Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs In Night By Elie Wiesel

561 Words3 Pages

The prisoners’ unmet needs such as love and safety had a severe impact on the prisoners and the community. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a theory that states that a person must meet their physiology, safety, and esteem needs in order to reach their full potential. Firstly, the prisoners love needs were not being met when men and women were separated in the camps. The autobiography, Night, asserts, “An SS came toward us wielding a club. He commanded: Men to the left! Women to the right!” (Wiesel 29). When Ellie heard this, he was devastated because he did not get to say goodbye to his mom and sister and that could be the last time he would ever see them. This is something that he is going to have to carry it with him for the rest of his life and that feeling of safety would be gone, if …show more content…

Ellie is not the only one that has felt like this the other prisoners were not only separated from their family but also their wives. Since men and women are separated, they cannot reproduce and that affects their love needs. Secondly, the prisoners safety needs were not being met when they saw babies being thrown into fire. The autobiography, states, “A truck drew close and unloaded its hold: small children. Babies! Yes, I did see this, with my own eyes ... children thrown into the flames” (Wiesel 32). Ellie has always been dedicated to his religion but after entering Auschwitz, he began to question it, especially when he saw babies being burned. He cannot feel safe if babies around him are being killed and if every new person he meets ends up dying. Those babies being thrown into the fire are from the prisoners. The prisoners that in one second have lost everything including their children. That one second that their babies are being taken away from their hands while their husband or wife is being sent to the other side of the line. Thirdly, the prisoners