Sarah’s key and Night are two holocaust related novels both sharing two very opposing themes . They seem have different perspectives on silence v.s voice. Elie wiesel seems to have a strong highlight of silence as he had written in a very sincere manner all from his truthful perspective, while Sarah’s Key shows a display of voice and power throughout the novel. These two excerpts have both incredibly proven how a themetical Analysis will help produce a better understanding of these two novels.
In the novel , Night, Elie wiesel demonstrates the general theme of silence throughout the novel in many instances. There were times where characters hadn't stood up for one another and instead became bystanders to unjust acts. Throughout the
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A Nazi officer informed Elie and the other Jews arriving into Auschwitz of their fate if they were not to comply with commands. They critically enforced strict demands and standards to be followed: "'Remember it always, let it be graven in your memories. You are in Auschwitz. And Auschwitz is not a convalescent home. It is a concentration camp. Here, you must work. If you don't you will go straight to the chimney. To the crematorium. Work or crematorium - the choice is yours.' (Wiesel 38-39)."The author emphasizes the grave warnings that were established to the Jewish people in their resentment and hatred towards the Semitic race. Specific and crucial orders were to be given, and if not followed, certain annihilation will be granted, without potential of mercy. This had all been a barricade against standing …show more content…
In Sarah’s Key many characters stood up for what they believed and how they believed was right. One of the most recognizable moments of voice in Sarah's key was when Julia had informed William of his mother's past. The novel states “ I’m glad you told me what happened .. I think Julia was right to contact William.(De Rosnay 266)” Through the evidence given the author emphasizes Many voices in one. She describes Julia voice to rise and tell the family and Cecile voice to stand up for Julia when nobody believes for an excusable reason for Julia to inform William. This Novel shows a surprising amount of unity and voice as people are standing up for each other and doing actions that they believe in
Silence is often viewed as the absence of voice towards wrong actions; the inhumane treatment and mass genocides occurred for an unknown reason. Throughout Elie Wiesel's Night, the central perception the author portrayed was the internal emotions that were altered in the commencement of the Holocaust. Not only did the Jews experience inhumane physical treatment, but they also went through severe mental states. In Elie Wiesel's Night, the general theme of silence and indifference is portrayed as the Jews had no say with the treatment of the Nazis, which led to the result of them losing their humanity towards the end.
This account of Jewish survival is at once depressing, excruciatingly so. Unrelenting abuse and unspeakable crimes constantly bombard the reader. How does one feel having read it? Sick? Furthermore even Elie, a survivor, says, “My soul had been invaded -and devoured- by a black flame (pg.37)…my life… no longer mattered (pg.113).”
The Holocaust was one of humanity's darkest events and was the most devastating genocide in history. Even in the darkest event in history, there were those who didn’t give up hope and survived. One of these survivors was Elie Wiesel. He recounts the horrors he faced in Night, a retelling of what happened inside the concentration camp Auschwitz. Elie was only fifteen when he was deported in 1944.
In the novel, “Night” Elie Wiesel communicates with the readers his thoughts and experiences during the Holocaust. Wiesel describes his fight for survival and journey questioning god’s justice, wanting an answer to why he would allow all these deaths to occur. His first time subjected into the concentration camp he felt fear, and was warned about the chimneys where the bodies were burned and turned into ashes. Despite being warned by an inmate about Auschwitz he stayed optimistic telling himself a human can’t possibly be that cruel to another human.
In a barbarous world, people would rather remain silent than to call out the reality of the situation. Elie Wiesel came across the effects of hush during the holocaust. He describes these events in his book called Night. Through Elie’s perception, readers are able to receive a deeper comprehension of the theme: silence. For a start, Elie helps the reader apprehend the meaning of silence when he mentions the muteness of the people around him.
Elie Wiesel saw no sense at being and keeping faithfulness to God. A book of life and death does not rests in the hands of God, but in the hands of the executioner. Author expressed himself from leaving his ancestral faith, showed hatred referring to the Creator, whom he loved and worshiped before finding himself in the camp. He (God) became a stranger; sometimes considered him an enemy. Meanwhile, religious life in Auschwitz was very intense, despite the enormity of humiliation, slave labor and fear for survival during selection to the gas chambers.
In Night by Elie Wiesel, I can see significance when Wiesel encounters a positive voice in all the darkness of the concentration camps, that belonging to the French woman who worked alongside him. After many years, both he and the woman remember each other and their experience at the camps. The text says, “In the warehouse, I often worked next to a young French woman. We did not speak; she did not know German and I did not know French.” This introduces a new character, a French girl, who seems like she would be important later in the book.
To find a man who has not experienced suffering is impossible; to have man without hardship is equally unfeasible. Such trials are a part of life and assert that one is alive by shaping one’s character. In the autobiographical memoir Night by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, this molding is depicted through Elie’s transformation concerning his identity, faith, and perspective. As a young boy, Elie and his fellow neighbors of Sighet, Romania were sent to Auschwitz, a macabre concentration camp with the sole motive of torturing and killing Jews like himself. There, Elie experiences unimaginable suffering, and upon liberation a year later, leaves as a transformed person.
Night is a powerful, first person account of the tragic horrors of the Holocaust written and endured by Elie Wiesel. In this dark literary piece, Wiesel's first hand tale of the atrocities and horrors endured in World War II concentration camps will leave an unforgettable, dark, macabre impression amongst readers that cannot be done with a simple listing of statistics. This tale of human perserverance and the dark side of human nature will cause readers to question their own humanity. Also, it will paint a vivid picture of the vile deeds that mankind is capable of expressing. Reading this book will leave a long lasting impression that is definitely not something that will be soon forgotten.
Certain fears prevent others from causing a certain action in life, avoiding to be next to something or someone, or fear can get to a point to make someone remain silent. Meanwhile, silence is something that many people don’t consider that important. Maybe silence may not be a big deal. But in reality, silence is something that can mean a lot and can affect others in many ways over time. During the Holocaust, many of the Jews have noticed that they have changed over time.
Due to the exhaustive labor tormenting the prisoners, a selection process is utilized in order to eliminate individuals considered to be inadequate for labor. Provided that passing the examination evades them from being sent to the crematoria, “it no longer mattered that the work was hard,” as “all that mattered was to be far from the block, far from the crucible of death” (Wiesel 74). Despite the grueling work tormenting the prisoners, it is considered to be substantially superior compared to being exterminated in the crematoria. In addition to the grueling selection process, severe competition ensues as “men were hurling themselves against each other, trampling, tearing at and mauling each other” due to the fact that “a worker took a piece of bread out of his bag and threw it into a wagon” (Wiesel 100-101). As the pieces of bread are considered to be an exceptionally valuable asset owing to the severe hunger afflicting the prisoners, the quest for survival is paramount.
Elie Wiesel stated, “Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented,” in his Nobel Prize Speech in 1986. In doing so, he clearly states the purpose of writing Night: to demonstrate the horrors that he experienced during the Holocaust, not becoming reticent in the process. In expressing this message, Wiesel utilizes a myriad of literary and rhetorical devices including but not limited to foreshadowing, diction that conveys inferiority, and analogies. An example of foreshadowing is seen early in the book when Mrs. Schächter, a friend the author’s family, started to lose control during the train ride to a concentration camp when “a piercing cry [from Mrs. Schächter] broke the silence: ‘Fire! I see a fire!
Night Critical Abdoul Bikienga Johann Schiller once said “It is not flesh and blood, but the heart which makes us fathers and sons”. But what happens when the night darkens our hearts our hearts? The Holocaust memoir Night does a phenomenal job of portraying possibly the most horrifying outcomes in such a situation. Through subtle and effective language, Wiesel is able to put into words the fearsome experiences he and his father went through in Auschwitz during the Holocaust. In his holocaust memoir, Night, Elie Wiesel utilizes imagery to show the effect that self-preservation can have on father son relationships.
Night Paper Assignment Night, by Elie Wiesel, is a tragic memoir that details the heinous reality that many persecuted Jews and minorities faced during the dark times of the Holocaust. Not only does Elie face physical deprivation and harsh living conditions, but also the innocence and piety that once defined him starts to change throughout the events of his imprisonment in concentration camp. From a boy yearning to study the cabbala, to witnessing the hanging of a young child at Buna, and ultimately the lack of emotion felt at the time of his father 's death, Elie 's change from his holy, sensitive personality to an agnostic and broken soul could not be more evident. This psychological change, although a personal journey for Elie, is one that illustrates the reality of the wounds and mental scars that can be gained through enduring humanity 's darkest times.
It has been said that “Silence gives posthumous victory to Hitler.” Posthumous means “after death.” People may be indifferent to this subject now that they see it is long over, but if that is how people think, then Hitler may have won afterall. If people are silent then others will forget. If people forget, then they will no longer know the terrors the Holocaust has caused.