Jadon Zhao
Hansen
English 10
15 January 2023
Analysis of How Atrocities Turn Good People Into Monsters in “Night” Atrocities can turn even the most innocent of people into monsters. This is a theme that is explored in Elie Wiesel’s novel Night. Through the experiences of the protagonist, Elie, we can see how the horrors of the Holocaust can transform a person from a kind and compassionate individual to a hardened and cruel one. One example of this theme is when Elie says he had become a different person and that his “soul had been invaded–and devoured–by a black flame” (Wiesel, Night, 37). The imagery of a black flame devouring his soul suggests that the atrocities he witnessed and experienced have consumed his humanity and morality. The quote highlights that the atrocities of the Holocaust not only affected the prisoners physically but also morally and emotionally. It consumed
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It demonstrates how Wiesel was affected by the Holocaust's atrocities both as a survivor and as a human, as his soul was consumed by the evil he had to face. This demonstrates how Elie Wiesel, a good man, was not immune to the Holocaust's impact and how it changed him, making him almost into a monster.
The quote "What's more, if I felt anger at that moment, it was not directed at the Kapo but at my father. Why couldn't he have avoided Idek's wrath? That was what life in a concentration camp had made of me..." (Wiesel, Night, 54) is spoken by Elie Wiesel himself, describing his feelings towards his dad getting mistreated by the Kapo.
The quote shows how Wiesel's moral compass can be altered by the harsh conditions of the concentration camps since he aims his rage not at the Kapo who is responsible for the crimes but instead at his own father, who was a victim of them. It demonstrates how the Holocaust's crimes drastically altered both Wiesel's connection with his father and who he was as a