Examples Of Dehumanization In Night By Elie Wiesel

Throughout the book Night, by Elie Wiesel, Wiesel goes through a lot of changes as he and his father are put through torture in concentration camps. When Wiesel was fifteen he was separated from his mother and sisters when they were being grouped into camps. For about a year Wiesel, along with everyone else in the camps, is stripped of humane treatment. They are dehumanized to the point where they are treated like objects. Wiesel is dehumanized and is no longer treated as a human with feelings, but as an object that doesn't deserve a life. He faces many acts that take away his meaning and identity. The Nazis used methods of dehumanization to take away their individuality and make them feel no longer human, which led him to lose his identity.

It was right before Wiesel’s ghetto was moved to a concentration camp and their whole worlds were going to change. One of the first acts of dehumanization Wiesel faced was when all the Jews had to wear a yellow star, “The yellow star? So what? It's not lethal” (Wiesel, 11) All of the Jewish people had to wear a yellow star on their sleeve signifying that they were Jewish. The yellow star symbolized how the German people judged others' worth on whether they wore a colored star on their arm. taking their identity down to a singular armband. It reduced them from not being judged on whether they were a good person or if they were smart to just what they were wearing. The stars took away their individuality. Taking away individuality was a big part of dehumanization. “All Jews outside” (Wiesel, 18) The Nazis used dialogue in referring to everyone in the ghetto. Saying “all Jews outside” reduced them to only that. Again, forgetting everything else which makes them unique, and what kind of person they are. They were grouped and treated as one, no matter how many there were. The first signs of dehumanization slowly led to more personal

During Rosh Hashanah, the prisoners got together to participate in their ceremony “ I was nothing but ashes now.” (Wiesel, 68) Wiesel uses a metaphor to show how he felt empty after all he had been put through. Wiesel had seen his whole life go up into smoke, constantly seeing the crematorium and all the ashes and death. Wiesel sat thinking to himself, slowly losing faith in God. God was a big part of his identity and after the camp, he felt he lost God and his identity. It was one of the first times he was able to sit and reminisce over what he's been through. The constant fear and viewing of death, the tiny portions of bread and soup, and the physical labor and torture left Wiesel feeling empty and nothing more than ashes. He was no longer a human filled with deep emotions, but instead, ashes. Wiesel and the other prisoners promise one of their friends they would say Kaddish for him after he passed, “And three days after he left, we forgot to say kaddish” (Wiesel, 77) If they never went to a concentration camp and life went on as normal for them if one of their friends passed they would remember forever. Unfortunately, under their circumstances, death was so common that after only three days they had forgotten. Saying kaddish (a prayer) was a way to honor and pray for his passing. Praying and participating in religious activities was something that brought their community together, even in the camps. Wiesel