StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Night by Elie Wiesel - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
A small book of one hundred odd pages wins the Nobel Prize. Going by the contents, it depicts the story of four grave years of the century that concern the humankind. It has emerged straight out the heart of Elie Wiesel. This is a story of a great human tragedy and those who are adversely affected on all counts during and after World War II will recall with horror, the mass of flesh of the rotting bodies that once belongs to their near and dear ones…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92% of users find it useful
Night by Elie Wiesel
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Night by Elie Wiesel"

Philosophy February 27, Topic: Night by Elie Wiesel. Introduction: A small book of one hundred odd pages wins the Nobel Prize. Going by the contents, it depicts the story of four grave years of the century that concern the humankind. It has emerged straight out the heart of Elie Wiesel. This is a story of a great human tragedy and those who are adversely affected on all counts during and after World War II will recall with horror, the mass of flesh of the rotting bodies that once belongs to their near and dear ones. Personally for Wiesel, death threatens to overpower him at every moment between those years (1941—1945).A strong element of doubt creeps into Elie Wiesel’s mind, how God deals with humankind in such an atrocious style. Why human beings whose inner world is divine, act like demons, while dealing with fellow human beings and yet he transcends his bitter feelings and remains an optimist. The grave question of Elie Wiesel is how can the Nazis throw the babies into gas chambers and spray bullets to kill them in the most heinous options? The horrid conditions in the concentration camps baffle any sane individual. He and his father are often shifted to different camps and each time they think that it is the last journey and they are not sure of reaching another destination. With each shifting, the count of internees decline. They are killed like animals in a slaughterhouse. Animal slaughter has an economic perspective. Killings human beings with whom the killers have no previous personal enmity are heinous acts. Wiesel is just a boy of fifteen when he is separated from the rest of the family, but his father is with him. He finds inner strength to absorb the effect of such tragic events that engulf one after another only because his father is with him during the most critical phase of his life. Finally they are liberated by the Allied Forces. Wiesel is a writer by compulsion, not by choice. He candidly says that it is not his intention to describe the nature of brutalities and the main purpose of the book are committed to a hearty prayer that such gory incidents shall never be repeated by humanity. The commitment to world peace is possible, not through political philosophies, but change of heart of each individual. Religious tenets as they are practiced today by the followers will not herald the changing process. Not the blind following but practice of true spirituality can bring about the desired change. Spirituality is something that transcends the mind. At that level, all differences cease; conflicts are no more there. We need to give such an orientation to human beings, right from childhood. When the thought process of the individuals changes, the action process also changes! With such noble human beings, universal peace becomes an attainable reality. Notwithstanding his experiences at the portals of near death, where survival is a matter of chance, Elie Wiesel remains an optimist. He says in his Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech delivered in Oslo on December 10, 1986, “Thank you for building bridges between people and generations. Thank you, above all, for helping humankind make peace it’s most urgent and noble aspiration.”(117) He cautions people about complacency, why one must strive one’s best in performing one’s duty to humankind, “That I have tried to keep memory alive, that I have tried to fight those who would forget. Because if we forget, we are guilty, we are accomplices.”(118) The book is written straight from the heart by Wiesel. It value is, therefore, more than that of a well-researched document. Human heart is the best research laboratory. The devastating circumstances that he encounters as a young boy will turn any individual cynical and one’s belief systems will shatter. But Wiesel gradually draws strength from his inner world to reaffirm his belief that some Supreme Power runs the world. At the same time he lays much importance to the secular efforts that must continue without intermission to build goodwill amongst of the people to make world peace an attainable reality. Mang Tzu (370-286 BCE), known to the West as Mencius, is born in the present province of Shantung, China. According to his preaching, all men have a mind that is not amenable to the suffering of others. Nazi atrocities on the Jew community have proved him wrong. He would not have been able to offer any solutions to atrocities unleashed by the votaries of Nazism in the given circumstances prevailing then. Hsun Tzu (c.310—c.220 BCE) professes that the nature of man is evil. He has made the correct diagnosis of the man, and that is applicable to Nazi leadership. But even he would not have been able to check the avalanche of evil called Nazism. He also opines that the inborn nature of man is envious and to hate others. Hitler would have liked to be one of Hsun Tzu’s sincere followers. Wiesel’s experiences are in tandem with the line of thinking of Hsun Tzu. As for Thomas Nagel, Strawson and Taylor, their observations about the Nazi behavior is correct from the theoretical aspect that people are more influenced by external, situational factors than by internal traits and motivations. The Nazi forces and middle level leadership which is directly involved in the acts of atrocities against the Jews are working under orders. Individually many of them may be good at heart but they are compelled to perform the most unpleasant duties. Situational psychology is crucial to understand why the perpetrators of the crimes act like incarnations of evil. These psychologists and philosophers can only explain the mindset of the people. They cannot change the onslaught of evil forces like Nazis, when they hold sway over the subjects and inject poisonous ill feelings with relentless propaganda. The repetition of a lie a thousand times from a platform makes it the truth; that is the operational strategy of the Nazis. Wiesel has great concern about individual freedom and plight of the poor. He says in the same speech, “As long as one dissident is in prison, our freedom will not be true. As long as one child is hungry, our life will be filled with anguish and shame.”(120) Conclusion: Elie Wiesel strongly believes that one can forgive, but shall not forget. One section of humanity shall not be a silent spectator to the atrocities being committed on another section of community. The use of force is not immoral in the defense of a noble cause. Humankind has no other alternative but to seek peace, as violence will not offer permanent solutions to any issues. Works Cited Wiesel, Elie. Night (Oprah's Book Club). Trans. Marion Wiesel. Hill and Wang, 2006. English, Print. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Night by Elie Wiesel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1443101-love-night
(Night by Elie Wiesel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words)
https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1443101-love-night.
“Night by Elie Wiesel Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/philosophy/1443101-love-night.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Night by Elie Wiesel

Eliezer's Struggle to Keep his Faith in God

Name Tutor Task Date “Eliezer's Struggle to Keep his Faith in God” The autobiographical novel Night by Elie Wiesel is an excruciating and momentous exploration of one young man's experiences during the Holocaust.... This concept is vividly revealed in the love and passionate feelings expressed by elie towards his ailing and weak father.... It is vital to notice that, wiesel perception about God changes when nothing happens to rescue people from the hands of the Germans....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Analysis of the book Night by Elie Wiesel

elie wiesel is one such survivor, whose post-liberation life would be filled with mental anguish.... ?? (Wiesel, 1960) elie wiesel's was brought up in an orthodox Jewish community that gave emphasis to religious observance and faithful understanding of the scriptures.... The following passages will analyze how wiesel's faith in God and humanity is shaken to the core in the face of compelling circumstances and consequences.... In a poignant passage in the poetically assembled book, wiesel notes how, at one point during the life in the ghetto, taking care of his ailing father becomes burdensome....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Elie Wiesels Night Analysis

This book is an autobiography of elie wiesel that essentially tells the story of a young Jewish boy during World War II, and his struggle to emerge from the horrors of the Holocaust as a whole person.... ?? (wiesel 12).... elie and his family were living in Germany when the Holocaust began, and, as… ews, they were arrested in 1944 and kept captive in a place elie describes as the “ghetto.... ?? Soon after their arrest, elie and his family were transported to the concentration camp in Birkenau where he and his father were separated from his mother and sister—males were elie later found out later that both his mother and sister were killed at the camp they were transported to....
14 Pages (3500 words) Essay

The Relationship between Eliezer and His Father

It is this torture that seems to have changed a father-son relationship from what is normally expected of such a The Relationship between Eliezer and his Father A family's journey through the holocaust is the main story in the novel Night by Elie Wiesel.... (wiesel 2) This is said without even his father being moved away from his own businesses, an indication that he was not willing to help Eliezer on his desires whether personally or by looking for a master to guide Eliezer....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Book summarize

The Night Night is a book written by elie wiesel.... ight by elie wiesel is a memoir of the Holocaust that tells on the concentration of a camp.... The Germans at… The Germans in particular wanted to get rid of the Jewish. In the year 1944, elie who was twelve by then and was guided by Moche.... The Jewish by then were being pushed to ghettos including elie family.... n the year 1944, elie who was twelve by then and was guided by Moche....
2 Pages (500 words) Book Report/Review

Father-Son Relationship in Night by Elie Wiesel

This essay outlines the father-son line in "Night" by elie wiesel.... nbsp;elie wiesel is now the founder of a humanitarian foundation that is geared towards fighting against injustice.... He is married and he is one of three survivors from his family who came out of the Holocaust alive; his two older sisters also survived (The elie wiesel Foundation for Humanity).... lie wiesel is now the founder of a humanitarian foundation that is geared towards fighting against injustice....
11 Pages (2750 words) Essay

Analysis of Night by Elie Wiesel

The author focuses on the book "Night" by elie wiesel is an autobiographical account of the author of the time which he spent in the Nazi German camps.... He is inspired by the synagogues' priest Moshe the Beadle who is humble and “awkward as a clown but tells him that man raises himself towards God by the questions he asks Him” (wiesel 2)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Book Report/Review

Summary of the Novel Night by Elie Wiesel

The researcher of this essay aims to analyze "Night" by elie wiesel.... Hitler had promised to wipe out all the Jews of Europe and he appeared to keep his promise by executing them (wiesel 132).... The violin represented Juliek's soul (wiesel 135).... wiesel uses the term 'strange overwhelming little corpse' to signify how they had trampled on Juliek's soul/violin and all that lay now was simply a body that appeared unfamiliar to Juliek's spirit....
6 Pages (1500 words) Book Report/Review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us