Dehumanization In Elie Wiesel's 'Night And Metamorphosis'

Dehumanization is the process by which the Nazis gradually reduced the Jews to little more than "things" which were a nuisance to them. The Jews in these concentration camps were greatly disrespected. They experienced several beatings, were undernourished, and overworked. Elie and the other Jews eventually lost faith in God, and witness unpleasant events never to be seen again.

In the book Night, we the readers witness the hardships and struggles in Elie’s life during the traumatic holocaust. The events that take place in this story are unbearable and are thought to be demented in modern times. In the beginning Elie is shown as a normal teenage Jewish boy, but the events are so drastic that we the readers forget how he was like in the beginning. Changes were made to Elie during the book, whether they were minor or major. The changes generated from himself, the journey, and other people. The holocaust makes physical and mental alterations to Elie’s life, and this tells the reader that the people who did this are effective and impacting, also it shows that Elie’s mind is controlled by what he was experiencing.

The severely cruel conditions of concentration camps had a profound impact on everyone who had the misfortune of experiencing them. For Elie Wiesel, the author of Night and a survivor of Auschwitz, one aspect of himself that was greatly impacted was his view of humanity. During his time before, during, and after the holocaust, Elie changed from being a boy with a relatively average outlook on mankind, to a shadow of a man with no faith in the goodness of society, before regaining confidence in humanity once again later in his life.

Throughout the tragic times of the Holocaust, in an attempt to excuse their actions, the Nazis dehumanized the Jews. This was a crucial factor in the Jews losing their innocence in Auschwitz. In Night the Nazis treated Elie, his father and his fellow Jews more as ‘things’ than people. The Jews were worked to death, and killed as if

Nakedness, beatings, dogs, tattooed numbers, fire, chimney, crematoria, loneliness, silence, death,... selection. These were all methods and statements made by the Germans in an effort to dehumanize the Jews. One of Elie Wiesel’s main focuses in the book Night is on dehumanization. Germans would put Jews in harsh situations to make them suffer, to the point of death.

This shows that the Germans had no respect for the Jews. It also shows that they thought nothing of them. The Germans compared the Jews to being like dogs or animals. The next example of dehumanization is when Elie and his father were in line waiting to be ordered where to go.

In the book, Night, Dehumanization majorly affects the Jews. Dehumanization is the process by which the Nazis gradually reduced the Jews to little more than things. It makes the Jews want to give up. There are many examples of dehumanization, including beating, selection, and robbery.

Elie was a strong character to begin the book and as time progressed you can see that certain events can seriously affect a person. No matter how strong you think you are or how passionate you are about something, your views can always be altered due to a specific event. Anyone has the possibility of change whether it’s good or bad. How you face situations creates your identity for the future and you may not be

But, it is his sister Greta that implies that they should get rid of the furniture in his room. She starts to feel that she does not recognize her brother anymore. Gregor tries numerous times to get his families attention so, they could maybe try to understand more what was happening to him. With every attempt, he tried he failed and was injured by his father in the process. Which caused him to stop eating and drinking water.

Dehumanization Causing Events in Night Over the course of Eliezer’s holocaust experience in the novel Night, the Jews are gradually reduced to little more that “things” which were a nuisance to Nazis. This process was called dehumanization. Three examples of events that occurred which contributed to the dehumanization of Eliezer, his father, and his fellow Jews are: people were divided both mentally and physically, those who could not work or who showed weakness were killed, and public executions were held.

Gregor began to resent his father for throwing household items at him, squashing him like a bug. Even his beloved sister Grete began irritating Gregor by removing all of his belonging from his room, leaving him with nothing. The cruelty performed on Gregor by his own family sends him into a dark pit of despair. With nothing to live for he began to slowly end his life, making one final sacrifice for the ones he loves

Eli Wiesel, the author of Night, demonstrates dehumanization by illustrating how the Nazis tortured the Jews. The foreign Jews of Sighet were being deported out of their homes. Moshe the Beatle tells Elie of his time in Galicia with great emotion. Elie shares what the Nazis did to the Jews, “Without passion or haste, they shot their prisoners, who were forced to approach the trench one by one and offer their necks. Infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for machine guns” (Wiesel 6). When the Nazis used innocent infants as shooting targets it showed significant dehumanization because as infants they haven’t experienced any aspect of life. When the Nazis took the infants lives at such young ages the infants are denied the chance for experiences of life. Additionally, the class of

Gregor’s initial reaction to his transformation shows his preoccupation with work. His confusion over his radical transformation does not last long, quickly becoming concerned with work and disregarding that he woke up physically transformed into a monstrous vermin. Immediately after realizing he had transformed, Gregor explains, “Well, I haven’t given up hope completely; once I’ve gotten the money together to pay off my parents’ debt to [the boss] that will probably take another five to six years… But for the time being I’d better get up, since my train leaves at five” (4). The quick transition of Gregor’s thoughts from the initial shock to his economic duties reveals his ironic nonchalant attitude towards his nonsensical transformation and

The narrator describes a recently hung picture, “The picture was of a woman clad in a fur stole; she sat upright and held out to the viewer a thick fur muff into which her entire forearm disappeared” (Kafka, 2013, p. 112). The protagonist displayed, this picture in his room to symbolize his search in finding love and a true meaning in life. Therefore, depriving Gregor from having a social life affected his mental

One of Wiesel 's strengths in Night is to show the full face of dehumanization. It is something that the Nazis perpetrated against the people they imprisoned. The tattooing of numbers on the prisoners, something that Eleizer notes, is of extreme importance. A- 7713 is by definition an example of dehumanization because it robs the humanity of the individual. The abuses that the Nazis perpetrate on their prisoners is another example of dehumanization.