Compare And Contrast Morrie And Elie Wiesel

“There is only one way in which one can endure man’s inhumanity and that is to try, in one’s own life, to exemplify man’s humanity to man.” - Alan Paton. Everywhere in the world, inhumane happenings are frequent. Inhumanity can be described as something as simple as making fun of someone, or even an event as severe as the Holocaust. Throughout life, inhumane activities and tragedies will plague the Earth, sometimes overwhelmingly. Inhumane events can be countered however, by positive humanity. Taking a positive idea from something unbearable to many is a trait of only the fewest and rarest of individuals. Two of these very well known persons are Morrie Schwartz and Elie Wiesel. Both Morrie and Elie are teachers in special ways; they see the

Elie survived the Holocaust in Germany during the 1940’s. At only 12 years old, Elie survived where over 6 million other members of the Jewish faith perished. To Mr. Weisel, inhumanity comes from only the most evil of people, the darkest that inhabit this world. He lived through death on a daily basis, watching friends and family die every day, all because of their religion. After all of this tragedy in his life, Elie refused to give up and be miserable; he took action and created awareness by writing a book. Elie Wiesel’s book, Night, has sold millions of copies and Elie himself won the Nobel Peace Prize. Night covers the inhumanity Elie witnessed in the death camps, and the horrors each night revealed. Elie Wiesel takes inhumanity as evil, because he experienced it so. “Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my god and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes” (Wiesel

However, Mr. Schwartz did not die in sadness or with any regrets. Morrie taught humans “how to die”. Schwartz was a professor at Brandeis University. Morrie had a favorite student, Mitch Albom. Although graduation sets both men apart for years, upon hearing of Morrie’s fatal illness, ALS, Mitch rushes back to Massachusetts to see his old friend. Knowing his death is soon to come, Morrie decides to live his life the best he can, for as long as ever he can. Mitch spends most Tuesdays with Morrie, and eventually starts to write down his teachings. Mitch, being a sportswriter, has no trouble keeping up with the fast paced Morrie. Near the end of his days, Mitch spends every day with Morrie, learning more and more about dying. To Morrie, man’s inhumanity comes with not loving each other. According to Morrie, “the most thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in” (Albom 52). Both Morrie and Elie see inhumanity in the world, but they differ in the sense in which they grasp it. Elie describes inhumanity as the senseless killing and hatred of others, and Morrie sees it as the inability to love. Inhumanity is in both of those views, but on a different level of seriousness. That being said, both views can be thought of as similar. Had the Nazis in 1940 had been willing to love all, like their Christian faith tells to do, the Holocaust would not have happened. Inhumanity comes in all sorts of forms, and unfortunately the spectrum on which