Christian Ingles
Ernst
CP English 10 10 March, 2011
Introduction
The Holocaust changed the lives of many people and survivors and had many adverse effects. Some began to question their faith in their beliefs and even questioned their god. They pondered upon the thought of how God could sit idly by and allow the atrocious actions committed within their own homeland be unjustified. Those that survived have many terrifying stories to tell. Many survivors are too frightened to tell their story because their experiences are too lurid to express in words or even comprehend. One of Wiesel's main objectives in writing Night is to remind readers that the Holocaust occurred, and hopes that it will never happen again. Night themes include the inhumanity of humans toward others and how death can cause potent harm to one’s psyche. In Night, Elie Wiesel uses many literary devices such as Tone, Imagery, and Repetition to portray the acts of death and inhumanity as well as their traumatizing effects. Elie Wiesel uses repetition to clearly state and emphasize what he has endured and shall never falter or be forgotten but shall always linger within the confines of his forever scarred conscience. “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of
Ingles 2
Smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.” (Pg. 32) This quote displays not only the horrifying acts that were committed but the effects it had on the author’s conscience. Also, notice that Eliezer states that his God was murdered. “For the first time, I felt revolt rise up in me. Why should I bless His name? The Eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible, was silent.”(Pg. 31) But in the final line Eliezer acknowledges him as God. Despite saying his God was murdered, it is clear that Eliezer is actually struggling with his faith and his God. Just as he is never able to forget the horror of that night, he is never able to reject completely disdain his religion. Elie Wiesel uses imagery to depict explicitly what happened within the concentration camps. The imagery used in Night also gave the readers a sense of what Eliezer endured and the many horrors he encountered during his time spent within the camps. “Babies were thrown into the air and the machine gunners used them as targets” (Pg. 4)
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