“In front of us, those flames. In the air, the smell of burning flesh. We had arrived.” During the height of World War 2, Elie Wiesel was a teenager when he was taken along with his family and placed first in the Auschwitz concentration camp then many other camps. Night is the story of that journey. Through Wiesel’s journey through all the concentration camps, the reader learns about Wiesel’s horrifying memories of the camps, the death of his family, friends, and himself as a Jew during the height of World War 2. Through imagery, Wiesel shows the brutal treatment given to the prisoners, showing the emotional trauma prisoners had to endure. By choosing between staying silent or speaking out during horrific events, Wiesel shows how the choice someone makes, either will stop suffering or let it continue. The first way, …show more content…
"The Jewish community of Sighet would not listen. But people not only refused to believe his tales, they refused to listen." (Wiesel, 4-7) This passage shows how not acting on this warning caused punishment and cruelty to continue and put the Jews in a bad situation. By speaking out, Moshe the Beadle shined a light on a matter that would eventually cost people, especially Jews, their lives. However, by refusing to act on the warning given, and choosing silence after hearing this warning, the Jews of Sighet were stuck in an impossible situation with no way out but through. However, throughout the book, Elie Wiesel also shows that speaking out challenges authority and can end suffering. For example, when the Kapo in the Auschwitz camp (a Jewish inmate who acts as an extra guard for the Nazis by force) offers words of encouragement to the prisoners, he shows that others are aware of the situation. “Comrades. Ahead of you lies a long road paved with suffering. Don’t lose hope.member your strength and keep your