Night Elie Wiesel

Does one’s identity change after experiencing traumatic events? In the memoir, Night by Elie Weisel, he goes through stages of deep change in which he hardly recognizes himself after witnessing the horrendous events of the concentration camps in Germany. He shows this through the use of internal and external conflict and characterization, Wiesel develops the theme that your past and present experiences can shape your identity because trauma can be a catalyst for growth. To begin with, Weisel starts off by developing the theme using internal conflict introducing the protagonist Elie, he would be described as dedicated, a strong believer in his religion and faith, and someone who would stand up for what he believed in. Weisel starts by talking

Elie’s living conditions were awful, he suffered through poverty, dirty clothes, no sleep, and no food. The setting is described as “Comrades, you are now in the concentration camp Auschwitz. Ahead of you lies a long road paved with suffering…” (41). Everything about the concentration camp was dangerous, Elie having to live and work in these conditions was determined by not only him but others around him. If the living conditions weren’t already the worst part of everything, Elie had to also deal with the harsh treatment from the S.S officers. Elies mind went blank as he was given his punishment, “ no longer felt anything except the lashes of the whip. " O n e ! ... T w o ! ... " he was counting” (57). As well as on page 85, it shows how rude these officers treated everyone saying, “"Faster, you tramps, you flea-ridden dogs!"... “Faster, you filthy dogs!” (85). Which explains how Elie was mistreated both verbally and physically and he could do nothing about this. The external conflict Elie experienced within the concentration changed him forever as a person, having to remember the feeling of mistreatment from humans and the feeling of betrayal from his own kind. As well as remembering the experience of aching for food and some

In the beginning of the memoir, it introduces Elie as a boy who stood up for what he thought was wrong and someone who would dedicate their time to something he believed in, but soon after he lost all of his beliefs. He let himself get walked over, not only himself but his family too. Although he lived for his family he slowly realized that his father was nothing but a burden to him. This change was something that affected him because he knew it wasn’t right and he couldn’t find it within himself to cry for his loss or for what was happening. Elie letting go of his father made him lose a part of himself as well. Once everything was over with and Elie took a look in the mirror he realized how much he changed physically. This physical change also meant a change internally because Elie described it as, “From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me” (115). This signifies that Elie was referring to a sort of ego death. Losing himself completely just to survive, but seeing his reflection was also subjected to making him feel this ego death because his physical appearance no longer felt like himself. Elie has this disconnect with his inner being and physical