Examples Of Human Cruelty In Night By Elie Wiesel

In an interview with Paul Bloom, a Canadian-American psychologist, he explained that it was actually easy for people to act cruelly. During the Holocaust, for example, the Nazi Germans were able to kill millions of Jews by dehumanizing them or, as Bloom explained, by thinking of them as Sub-Human. Elie Wiesel’s book, Night, provides a harrowing description of his experiences as a young boy during the Holocaust. Wiesel conveys a powerful message about the innate cruelty of humans by vividly describing the crimes committed and the inhumanity he witnessed. In this essay, I will explore Wiesel’s portrayal of human cruelty and argue that humans are inherently cruel, rather than kind, through the actions of Rabbi Eliahu’s son, the prisoners on the

During this time, Rabbi Eliahu had grown very weak and his son became aware of it, and to benefit himself, he attempted to leave him behind for dead. Rabbi Eliahu whispered to Elie, “I fell behind a little, at the rear of the column. I didn’t have the strength to run anymore. And my son didn’t notice” (Wiesel 91). Throughout the run, any prisoners who fell behind or to the ground were killed. Surely, his son, who was right beside him, would have paid attention to his father enough to notice if his father was falling behind. After the Rabbi left, Elie remembered something else, “his son had seen him losing ground, sliding back to the rear of the column. He has seen him. And he had continued to run in front, letting the distance between them become greater” (Wiesel 91). Rabbi Eliahu’s son had purposefully let his father fall back, intending for him to be killed, so he wouldn’t have to be burdened by his sick father anymore. Even though, at one point, he loved his father, Rabbi Eliahu’s son proved that he believed he was more

The train passed through German towns, and one a group of curious workers and passersby threw pieces of bread into the wagons. Elie saw, “an old man dragging himself on all fours” who had just “detached himself from the struggling mob. He was holding one hand to his chest” (Wiesel 101). As soon as food fell into the wagons, every person went all men for themselves. No one else mattered, as long as they could get some of the bread. He continued to watch as the old man was attacked and listened to him cry, “Meir, my little Meir! Don’t you recognize me… You’re killing your father… I have bread… for you too… for you too” (Wiesel 101). The old man’s son had jumped and killed him over a piece of bread. The son had gotten to the point where he was cruel and was hungry enough to kill his