Night is a well written book about one person’s struggle through the Holocaust. It shows the terrors and the hardships of the Holocaust, and it also reveals the faith and hope needed to survive.
The quote, “I’ve got more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He’s the only one who’s kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people,” explains how many Jews felt during the Holocaust. Everyone was lying to them and they could count on Hitler to do what he said he would.
If, for example, he was opening another concentration camp, it would happen. Many Nazis also told the Jews what was going to happen to them and promised things but none of it was true. Just like when they told people they were going to shower when they really were going to suffocate to death in the gas chambers. The Jewish people also felt betrayed by God. This was like when Elie started to lose faith in God.
He felt that he couldn’t trust Him-how could He let this happen to me? The Jews were losing faith in Him, but in a sense gaining faith in Hitler. They always knew he would stay true to what he said in a way they could “count on him”.
The quote, “The idea of dying, of no longer being, began to fascinate me. Not to exist any longer. Not to feel the horrible pains in my foot. Not to feel anything, neither weariness, nor cold, nor anything.
” shows how many Jews felt when they began to lose hope in surviving. Elie thought this way when he too began losing faith that he would survived-when he thought he lost the will to stay alive. People in the Holocaust just gave up a lot because they had no will to live. They had forgotten what they were living for. Many people questioned why they should go on, with all of the torture they faced daily. To them there was no point of staying alive, only to wake up to hardships and threats from the Nazis. Many Jews essentially wanted to escape the pain, grueling work, and eternal tiredness. Most figured death would end the relentless terrors they went through every day. It was not only physical problems they went through-they also faced emotional problems. Most people just lost hope, and the will to survive. They wanted a release from the horrors they witnessed and would keep in their mind for however long left they had to live. Imagine being immensely tired but not being able to fall asleep because of the torture and all of the disgusting, terrible things you had to watch firsthand. Images flashing through your mind like some twisted, sick movie that never ends. Death was the only escape for them.
The quote, “From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me.” symbolized the end of the Holocaust, and how weak and tired the surviving Jews were. It shows how even a young 15 year old can look and feel dead after it. It also shows how much it took out of people, how ever young they may be. The reflection Elie saw in the mirror reflected all of the tough times he endured in Auschwitz and all of the struggles he had just staying alive. He will never forget the Holocaust, in a way his reflection represents everything he had to go through-and the change of him before and after. How that he could change so much in such a short time. It also represented the 6 million Jewish people that were silenced by the Holocaust and how we need to share their stories so they are never forgotten.
All of the voices lost during the Holocaust came together in Night. It was like a memoir of every single person that went though what Elie did. Night remains an inspiration for many and serves as the testament of the Holocaust – and how we can never forget what happened or the overwhelming amount of people who were lost.
Terrors of the Holocaust in Night. (2021, Dec 23). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/an-analysis-of-the-terrors-and-hardships-of-the-holocaust-in-night-by-elie-wiesel/