In the outside world, there are many occasions where people tend to behave and conduct peculiarly, specifically due to their desperation. Sometimes, this can even mean that individual could create loss for others. Both stories, The Book Thief and Night, embed a lesson: desperation and the intensity of want can drive a person to have actions that would not normally happen. While both stories have the resulted thoughts/actions built on the base of negativity and loss for others, the desperation in Night was caused by lack of basic needs. Meanwhile, The Book Thief demonstrated the intense feelings of want due to hate. Both stories displayed the lesson similarly, but with unique perspectives. Both stories heavily feature the resulted thoughts …show more content…
In Night, the cause for desperation and want throughout the story is the loss of basic human needs. “I went to look for him. Yer at the same time a thought crept into my mind: If only I didn't find him! If only I were relieved of this responsibility, I could use all my strength to fight for my own survival, to take care only of myself . . . Instantly, I felt ashamed, ashamed of myself forever” (Wiesel 106). In an example once again involving Elie’s father, Elie Wiesel starts to think of abandoning his father, due to the relief that would come from it. Once again, he thinks about this only because he wants to feel the relief of having less responsibilities without his father. Nevertheless, he scolds himself for such thoughts, as they are inhumane, abnormal, and defines the destruction of his father. Elie would never originally think of such a thought. Even so, the wringed out child thinks of this relief because the extreme conditions he lives in. The desperation is caused by the loss of his basic needs in the holocaust, thus, causing wishes for relief from Elie’s father. The desperation and want in The Book Thief is caused by a different source. In a more civil environment, Liesel’s want was rather run by hate. After seeing Max carried into a concentration camp, Liesel is filled with rage and anger. She then proceeds to step into
One of the most compelling themes in night is Identity. Identity is such an issue for Wiesel because the events of Night coincided with Wiesel’s adolescence. Elie is seemingly firm in his identity and self awareness at the beginning of the Novel. He prioritizes his faith and he conceptualizes his place in society in relation to others. Once Elie is forced to spend an impressionable part of his adolescence in the Concentration Camp, his sense of perception is warped.
You truly don’t know what you have until it’s gone. Everyday things are taken for granted. In “The Book Thief” It shows incredible examples of how loss transforms you for the better. “The Book Thief” Written by Markus Zusak is a novel based on Nazi-Germany during post World War 2. It Features the scary truth along with harsh humor, The story is told through the eyes of brave, Jewish girl named Liesel.
Anyone can be overcome by selfishness in order to survive the hardest of times. In Elie Wiesel’s “Night”, the main character Elie faces many hard times that puts both survival and loyalties into perspective. In horrific conditions, the necessity to survive can overpower the strongest of human loyalties. First off, people tend to prioritize their own safety over the safety of others. Secondly, prisoners abandon their communities for a position of authority in order to survive.
I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong,” said Leo Rosten, a humorist in writing. Throughout the stories of two fascinating books, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and A Child Called “It” by Dave Pelzer the main theme being portrayed is the kindness and cruelty of humans. We are all known to fear those who seem stronger than us just because we assume they have the power to harm, or even destroy us. In some cases, humankind is used to getting rid of the vulnerable ones and those are the ones that fear evil. On the other hand, there are others that are evil and their greatest fear is to be overthrown by the weak.
In the book, Night by Elie Wiesel, Elie’s relationship with his father is distant, but as the story progresses the relationship grows, eventually degenerating, but resolving in peace. In the beginning of the book Elie’s relationship with his father is distant. They don’t speak to each other that often, his father cares about the community more than his family, he didn’t leave when they had the chance, and lastly he never wanted to study the cabbala with Elie because he’s too young. Elie’s father is more concerned about the community than his own family.
The power of words in “The Book Thief” and the endless strength they carry is a prime topic throughout the book. “The Book Thief”, a novel narrated by Death about Liesel, a young German girl who is given up for adoption to live with the Hubermann’s shortly before World War II. Liesel discovers the power that words, written or spoken, have to transform people, relationships, and lives. In the novel, Mark Zusak uses the relationship between characters to signify the power of words. Within “The Book Thief” the author suggests that words hold much power and have a major role in crafting the relationships between the characters.
What can we learn about human nature from the book Night? Human nature is the general psychological characteristics, feelings, and qualities of humankind which determines human behavior and motivation. We can learn that there is a lot of examples of human nature in the book Night like losing hope during desperate times, doing anything for food and going to the extreme for pleasure and sex. Night shows us that human nature will lose hope during desperate times, that they will just give up when they're in pain. For example in Night on page 105 second paragraph, it states “I can't anymore . . .
This can also be found in the title of the novel as it symbolizes death, loss of faith and hope. Additionally, as previously stated, the worst suffering seems to occur at night. For example, the narrative contains many last nights: the last night in Sighet, the last night in Buna, the last night with his father and many more. Night also symbolizes a world without God. Wiesel contends that God does not live in the concentration camps and God's people have no recourse.
But a little boy broke his fear by trying to achieve the goal of being fed but, in an instant he was shoot. This truly show how much fear has set in for hundreds of men that won’t eat but are dying from hunger. No matter how much your life is at risk or going to be fear can stop what you what to do. The book night portrays a common theme, Fear without it people wouldn’t survive for as long as they did.
To illustrate, a change of identity occurs, “If only [Eliezer] were relieved of this responsibility… Instantly, [he] felt ashamed, ashamed of [himself] forever,” when he almost tried to leave his father alone (106). Elie faces a permanent change of identity when he strays away from his old educated habits and becomes a selfish creature when going through pain. Another example of a change of identity within Elie is when his father dies, “And deep inside [him], if [he] could have searched the recesses of [his] feeble conscience, [he] might have found something like: Free at Last!” expressing that his father’s death finally freed him, out of the misery, out of the agony (112). Eliezer’s journey with his father through the excruciating concentration camps developed him from an innocent teenager to a mature man with the capabilities to succeed in unbearable situations.
Elie Wiesel, the author of Night, describes the horrors of focusing on your own survival. Certain acts provoke inhumane acts throughout the ordeal. A central theme in Night is, even though it’s difficult, people should value compassion over their own survival. For instance, the evil of a lack of compassion affects thousands of prisoner lives.
Family “Father! Father! Wake up. They’re going to throw you outside… No!
Night is told from the first person perspective of a twelve year old Jewish boy. In Night, Jews were discriminated against, captured and sent to concentration camps. Families were separated, women and children were killed and men played a game of survival of the fittest, in hopes of seeing better days. The “strongest” got to stay alive and were moved to another concentration campus, which might have been worse than the last, while the weaker ones were killed. Justice was presented at the advantage of the stronger in this novel because eventually Eliezer, the narrator was freed and able to account the horrible story of previous happenings.
Night by Elie Wiesel shows when humans are put in horrible situations, the acts of selfishness greatly increase. The book shows that when humans are in crisis like the Holocaust everyone is desperate to survive, so they will do anything they can to get their basic needs. The people forgot who they are as human, and how it made Elie and others act differently towards each other. Elie Wiesel, and everyone who he meets along the way want to survive this, at times they forget why they want to live. But no one wants to get defeated by the Germans.
To Heal and to Hurt: The Importance of Words in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak “Words do two major things. They provide food for the mind and create light for understanding and awareness.” This quote by Jim Rohn highlights the two major things words do, indicating they have a power, an important role in everyday lives. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is an outstanding representation of many topics including the most crucial one, the importance of words. It is the late 1930s to early 1940s in Germany during the World War II, and the main character, Death, cannot help himself but to be intrigued by Liesel Meminger’s story, a girl that lives in Munich, Germany on Himmel Street.