The Holocaust is one of the most tragic and impactful events in human history. It revealed the ugliness of humankind and continues to influence survivors and listeners to this day. Some may argue that Elie Wiesel’s talents and character would have been developed without his past struggles. To repudiate, the hardships experienced during the Holocaust incited the development of Wiesel’s depressed and dutiful character.
Wiesel’s experience in the Holocaust led to confusion and inner conflicts throughout the rest of his life. For example, Wiesel struggles to grapple the fact that children were murdered in concentration camps: “People tend to think that a murderer weakens when facing a child… But with us it happened differently. Our Jewish children
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For instance, Holden Caulfield calls many people throughout the novel who he feels has selfish motives “phonies.” Equivalent to Holden, Wiesel feels the need to prevent people (the “phonies”) from forgetting the Holocaust. Holden rebels against respecting widely revered people and Wiesel rebels against the progressing society. However, Wiesel’s rebellious actions are less voluntary than those of Holden. Wiesel has a sense of responsibility for justifying the deaths of the Jewish people: “We had all taken an oath: ‘If, by some miracle, I emerge alive, I will devote my life to testifying on behalf of those whose shadow will fall on mine forever and ever.” On the other hand, Holden is a rebellious teenager with a cynical perspective on the world. As stated previously, Wiesel has cynical outlooks as well. In contrast to Holden, this cynicality was started by his experiences in the concentration camps rather than by natural personality. The fact that Wiesel rebels against the advancing world where the past is thought to be left in the past so that it can’t hold people back show the strength of his devotion to bringing justice to the deceased camp