The Meaning of Soup in the Night - Essay Example

When we look closely into the condition of Eliezer at the camp, we will realize that many things changed their soul meanings for him as his life changed miserably. Soup for him was no longer a simple, bad tasted meal but it became a thing that was synchronized with his feelings and emotions. Everything that happens at the camps leaves its marks on not so very emotionally numb mind of Eliezer and ultimately on the noble Soup. He deliberately chooses soup to describe the details of his feelings and suffering. Initially, soup in the book ‘Night’ describes selfishness, for that is only possession and the available meal at the camp. How can one comprise on that?

Everyone in the camp is striving for bread and to remain alive. The sons were not having affection for their fathers and were not willing to share even a small piece of bread with their fathers. Concentration camp life has made the people selfish and they only wanted to remain alive, without having a feeling for anybody else may it be their father or son.
Soup carries several symbolic points in the book but the most general one it represents is expectation. The principal character when first arrived in the prison and they present him with foodstuff turned down to take a bite of it. He rationalized that if the soup was the one food he could eat, he would alternatively prefer to die rather than consume that rubbish. Elie had a bit of time to stay in the lodge. For that reason, he believed that matters would likely transform into a better situation. Nevertheless, he started to realize that if he wished to survive he would need to consume that unappealing food.

With time, starvation commenced to take control of him, and then one of the days he stated “I was dreadfully hungry and swallowed ma ration on the spot” (Wiesel 41). Elie knew that soup was his only food to stay alive; with all of the urge for food, he did not give thought to the flavour. With each passing day, the soup turned out to be the only thing he might imagine, he now would certainly die for soup.

One day he stated, “I remember that on that evening, the soup tasted better than ever.” (Wiesel 75) Wiesel said the soup was finer quality than ever because he has found out that at any moment that might be his father or he suspended from the tree. Elie is thankful to continue being alive and in a position to feed on his container of soup which at any time might be his end. “That night, the soup tasted of corpses,” Wiesel stated this since it exhibits too little assurance and a perception that there is no ending to Germans. In addition with his own two eyes, he observed a kid die a sluggish and agonizing demise without anybody undertaking anything at all to fix it.

Wiesel decides to correlate specifics of that evening's dinner instead of informing the readers of how the prisoners feel after watching these executions since it makes it possible for the reader to obtain a picture in his head and feel the prisoner’s distress. The reader can taste the good and bad soup in their mouth and understand what dreadful incidents are taking place. Wiesel’s intent behind making use of the soup in place of true emotions was to provide for several feelings and thoughts. Everyone sees a scenario differently and carries distinct viewpoints. The soup idea permits the reader to manifest their real emotions.

A major flipping point occurred in section 4 of "Night". Elie encountered two hangings, one grownup person, and one kid. Elie was compelled to observe and when the elderly person was suspended, his weight immediately took him to fatality. On the contrary, when the little kid was suspended, he was dangling similar to a toy, fainting in and out of demise. At this moment, Elie truly felt heartbreak.

In cases where Wiesel produced these claims, he was attempting to explain to the reader that when Elie noticed fellow prisoners getting suspended, he came to the predicament with a 'better them as compared to me' mindset, however, when he observed the little boy in the noose, struggling for quite a while before passing away, it transformed matters. To him, the boy resembled innocence and also was robbed of the opportunity to enjoy an excellent and satisfying life.

The combination of feelings that Elie and the various other prisoners experienced after observing the boy prompted them to relinquish their appetites, which Elie highlights by making use of vibrant dialect, as he frequently does. Rather than just stating: 'we lost our appetites', Elie decided to create a smart contrast between the level of the meals after the execution of a grownup prisoner and after the execution of the little boy to make it possible for the reader to create an implication as to what he was looking to state.
In short Elie Wiesel successfully gave the soup a new meaning, a meaning that will be recalled by the readers when they will taste their soups.