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Compare And Contrast Night And Harrison Bergeron

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Almost everyone has read a science fiction novel. Science fiction novels that are especially popular are often those that portray dystopian futures. Stories of this sort depict far-fetched scenarios in which every part of life is unfair or miserable. Although these tales may seem far-fetched and implausible, there are instances in human history which mirror them. For instance, the Holocaust of World War II is an example of such a scenario. It was very real, but to someone who did not know about the history of the world, it would seem like a thought so vile that it could only come from an absurdly abominable mind. Many people who were unlucky enough to have experienced the Holocaust have written memoirs about their struggles. One such …show more content…

“Harrison Bergeron” is a short story that develops some of the same themes as Night, yet it does so in a much more satirical way. Both Night by Elie Wiesel and “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut develop the theme of good and evil through smaller themes such as loss of humanity and psychological warfare. Prisoners of the concentration camps in Night lose their sense of humanity and decency throughout the book in an obvious display of evil. In the beginning of the book, the Jews of Sighet are optimistic about their possibility of a fulfilling future. After they are deported from the ghetto, however, their moods begin to shift. By the time the Jews reach the camps of Buna and Gleiwitz, they have lost almost all of their good human nature. This fact is shown by both interactions between prisoners and Elie’s own thoughts. As the Jews continue their journey to their new camp of Gleiwitz, Elie observes, “We were masters of nature, masters of the world. We had forgotten everything—death, fatigue, our natural needs. Stronger than cold or hunger, stronger than the shots and the desire to die, condemned and wandering, mere numbers, we were the only men on earth” (83). Elie’s words demonstrate both his and the prisoners’ state of despair. By …show more content…

This method of evil is present throughout the entire novel. The oppressors of the Jews use psychological tactics to gain influence over them. As he is forced to board a train to Birkenau, Elie narrates, “The Hungarian lieutenant went among us with a basket and collected the last [valuable] possessions from those who no longer wished to taste the bitterness of terror. ‘There are eighty of you in this wagon,’ added the German officer. ‘If anyone is missing, you’ll all be shot, like dogs’” (22). By taking the valuables of the people boarding the train, the Hungarian lieutenant degrades them. He manipulates his subjects by making them believe that they are somehow less than human and do not deserve their own belongings. Also, it is very unlikely that the Germans will count all the passengers of the train, but by threatening to shoot them if they do not all stay in the train, the German officer exhibits his dominance over them. The Jews do not know for a fact that they will be counted upon their arrival, but the very possibility of being shot is enough to dismay them. Such a great fear of dying overwhelms them that they are forced to obey the commands given to them. In a similar way to the examples in Night, the characters in “Harrison Bergeron” experience psychological warfare from their government. While he talks to his wife about cheating on his

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Christopher Browning’s book, Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 explains the story of the most infamous mass killing in modern history and the ordinary men who participated in this genocide. In this book Browning provides insight into who these ordinary men really are and their horrendous acts. The Police Battalion 101 became a mass-execution squad in Poland in 1942-43. Surprisingly every single one of these men were able to make the decision to avoid partaking in the killings with no repercussions, some left, while some stated that they were given no such choice and that they didn’t hear that part. When given the orders to take out these innocent Jews, some of the men pleaded that the reason they were hesitant to kill was the fact that they were simply just too weak.

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In this work, Night  by Elie Wiesel, the author expresses that restricting basic needs and one’s individuality, leads way to dehumanization, in which deconstructs a culture.  As Elie’s struggle slowly comes to an end, he analyzes his experience living in concentration camps and the loss of his character, which is emphasized toward the end of the memoir.  While beginning to adjust to the environment and the camp itself, Elie is approached by a hostile gentleman wanting to have his gold crown because of its value. This instance is shown when it says, “If you don't give me your crown, it will cost you much more!"(Wiesel 55). Due to the fact that the camps had given the prisoners, small rations of food, and stripped them of their valuable items, the crown's value had increased.

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Elie Wiesel tells the story of the traumatic childhood he faced in the concentration camps during World War II in his novel, Night. During the expulsion of the Jews in Sieght, the Nazis establish a “chain of command” to communicate with the people in the ghetto. In the ghettos, the Hungarian police gives commands to the Jewish police, who then share the orders with the other Jewish people. Finally, all Jewish peoples, including the Jewish police, must follow the orders originally instructed by the Nazis. The implementation of this “chain of command” allowed the Nazis to give orders faster, and may have even helped to restrain aggressive reactions or disobedience.

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353 Words | 2 Pages

Faster, you filthy dogs! In the book “Night”, Elie faces some very excruciating events that take place in several concentration camps. These camps include Auschwitz, Buna, Gleiwitz, and Buchenwald. And while some of them are just cruel, most events are dehumanizing.

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888 Words | 4 Pages

Elie Wiesel’s Night, shows how hard it was to live and be a Jew during the time of the holocaust due to all the deaths, camps, and losses. Elie’s book shows readers what kind of events and actions were the cause of death of some prisoners and the thing that caused the survival of others. Throughout the book, many prisoners ended up giving up the hope to continue living, while others were able to find enough hope and love in family and friends to find a reason to hold on to life and try to survive. The weather, the selections, and family, were the three biggest things that costed some prisoners their lives and affected the will of others to live. Elie uses dialogue and examples of items and family members that the prisoners lost or were afraid to lose to show what caused some prisoners give up all hope of survival and why other prisoners were able to endure.

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648 Words | 3 Pages

For many people, they have to put themselves above all others in order to have a hope of life. They have to take the resources they can, while they can, which can make them feel guilty and selfish. Night, by Elie Wiesel, is a autobiography about Elie’s life during the holocaust. It shows how his friends and family were affected by the Nazi regime trying to kill them, the selection process where at a glance, half of his family got sent to die. It tells about the daily tasks he did in Auschwitz, and those he met in the death camp.

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The pungent stench was unbearable for Elie's father could no longer move. All that could be heard were the painful moans of the sick and dying. All the strength had faded from his old, wizened body. The end was upon him. This scene from Night by Elie Wiesel describes one of the many conflicts he faces as a Jewish prisoner in concentration camps during the Holocaust.

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163 Words | 1 Pages

In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, from chapter three, Elie is a young sensitive boy with dreams, later on, all Jews had to go to work in the concentration camp. For example, Elie was full of hopes but the camp brought him a terrible experience, “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night…” (page 34) This shows that the author is who at first naive, he studied Kabbalah with Moishe, had nothing to worry about until the order came Germans threw to an abyss, had no rights. Furthermore, when he first came to the camp he knew nothing, until he witnessed his mother and sister walked farther, an old man fell on the ground and intermediately shot, from that moment he started to disbelief and

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Throughout the story “Night”, there are many ways and examples of man’s inhumanity to man. Elie and many other jews first experienced this when they were forced out of their homes to the concentration camp. Elie and other inmates witnessed violent actions daily at the concentration camps, from soldiers beating inmates and inmates fighting other inmates.  Experiencing these actions affected Elie and other people in the concentration camps.

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419 Words | 2 Pages

The severely cruel conditions of concentration camps had a profound impact on everyone who had the misfortune of experiencing them. For Elie Wiesel, the author of Night and a survivor of Auschwitz, one aspect of himself that was greatly impacted was his view of humanity. During his time before, during, and after the holocaust, Elie changed from being a boy with a relatively average outlook on mankind, to a shadow of a man with no faith in the goodness of society, before regaining confidence in humanity once again later in his life. For the first 13 years of his life, Elie seemed to have a normal outlook on humanity.

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981 Words | 4 Pages

---Rough Draft--- While we probably all know that the Holocaust was a horrible stain on the fabric of society, Elie Wiesel's book shows that the acts of the Nazi's are more horrible towards the Jews than some of us may have been led to believe. Elie originates from a town known as Sighet located in what was previously known as Transylvania. Though Sighet was not part of Germany or Hungary, they were still abused by the SS soldiers, by trapping them in fenced off ghettos. They also soon transported them in a terrible cattle car ride, and treated them like slaves. But the meat of the story takes place in the concentration camp(s), where they are given minimal amounts of food and judged like dogs to see if they are worth keeping.

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1032 Words | 5 Pages

In Night and Farewell to Manzanar the camps forced the prisoners to live a life they did not expect. These camps were in Poland and The United States. The camps ruined people’s lives because of many reasons. These are terrible event that happened. I would say all prisoners suffered at the camps, but some did more than the others.

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564 Words | 3 Pages

Night Paper Assignment Night, by Elie Wiesel, is a tragic memoir that details the heinous reality that many persecuted Jews and minorities faced during the dark times of the Holocaust. Not only does Elie face physical deprivation and harsh living conditions, but also the innocence and piety that once defined him starts to change throughout the events of his imprisonment in concentration camp. From a boy yearning to study the cabbala, to witnessing the hanging of a young child at Buna, and ultimately the lack of emotion felt at the time of his father 's death, Elie 's change from his holy, sensitive personality to an agnostic and broken soul could not be more evident. This psychological change, although a personal journey for Elie, is one that illustrates the reality of the wounds and mental scars that can be gained through enduring humanity 's darkest times.

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970 Words | 4 Pages

Throughout the novel, Eliezer, the main character, and his father are sent to one concentration camp to another, facing new difficulties and people everyday. From the beginning of the journey when the Jews found out about what was happening and the Hitler’s intentions, their lives had drastically changed. The Jews, victims of the

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320 Words | 2 Pages

In the book Night, by Elie Wiesel, there are many scenes that display the horrifying nature of the death camps in Germany that Jews were sent in. These terrifying scenes further explored the themes that lay hidden in this puzzle of a book. One such scene is when Elie’s father was ambushed by the leader of the group Idek for being in his way. Furthermore, his father lay there, taking the beating and being used as an example for the inmates. However, the key idea that is being displayed is the dehumanization that was shown.

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