Night Essay The Dehumanizatio
Night Essay- The DehumanizatioIn the novel, Night, Elie Wiesel narrates his experience as a young Jewish boy during the holocaust. The captured Jews are enslaved in concentration camps, where they experience the absolute worst forms of torture, abuse, and inhumane treatment. Such torture has obvious physical effects, but it also induces psychological changes on those unfortunate enough to experience it. The Jews in the story had to overcome tremendous difficulties. The story begins with Eliezel, a young Jewish boy, describing his childhood and his religious upbringing. However, Hitler's anti-Semitic policies are just being introduced and the Jews are to be placed in concentration camps. The Jews are forced to abandon their homes, all their earthly possessions, and eventually their humanity. In the face of savage abuse and insolent treatment, the Jews stand tall and hold on to everything they can for as long as possible, but it is just not plausible for them to survive under such horrid conditions. However, these mutations of character and morality cannot be accredited to weakness of the Jews' spirit, but they can be attributed to the animal-like treatment they receive. They devolve into primitive essences, with savage, animal characteristics that are necessary for survival under such conditions. In Night, Wiesel effectively illustrates the drastic changes that the Jews go through; from average citizens with family, friends, and loved ones into savage, independent beasts who look out for no one else and must fight for their own well-being.
At the beginning of the novel, Elie describes his community, the Jewish community of Sighet, as a very caring and unified society. When the Hungarian police, and later the SS officers, force them to move into ghettoes and eventually institute the deportation of the Jews into concentration camps, the community comes together to support one another during this time of need. They receive news of the deportees working happily in Galicia and are soon able to forget such problems. They even doubt that Hitler will continue these practices and assume that they are safe. "Yes, we even doubted that he [Hitler] wanted to exterminate us" (6). At this point, the Jews are very comfortable and go so far as to recognize Hitler as being humane. Elie's father then holds a community meeting in his backyard, where he is called away, only to find out that they are all going to be deported the next morning. Upon discovering this information, they look to each other for support and comfort. "My father ran to the left and right, exhausted, comforting friends, running to the Jewish council to see if the edict had not been revoked in the meantime" (13). However, just as their physical and mental states deteriorate, so will this unified feeling of friendship and love.
It does not take long for the newly captured Jews to begin turning on each other; denying all that they have ever...
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