The degree of anti-semitism that occurred during the Holocaust affected many people, and even caused some to question their belief in God. The setting of Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night, details the tragic events that occurred during this time. The setting of the memoir provides an account of a young Jewish boy’s experience as he survived the horrific Nazi death camps, where he witnessed the death of his family and many others. Wiesel uses the setting, mood, and tone to illustrate the emotional and tragic journey of a young Jewish boy during the Holocaust.
To begin with, the setting of the town of Sighet creates a mood of uncertainty and anticipation. As time passed in the story without Nazi intervention, the reader feels some relief, “Several
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Wiesel provides the reader with grisly details of the Nazis’ unimaginable method of executing the Jews. “In front of us, flames. In the air that smell of burning flesh”(27). Although such events do not occur in everyday life, for the Jews, it had become almost normal. Wiesel uses directness throughout the story to provide the reader a clear vision of the crematories used to execute the Jews. Wiesel also takes on a serious attitude as he describes the execution of a well liked young servant boy, who refused to give the SS names of people involved in the incident at Buna. “To hang a young boy in front of thousands of spectators was no light matter”(61). The reader further struggles to understand the realization that age mattered little to the Nazis. Jews of all ages were targeted and killed, even a young boy “loved by all”(61). Wiesel and many others mourn the loss of the young servant boy. His serious demeanor continues as he rhetorically questions the murderous methodology of the Nazis, “ How was it possible that men, women, and children were being burned and the world kept silent?”(30). This causes the reader to reflect, and ask, how could humanity have allowed such a tragedy to