Dehumanization In Night By Elie Wiesel

Charis Shearer
Mrs. Way
Honors English 9
22 March 2023
Humanity Taken for Granted
“But there was nothing. Not a shadow of expression. Defeat'' (Wiesel 69). The Jews suffered through the holocaust, not only enduring physical pain, but also by being tortured mentally. Hitler initiated the damage that tore the tight knit of families and stole identities from each victim. In the novel Night, by Elie Wiesel, Elie recalls the inhumane actions of Hitler’s army, the Jews are suffering through dehumanization.
The first type of dehumanization is the edicts that are being placed on the Jews that are preventing them from owning personal property. The SS soldiers are commanding each Jew to hand over all of their money and other valuables. From this act,

The main component in humanity is diversity because distinction gives someone a sense of being important, recognized and different. Hitler’s plan to make Jews feel like they are not human starts with taking their identity. The evidence of this when Elie arrives at the concentration camp, he loses not only his innocence but also his name, Elie says, “Three prisoners brought a table and some medical instruments. We were told to roll up our sleeves and file past the table. I became A-7713. From then on, I had no other name” (Wiesel 42). Hitler takes away the only thing that Elie has left. His name. Although he still has his identity, by calling someone only a code they begin to believe that they do not deserve to be treated like human beings and they don’t have enough significance to be viewed as a person with value. Another example of Elie Wiesel’s loss of identity is when he believes that he has to look a certain way to survive. He focuses only on how his appearance is keeping him alive. The prisoners believe that when they are not looking appropriately, they are good for death. An example of this happening as a group of prisoners are being grouped together to be selected for the crematorium. As Elie is stepping up to stand before the selector, he thinks to himself, “You are too skinny…you are too weak… you are too skinny, you are good for the ovens… The race seemed endless; I

It does not matter if someone works somewhere else, enjoys different hobbies, lives far, looks differently, they are connected because each worships the same god. Taking the chance of worship from a group of people, not only takes personal hope, but it takes away the community that is built from that religion. As Elie’s New Year starts, he hears others praising god. He thought, “But now, I no longer pleaded for anything. I was no longer able to lament. On the contrary, I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused. My eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God, without man. Without love or mercy. I was nothing but ashes now, but I felt myself to be stronger than this Almighty to whom my life had been bound for so long. In the midst of all these men assembled in prayer, I felt like an observer, a stranger” (Wiesel 68). Since Elie is feeling against god, he is feeling against all of the Jews as well. He is alone, and he is not able to lament like the rest of his community. Hitler did this by taking away any kind of love and mercy so anyone in that religion would lose faith in a god who gives hope, love and mercy. In addition, dehumanizing someone’s religion is taking so much away from them that they don’t have the hope that comes from a god. Throughout the book, Night, Hitler’s army are persecuting the Jews through genocide. The Jews are losing their faith because