ipl-logo

Similarities Between Night And A Long Way Gone By Elie Wiesel

787 Words4 Pages

During a time of war and crisis, there are only two types of people: people that live or people that die. Both Night, by Elie Wiesel, and A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, by Ishmael Beah, are set in a time of war and crisis. The theme “hope and fear drive human behavior” best fits these two novels. During tough times, such as war, many people get into a mode of self-survival; fear can be a great motivator and has the ability to take away one’s humanity and to turn a once loving human being to a selfish monster. During the book Night, Elie faces many life changing challenges and is endeavoring to survive in the Holocaust. Eliezer catches himself being inhumane at times throughout the novel. The prisoners themselves were treated barbaric …show more content…

He undergoes many difficult situations that he either has to live with, or die. He changed from a young, innocent boy to a careless soldier, to a rehabilitated adult due to his war ravaged country. During the war, Ishmael was separated from his family. He had hope throughout the story that one day he would be reunited with his family, this sliver of hope pushed him to keep walking and not give up. Ishmael later witnessed the attack of the village his family was supposedly in and finally found out his family was dead (Beah, 117). Later, the soldiers told Ishmael and many other people they had a choice to be in the army or to go out on their own. Ishmael feared if he did not become a soldier he would end up getting killed by the rebels. This fear reflected his decision on becoming a solider. “The idea of death didn’t cross my mind at all and killing had become as easy as drinking water. My mind had not only snapped during the first killing, it had also stopped making remorseful records, or so it seemed.” (Beah, 122). This fear caused Ishmael to have nothing on his mind except to kill the enemy, it brainwashed him. Although, these experiences turned him into a malicious human. Fear and hope drove Ishmael’s decisions throughout the

Open Document