Dehumanization In Night By Elie Wiesel

Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night expresses his experiences and struggles during the Holocaust. Night reveals a story of horror, death, and fear whilst exhibiting a sense of hope and perseverance. In the story, Elie is taken from his home, separated from his family, and brought to a concentration camp where he was would live through things no person should have to go through. Night takes place during 1941-1945 during the height of the Holocaust. Throughout the story, the Jews are slowly turned into brutes through a process called dehumanization. Elie himself is dehumanized, but in a different way than most Jews who experienced the same hardships. All of the Jews who went through the Holocaust were physically dehumanized one way or another. The prisoners

Elie kept his sanity the whole time and never acted savagely against his fellow prisoners. This shows that Elie was able to stay human in his mind. Even though he was being treated as an animal, he never acted as one. The other prisoners acted as dogs when food was mentioned, whereas Elie knew that if he followed, he would endanger himself. “A worker took a piece of bread out…and threw it into the wagon. Dozens of starving men fought desperately over a few crumbs.” (Wiesel 100) This represents the insanity of the other prisoners. Elie having his father is the main reason he was able to keep his sanity. Elie lost his faith almost as soon as he arrived at the concentration camps. On the fist night he wrote, “Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.” (Wiesel 34) Elie was confused on why his God would let these atrocities happen to his people. He began losing faith and getting angry with God. Elie’s dehumanization was more prevalent in the mental sense than the

The Jews had become so accustomed to seeing death that they could pass by it without feeling anything. “The dead remained in the yard… no one recieted Kaddish over them. Sons abandoned the remains of their fathers without a tear.”(Wiesel 92) This shows that the Jews were unable to feel sorrow even after seeing their fathers lie deceased on the ground. Death began to consume everyone, stealing their ability to feel and to reason. “I knew that I was no longer arguing with him but with Death itself, with Death he had already chosen.” (Wiesel 105) This quote is very strong because it shows that the prisoners were incapable of reasoning for themselves. Death had taken over them and numbed them to everything else. Death wasn’t only apparent in the physical sense but also spiritually. “Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever.” (Wiesel 34) This quote illustrates the impact that witnessing such horrors can have on a person, how it can shatter their beliefs and change their perspective on life forever. The profound experiences of death and suffering depicted in Night by Elie Wiesel, caused the prisoners to become desensitized to the atrocities around them, highlighting the unimaginable trauma that can be inflicted upon humans in times of war and