Night Research Paper Essay Example
The Legacy of Night A good piece of literature is one that contains a deeper meaning behind the text, and by the language and literary terms that the author develops. Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night, is a piece of good literature, despite what some critics may argue. Wiesel’s struggle with his faith is a dominant conflict in Night, and at the beginning of the memoir, his faith in God is absolute. However, through the use of conflict and irony, Elie Wiesel was able to show how his faith was irreparably shaken by the cruelty and evil that he witnesses during the Holocaust. Along with his excellent use of literary devices Wiesel shows the manifestation of his memoir, by utilizing thematic ideas, his own character’s realization of one’s self, and his strong voice as a witness, Wiesel successfully represents the messages intended for the audience. Frequently used throughout Wiesel’s work is conflict and irony, which convey his messages to the reader. Irony is recurring throughout the concentration camps, as a “doctor” is someone such as Dr. Mengele, who selects people for death rather than saving them from it. “A son can kill, rather than respect, his father” (Dougherty). The irony in this idea is that it is meaningless to save someone from something that is bound to happen to them. Yet another form of irony was displayed throughout the concentration camps, “This one had an iron gate with the overhead inscription: Arbeit Macht Frei. Work makes you free. Auschwitz” (Wiesel). These messages were clearly ironic, as work most certainly did not make a prisoner free. Moreover, these messages inflicted the conflict throughout the memoir, because the more the prisoners saw these words, the more they wondered if they ever were going to be free from these camps. The more the prisoners longed for their freedom, the more they took their frustration out on God, and worse, each