie and the remaining prisoners are running to get to their new camp because the army comes to liberate them. This text evidence shows how Elie was intrigued and surprised. Elie was curious about his religion and surprised by many of the
For example he was questioning his belief, will to live, and if his father was worth sticking with. The text states “Don’t forget that you are in a concentration camp. In this place, it is every man for himself and you cannot think of others. Not even your father” (Wiesel 110). This quote shows that it doesn't matter if it is your father, so Elie should only care for himself. This impacts Elie because he loves his father, you should love your father. For many people to tell him to abandon his father and just not stick with him it can really break down someone emotionally especially if they have been there since the day you were born,and Elie loves his father. They have been through a lot ever since they have been in the concentration
Elie Wiesel changed when he was sent to Auschwitz. He was a happy boy, now he is a sad man. Why is this? Auschwitz was a terrible place. There was death chambers, and the people were worked to death. The camp was created to exterminate the Jewish race.
Wiesel’s lack of hope leads to depression, hopelessness and frustration. These emotional traits can be seen at times when he talks to himself about how he is internally crying and was very angry with his situation. His loss of faith hurts his process of understanding and undergoing life, causing extensive emotional issues. The Nazi’s took his identity by stripping Elie of his culture and heritage. He now ignores the holidays like Hanukkah that he had celebrated, and no longer is able to do many of the things he did in Hungary.
On page 3, it says, “One evening I told him how unhappy I was because I could not find a master in Sighet to instruct me in the Zohar.” This shows Elie, at one time, was ungrateful and did not worry about his well-being and things that really mattered the most. It can be seen that at one point, Elie was in good physical shape, where he took being healthy for granted. Later in life, Elie is a new human, he looks completely different. On page 109, it says, “I spent 2 weeks between life and death”, on the same page, it says, “from the depths of a mirror, a corpse gazed back at me”. This shows that Elie was in very poor physical shape, and he looked at himself as if he were a walking corpse. This transition shows that Elie had a major change in physical appearance, which clearly gave him a new
When Wiesel and his family first arrived at the consentration camp Wiesel says, “i walked with my father, with the men. I did not know that this was the last time and the place where i was leaving my mother and Tzipora forever,”(29). When Wiesel first got to the camp his main focus was making sure he stayed with his dad. Then, as the book goes on you can see a change in the way Wiesel thinks. He and his father were taken to another camp and when they got there his father was very sick. When Mr.Wiesel died Elie Wiesel states, “i did not weep… i might have found something like: Free at last,”(112). This shows how when his dad died, his last family member, he did not cry. The only thing that went through his mind was “free at last.” This is a major change since he was first entering Auschwitz. He only though of staying with his dad, and now he is acting like he is done with a
Night Essay Night is a memoir written by holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. He recounts his experience from 1944-1944 Nazi Germany in order to educate the public on the unfathomable horrors occurring in Europe at that time. Over the course of the story, Elie goes through many changes including physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Like every other victim, Elie goes through physical changes as well.
The novel Night by Eliezer Wiesel tells the tale of a young Elie Wiesel and his experience in the concentration camps,and his fight to stay alive . The tragic story shows the jewish people during the Holocaust and their alienation from the world. Elie’s experience changes him mentally, and all actions in taken while in the concentration were based on one thing...Survival.
Before Elie went to the concentration camp, he had many good character traits. He was caring, curious, and compassionate. For example, “And Moise the Beetle, the poorest of the poor in Sighet, spoke to me for hours and hours about Kabbalah revelations and its mysteries.” (Wiesel 5) He showed compassion for the poorest person in the town. When Moise is expelled from the town and comes back telling the horrors of what he experienced, Elie is the only one that believes him and shows care for him. Even later in the book, he shows care and compassion for his father. “‘They're exhausted… exhausted…’ [his father said] His voice was tender. I howled into the wind: ‘They're dead! They will never wake up! Never! Do you understand?’” (Wiesel 105) Here, Elie’s father is giving up, and trying to lay down and die, staring at the people who are dead. Elie keeps pushing him because he wants to stay alive and survive. This shows the immense amount of care that he has for someone that is even suicidal. he hates anyone that will cause any type of harm to his loved ones. For example, “I had no strength left. The journey had just begun and I already felt so weak… ‘Faster! Faster! Move, you lazy