How Does Elie Wiesel Change In Night

Night by Elie Wiesel is a memento of the tragedy that he and his family were forced to live through in the horrific state of the Holocaust. Throughout the span of the book, Elie experiences different levels of change as a person both mentally and physically as he is faced against the responsibilities of maturing rapidly to escape death. Maslow’s Hierarchy is a perfect substructure to understand Elie’s development and changes throughout the course of his gruesome time spent in the Holocaust.

Body Paragraph 1 - Physiological Needs

At the bottom of the pyramid, physiological needs include essentials such as food, water, and shelter. In this situation, all prisoners were lacking, which would lead to death for many because of the very poor, inhumane

The brutalism of the Holocaust deeply impacted Elie for life, something he will never forget and he demonstrates his feelings in the most significant quote of the entire book, “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments that butchered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes. Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.” (34) Elie’s fear is a major force that is put on him and is described as a nightmare. Love and Belonging Needs is the next stage that lacks with Elie throughout the course of the book. At the end of the story, he’s all alone with no family and his only responsibility is to keep himself alive. When Elie and his family arrive at the camp, they’re quickly separated from each other and Elie is only with his father, which was relieving to him. Even though he wasn’t with his family, small friendships with other prisoners helped Elie a little bit. “Our morale was much improved. A good night's sleep had done its work. Friends met,

“The three "veteran" prisoners, needles in hand, tattooed numbers on our left arms. I became A-7713. From then on, I had no other name.” (42) Everyone was only treated as another number or code and their identities were taken and replaced, despite this, Elizer still had a will to live and to survive. At the final stage, Elizer finally reaches his full potential and reaches personal growth within the year that felt everlasting. His experiences illustrated the impactful trauma that was put upon him that lived with him for the rest of his life. Even though it isn’t made very clear, his main purpose in life after the war is to never let his story die out. He became a philosophical person that takes everyone into mind when he remembers the Holocaust, shown in the Nobel Peace Prize Speech “This honor belongs to all the survivors and their children and, through us, to the Jewish people with whose destiny I have always identified” (118) Despite the unimaginable experiences he had to face, his determination broke through it and was motivated by the idea to find meaning in a life that is covered by violence and trauma. In conclusion, Night is Elie Weisel’s literary expression of always managing to break through the hardest situations with the strength of human