Essay, Research Paper: Wiesel's Night

Wiesel's Night is about what the Holocaust did, not just to the Jews,but by extension, to humanity. People all over the world were devastatedby this atrocious act, and there are still people today who haven'tovercome the effects. One example of the heinous acts of the Germans that stands out occurs atthe end of the war, when Elie and the rest of the camp of Buna is beingforced to transfer to Gleiwitz. This transfer is a long, arduous, andtiring journey for all who are involved. The weather is painfully cold,and snow fell heavily; the distance is greater than most people todaywill even dream of walking. The huge mass of people is often forced torun, and if one collapses, is injured, or simply can no longer bear thepain, they are shot or trampled without pity. An image that securesitself in Elie's memory is that of Rabbi Eliahou's son's leaving theRabbi for dead. The father and son are running together when the fatherbegins to grow tired. As the Rabbi falls farther and farther behind hisson, his son runs on, pretending not to see what is happening to hisfather. This spectacle causes Elie to think of what he would do if hisfather ever became as weak as the Rabbi. He decides that he would neverleave his father, even if staying with him would be the cause of hisdeath. The German forces are so adept at breaking the spirits of the Jews thatwe can see the effects throughout Elie's novel. Elie's faith in God,above all other things, is strong at the onset of the novel, but growsweaker as it goes on. We see this when Elie's father politely asks thegypsy where the lavoratories are. Not only does the gypsy not grace hisfather with a response, but he also delivers a blow to his head that
sent him to the floor. Elie watches the entire exhibition, but doesn'teven blink. He realizes that nothing, not even his faith in God, cansave him from the physical punishment that would await him if he triedto counterattack the gypsy. If the gypsy's attack had come just one dayearlier, Elie probably would have struck back. However, the effect ofthe spiritual beating by the Germans was already being felt. The incident that perhaps has the greatest effect on Elie is the hangingof the pipel. He is a young boy with an "innocent face" who is condemnedto death because he is implicated in a conspiracy which results in aGerman building being destroyed. When the time for the hangingapproaches, the Lagerkapo refuses to kick out the chair, so SS officersare assigned to do it. Unlike the necks of those he is hanged with, theyoung boy's neck does not break when he falls, and he suffers for over ahalf-hour. The suffering of the child is comparable to the sufferingendured by many Jews during the Holocaust. He fought for his life, attimes even seeing a bit of hope, only to be destroyed in the end. TheJews fought for everything they had, from their possessions at thebeginning, to their lives at the end. The result, however, was the same. At the end of the war, Elie looks into the mirror, and says he saw "acorpse." This "corpse" is Elie's body, but it has been robbed of itssoul. This is similar to the loss suffered by people all over the world.Those not directly involved with the Holocaust were still alivephysically, but their mind and spirit had long been dead. By the end ofthe war, Elie loses all of his faith in God and his fellow man, and thisis the most difficult obstacle to overcome when he is released.