Literary Analysis of Night and Leviathan
In a horrifying first-hand account of a genocide, Elie tells of his tremendous struggles through concentration camps, and the miserable journeys in between them. In Night, Elie tells the story of his childhood, where he is in the midst of German territory at the start of World War II. Elie is a part of a high ranking Jewish family which has a large portion of power in the surrounding area, which was almost completely negated when the Holocaust began. Elie was taken from his home and boarded a train for his first camp, and upon arrival he is separated from everyone but his father, and this is the last of he will see of them ever again. In the camps the community the Jews once had is completely destroyed
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In Leviathan, Hobbes was the original author to suggest that humans are prepared to do terrible things, when there are no consequences. Hobbes paints the picture of a world in a “State of Nature,” which is referring to before governments controlled people, and before people had set customs and tradition. In saying this, he is implying that people are naturally evil, and that without a strong, central government to enforce rules, people are prepared to do horrendous things for their own personal gain. Thomas Hobbes doesn’t mean that people are evil directly, though. He means that several factors of human nature combine and mix to create something that is ignorant, arrogant and greedy. Hobbes says, “For to accuse requires less eloquence, such is man's nature, than to excuse; and condemnation, than absolution, more resembles justice.” This excerpt means that most people will accuse people (such as Hitler did to the jews, in Night.) rather than forgive them, or bestow blame unto themselves, since it is much easier to stomach to blame someone for what oneself is at fault for. Another quote from Hobbes is, “Homo homini lupus,” which means “Man is a wolf to another man.” In saying this he means that men see themselves as superior creatures, and men prey on other