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Night By Elie Wiesel Identity Analysis

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“A traumatic experience robs you of your identity” (Dr.Bill). Concentration camps during the agonizing Holocaust disallowed their prisoners to obtain a personal identity. The renowned memoir, Night, written by Holocaust survivor, Eliezer Wiesel, published in 1954 expands the apprehension of the life altering challenges and torment the Jewish society encountered from 1933 to 1945. Identity consists of an individual's distinctive characteristics, beliefs and mannerisms which was forbidden for the Jewish hostages of the Holocaust to attain. Elie’s identity was shaped and reshaped by the traumatic experiences the Jewish community persevered through. Throughout Elie Wiesel’s daunting novella Night, the experiences Elie faces brutally strips him …show more content…

Throughout this novella, the denied ability to have an exclusive title other than just a number, the critical circumstances of the feared concentration camp Auschwitz, and the disability to obtain a soul, all contribute to Elie’s incredulity towards his faith. Family titles and names are a prodigious gift from God. To acquire a name means that there is an importance for the individual’s life. Without names, an individual has no meaning and no worth. The SS men have replaced their captives original names for irrelevant numbers as shown in the following quote, “I became A-7713. From then on, I had no other name.” (Wiesel 42). This quotation explains the intended impact the SS men desired for the Jewish prisoners to believe. The artificial belief the SS men implanted into the minds of all their prisoners is that they are insignificant and unworthy of a name. This deteriorates an individual's emotional well being and will to live which leads to an unjustified faith. Elie’s identity has been reshaped by the sensation of feeling meaningless because his name is accustomed around his personality which defines one’s identity. Thus without a name, Eliezer has no individual personality or identity. Auschwitz is eminent for their impeccable lifestyle and cold-blooded soldiers. The barbarous SS men are domineering towards the Jewish captives throughout their eerie threats and actions, as demonstrated in the following quotation, “From time to time, a shot exploded in the darkness. They had orders to shoot anyone who could not sustain the pace. Their fingers on the triggers, they did not deprive themselves of the pleasure. If one of us stopped for a second, a quick shot eliminated the filthy dog.” (Wiesel 85). This quote justifies the heartless actions of the SS men. While testing the emaciated prisoner’s endurance, without hesitation, the SS men proceeded to executing any Jewish hostage who dares to refuse

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From the small town of Sighet in Transylvania to the huge concentration camps of Auschwitz. Elie Wiesel, the author and victim of the book Night, the horrifying experience of the Holocaust. Wiesel is a 15 year old Jewish boy who was captured by the Germans or “Nazis” during WWII. He went through an overwhelming amount of trauma, like when he got separated from his mother and sisters and watching his father suffer an unbearable amount of pain that eventually killed him. The fact is, power is a tool that can corrupt itself and others, it can ruin people’s lives and it can do that without people even realizing it.

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Ever since humans came to be, they have done many things to ensure their survival. It’s the reason why we humans have evolved as much as we have. Humans have invented devices, accomplished many challenges, and have even relied on nothing but willpower to survive. When somebody survives a tragic event they are left with some terrifying memories that haunt them forever, but a few survivors are courageous enough to share their experience. Obviously, one of the shared experiences is the book called Night by Elie Wiesel.

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The heart wrenching and powerful memoir “Night” by Elie Wiesel depicts Elie’s struggle through the holocaust. It shows the challenges and struggles Elie and people like him faced during this mournful time, the dehumanization; being forced out of their homes, their towns and sent to nazi concentration camps, being stripped of their belongings and valuables, being forced to endure and witness the horrific events during one of history’s most ghastly tales. In “Night” Elie does not only endure a physical journey but also a spiritual journey as well, this makes him question his determination, faith and strength. This spiritual journey is a journey of self discovery and is shown through Elie’s struggle with himself and his beliefs, his father

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