Examples Of Inhumanity In The Book Night

Night: The Peak of Inhumanity

Throughout history man has been cruel to man in many ways. Although there has been not many more cruel than the treatment of the Jews in Germany and Europe during the Nazi rule and throughout the Second World War. Many of the ways they were treated is more akin to the treatment of animals in a farm being raised for the slaughter, or of the way that slaves were treated around the world. The way the Germans treated the Jews is detestable, and the way the Jews and prisoners treated each other during such times of strife were equally detestable. Since the Holocaust there have been many more genocides with some even exceeding the death count of the Holocaust, but none have been more impactful on modern society as the

“One day when Idek was seized with one of his fits of frenzy, I got in his way. He leapt on me, like a wild animal, hitting me in the chest, on the head, throwing me down and pulling me up again, his blows growing more and more violent, until I was covered with blood.” (Wisel 60) Idek is a Kapo, a prisoner who is appointed by the Nazis to keep the others in line, who is prone to fits of rage. In Night, Elie accidentally gets into Ideks way; Idek then proceeds to beat Elie senselessly until he is covered in his own blood. The way Idek treats Elie and the other prisoners is that of kicking a chair for no discernable reason. His treatment of the prisoners goes to show how little he thinks they are human and how the Nazis give him unchecked power. Power that he is able to abuse to his will and use however he pleases against the poor disheveled

“No. I wasn’t asleep. They jumped on top of me. They snatched my bread… and they hit me… again… I can’t stand any more, son… a drop of water….” (114)The other prisoners beat Elie's father, for he is sick and dying. While beating him they take what rations of bread he has. This is because they feel that need his ration more than he does. They also feel that since he is sick he probably will not stick around much longer in the camp. This makes the beating ever more cruel and brutal as they are killing him faster in the process, as each blow weakens him and makes him feel even