Night by Elie Wiesel - Book Report/Review Example

? “The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me.” That was the last ment in Elie Wiesel’s Night. That particular ment defines the perspective of the story. Night was Elie Wiesel’s narration of his harrowing experiences during the Nazi war. Through Eliezer, he relates his story although there were minor differences. Example, Wiesel was wounded on his knee and Eliezer was wounded on his foot. He created these slight variations to establish a distinction between him and his character. But Wiesel and Eliezer are the same persons. They share the same experiences, they share the same perspective, they share the same feelings. And because they have too many things in common, Wiesel could be lost in developing his narrative. This does not make Night a fiction story. Wiesel only made things a little bit different because it was too much memory to bear. There was a personal need to change certain things so he can continue with his narrative as truthful as it can be. As you would notice, the differences do not impact the experiences of the character. Whatever he felt during his experience, it was the same feeling that Wiesel felt at that moment he experienced it. Wiesel’s experience had left a mark on him. Although it did not completely destroy him, it changed him significantly. Who wouldn’t, when he had experienced the cruelty that man inflicted towards his fellow men. That was the essence of the last statement of the narrative. By the end of the story, Eliezer was a changed man. As Wiesel created a division between him and his main character by giving Eliezer slightly different experiences, Eliezer created a barrier between him and himself. He felt he was a different person as he looks at himself in the mirror. Although he sees himself, he feels that his reflection is staring at himself, that his eyes have their own life, gravely emphasizing the emptiness that he was feeling at that moment. Eliezer is a dynamic character. He changes with time within the story. This is significant as the narrative focuses on relating Wiesel’s experiences. The narrative is concentrated in telling Eliezer’s experiences through his own eyes. Whatever opinions there are, whatever thoughts there are in the story, it was his and only his. You would not hear or see things beyond his thoughts. You would not read about Chlomo’s thoughts about his son. You would not find anything about Moshe’s experiences when he was caught by the Nazis. You would only observe and look into Eliezer’s thoughts and emotions. Eliezer’s relationship with his father was a significant point in the story. It became his stronghold, the reason for living through the dreadful torture and persecution of the Nazi era. During his childhood, he found the Jewish religion because of his curiosity. Moshe the Beadle was the one who guided him and taught him what Jewish religion is. When Hitler seized control of Romania, Eliezer found himself in the middle of a discriminating world. That’s when he started to get confused. He was not deeply affected when he heard Moshe’s stories about the cruelty done to the Jews. But when he saw it with his own eyes, his faith started to shake. He did not expect that world to exist and “never shall (he) forget those moments which murdered (his) God and (his) soul and turned (his) dreams into dust.” At “the first night in the camp…the little faces of children, whose bodies…turned into wreaths of smoke…(the) flames consumed (his) faith forever.” He did not expect that this could happen and everything that he learned in his Jewish faith was turned upside down. When he heard the question, “Where is God? Where is He,” his answer that “He is hanging here on this gallows” indicated that his faith is slowly dying, like the man who was slowly dying in front of him. Before this experience, he felt that the question “where is God” is a strange question to ask, that it is similar to asking, “why did (he) live(s) and why did (he) breathe.” It was an accepted fact, that God is always there protecting him, loving him. There was no question about it, like there was no question why he was breathing. But when he experienced death, suffering and torture, human against human, he started to question his beliefs. That’s when he started clinging to his father. He wanted to have something to hold on to, like how he held on to his faith before. His father became the reason he moved forward. He pushed himself to honor the commitment to his family. This made him feel like he was not abandoning his family, the same way he felt abandoned by his God. This shows even more that he is a complicated character. He wanted to reject his faith, but in fact, he struggled to find meaning to believe it again. How is that possible when the narrative shows he was questioning his faith? He protected his relationship with his father because this was what he desired, for God to take care of him during the times of his weakness. He wanted so badly to feel he was not rejected. He looked for it in himself, as how he protected and took care of his father. But at the very end, he also questioned his love for his father, thinking about him as a burden. Afterwhich, he felt guilty thinking about him, making him feel the same way he felt while he was questioning his faith. This shows how human his character is. He may be weak or strong, he accepts and rejects. His character changes as the situation changes. Eliezer was a dynamic character. He does not remain the same way. The last statement he made in the story shows how different he was when the narrative started out. It shows us that, although Eliezer seems to be a typical protagonist, he was as human as one could possibly this. This was the main reason he was a dynamic character. He has feelings and he continues to adapt to the changes in his environment. We are able to see how he slowly stripped his mind and heart of the different aspects of his life, intimately detailing the Nazi experience. Read More