Research Paper On Night By Elie Wiesel

Life in a concentration camp is unimaginably difficult and leaves many with great uncertainty. People must fight hard, have unspeakable grit, and go through life-changing events just to have a chance at the freedom they were unsure would ever come. In the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, we learn Elie was only 15 when he was taken from his home, left only with his father, and forced into multiple concentration camps throughout Hitler's reign. We’re let in on the unbearable experiences and effects concentration camps had on many of the innocent people forced to try to live life as normal there. Elie overcomes the tragedy and struggles brought on by the situation by changing the way he approaches and experiences life's battles.
In Night, it could

He demonstrated the newfound trait when Idek became angry and decided to take his anger out on Elie for no apparent reason. “He threw himself on me like a wild beast … As I bit my lips in order not to howl with pain, he must have mistaken my silence for defiance and so he continued to hit me harder and harder … abruptly, he calmed down and sent me back to work as if nothing had happened” (Wiesel 53). This evidence goes to show that had Elie talked back things could’ve gone much worse for him. Idek proved signs of having very unpredictable behavior that he was able to control when he realized Elie was not saying anything. As Elie's silence did not stop Idek's actions right away, it certainly did lessen the wrath of Idek because had Elie made more noise it also would’ve been taken as defiance but dealt with much more harshly and without compassion. Even though Elie was not very fond of listening and obeying the SS officers, in times of life and death he had to get over his stubbornness to survive. If he continued thinking he would get what he wanted by complaining and not accepting the truth, this reality would be much harder to face. Once again Elie pushes through his stubbornness after accidentally being in the wrong place at the wrong time and seeing the wrong things, getting punished by

This brings him to start bending the rules, lying, and overall coping unaided. This piece of text occurs just after the arrival at Birkenau concentration camp when Elie is approached by a random man telling him to lie about his credentials to SS officers to protect his safety. “‘Hey, kid, how old are you? … ‘Fifteen.’ ‘No. You’re eighteen.’ ‘But I’m not,’ I said. ‘I’m fifteen.’ ‘Fool. Listen to what I say’ … In no time, I stood before him [An ss officer]. ‘Your age?’ he asked, perhaps trying to sound paternal. ‘I’m eighteen’. My voice was trembling. ‘In good health?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Your profession?’ Tell him that I was a student? ‘Farmer,’ I heard myself saying (Wiesel 30-32). Elie once again lies in this situation to protect his future. Had he been completely honest like he originally wanted to be, he would’ve ended up with the children marked as “useless” and eventually put to death. His last-minute adaptation to ensure his survival showed already so early in the book his signs of change. The situation was a very tough one to be put in as you have to decide to be morally correct or think about your future. This shows Elie had to lie and bend the rules to have a more successful chance at life after the camps. Once again Elie is seen bending the rules to protect himself when he lies about his “sickness” to a dentist trying to take the one thing he