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One Voice Vs. Statistics In Night By Elie Wiesel

849 Words4 Pages

In Night, Elie Wiesel survives an attempted genocide many have heard of but few truly known, the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel doesn’t know how he survived saying, “I was weak, rather shy; I did nothing to save myself,” (p. vii). However, he knows his survival and testimony has placed him as a, “witness who believes he has a moral obligation to try to prevent the enemy from enjoying one last victory by allowing his crimes to be erased from human memory,” (p. viii). What follows is a summary of Elie’s auto-biography Night that seeks to answer whether or not it is effective as a witness of the Holocaust; a comparison of the power of one voice versus statistics; and an inquiry as to what extent this account of individuals struggling to survive impacts …show more content…

One can get overwhelmed by the magnitude of statistics in history. One such statistic being: “Jewish victims of the Holocaust… Total Loss 5, 820, 960,” (http://faculty.ucc.edu/egh-damerow/statistics/htm). It is easy to forget that an individual story can voice a shared experience. Elie did not see 5,820,960 deaths but he felt them and portrayed them. Six million voices can be heard as Elie cries, “Never shall I forget that night…that smoke…those flames that…turned my dreams to ashes,” (pg.34). He sees babies thrown into open flames, boys hung for petty crimes, starvation, and the loss of hope in every direction. Through his voice humanity is …show more content…

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).” Hope seems lost in this story. Then I remember Elie speaking of the first human words he heard in the camps. A young pole said, “Ahead of you lies a long road paved with suffering. Don’t lose hope…Have faith in life, a thousand times faith…Hell does not last forever… Help each other that is the only way to survive (pg.41).” These words stand out in a world of terror. They seem foreign. Yet they capture the heart of a people who hope, who have faith. They demand attention and I find myself stopping to ponder the strength of character it would take to practice these words. I feel spellbound and in awe by the bravery shown in the face of death by these people struggling to

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