Freedom And Confinement In Ellie Wiesel's Night

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Freedom and confinement are not two words commonly found together, but in "Night" by Ellie Wiesel this is a reoccurring theme. This novel is built off of the hope and fight for freedom and the reality of imprisonment. Wiesel explains his first-hand account on the strive for freedom, the truth of confinement, and the hurt of the life after. At the beginning of the novel confinement and captivity are very prominent, of course at this time there is no pure liberty for the Jews. He illustrates them as prisoners, "They were forced to dig huge trenches...without passion or haste, they shot down their prisoners." (pg.6) Here Moishe the Beadle gives his account to Elie about how things happened when he was taken and how heartless the gestapo were. They have no remorse and no problem with showing that. By also giving us a first-hand account of the merciless officers Wiesel again portrays they are under pure constraint, " 'There are eighty of you in the car', the German officer added. 'If anyone goes missing, you will all be shot, like dogs.' "(pg.24) This also shows what Moishe says about them being "without passion or haste" to be true. It also begins to show the reader how confined they are and the underlying need for freedom. …show more content…

"No thought of revenge or of parents, only of bread." and "no trace of revenge" (pg.115) Therefore showing how low their standards of freedom are by providing emphasis on the fact that there is no thought of vengeance or reunion only on something so taken for granted, one is able to see their