In the book Night, by Elie Wiesel, there was a very strong shift in the tone just within the first three chapters. “The shopkeepers were doing good business, the students lived among their books, and the children played in the streets”(Weisel 6). It is shown here that they were living ordinary, peaceful lives. “The shadows around me roused themselves as if from a deep sleep and left silently in every direction”(Weisel 14). This is where people began to no longer feel peaceful and began the long journey of fear and worry that would get worse throughout the book.
Chapter One Summary: In chapter one of Night by Elie Wiesel, the some of the characters of the story are introduced and the conflict begins. The main character is the author because this is an autobiographical novel. Eliezer was a Jew during Hitler’s reign in which Jews were persecuted. The book starts out with the author describing his faith.
Elie does not want to be separated from his father and be left alone. The Jewish people were first taken to a concentration camp called Auschwitz, and when they arrived, Elie and his father were separated from Elie’s mother and his sister, Tzipora. Later on, they found out that the women and children were burned in a crematorium. The book states, “The baton pointed to the left. I took half a step forward.
Elie Wiesel’s “Night” depicts death, obliteration, and anguish while directly depicting the suffering he witnessed during his time at Auschwitz, a concentration camp for Jews during World War II. Within the story, there is an overwhelming amount of times the Jews had been in distress. Many children had been separated from their parents and all of the Jews were taken from their homes. Their suffering seemed endless. They were no longer teachers, homeowners, or priests.
4. Synopsis: The memoir starts in Eliezer’s hometown of Sighet, Hungary, where Eliezer is in instruction when his instructor gets taken away. A few months pass when his teacher Moshe returns and tells the class of the horrifying tell of the Gestapo taking charge of the deportation and slaughtering the members of the deportation train. Later in the spring of 1944, the Germans invade Hungary oppressing the Jews of Sighet, making them live in the ghettos, and eventually putting them onto the train to Auschwitz.
The author of the Night did not understand why God punishes the innocent and righteous, who worship Him, even in the death camp, what did they do? They pray for you! Glorify your name. Wiesel openly expressed his hatred for God, was not afraid. He thought that after what happened in Auschwitz, the religious dimension of Jewish identity completely lost its meaning.
At what point does respect no longer matter? When does the need for survival take over grief? When do the tears dry up in order to stay alive?
The information was presented so bluntly because in a situation like this there's not a sentimental or easy way to present the information. Also the author is able to show the reader how blunt and difficult the situation was especially in the moment. He’s abruptness was for the purpose of creating a strong tone for the reader. Wiesel’s goal in the book was to raise awareness of what jews were going through and with a topic there was no other way of putting it but straight forward. When Moshe came back people showed the impression that they did not care much for him being back.
This is important to remember because when they arrive at the camp, everything changes. After the Germans contained the Jews in the ghettos, the whole community was deported to Auschwitz. No one had ever heard that name. Before they get sent there, on page nineteen, Elie's father starts to cry, and Elie says it’s his first time seeing his dad cry. As soon as they got there, a man told Elie not to say he was young enough, and this is pretty much the start of how Elie changed throughout the book.
At the beginning of Night, before he ever leaves Sighet, Eliezer is a devoutly religious young man. Wiesel started out as a Talmud student who had complete faith in God, but as we progressed through the story we see him question God. He even when as far as asking this questions “Why should I bless His name? The Eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible, was silent. What had I to thank Him for".
During the reading, the Jewish prisoners, arrive to a concentration camp. The prisoners divide into men and women and guards separate them. This would be the last time Elie ever saw his mother and youngest sister Tzipora. Officers beat and killed many Jews. Fortunately, Elie and his father were assign to labor units.
The inmate had told them about the crematorium. The two groups that the Jews were sorted into went in separate directions, with Elie’s and his father going deeper into camp. The other line, with his mother and sisters, went to the crematorium. When they first gotten to Auschwitz, it was also the first time Elie and the other Jews had experienced this level of Nazi treatment, and understood what danger they might face. This terrified them, as it was their first encounter with that kind of horror.
When they arrive at the camp Elie and his father are put to work counting electrical fittings in a warehouse. Here, Elie meets Juliek, a musician and two bothers Yosi and Tibi. Later Idek beats Elie’s father and Elie does nothing to stop it. In the warehouse Elie accidentally catches Idek with one of the concentration camp girls. Angrily Idek beats Elie in public until he passes out.
When he returned from the meeting, he told everyone that all the Jews are going to be deported to an unknown destination, and that they will only be allowed one bag per person. If someone told me this news, I would be torn and lose all hope. I would be devastated if I had to leave the house I grew up in and go to a place no one knew about. Surprisingly, Elie’s family and other Jews did not take it that way. The Jews did not believe anything bad could happen to them, they did not despair, and they quietly passed up on opportunities to escape.
Like steel to extreme heat and intense pressure, people often reform when placed under harsh conditions. This has the potential for proxy effects on moral considerations. This moral reformation is often more of a moral degradation as people revert back to their selfish survival instinct. This is evident in Elie Wiesel’s recollection of his experience as a Jew in the Holocaust. Nazi Germany’s transportation of the Jews into concentration camps was executed with a lack of consideration for comfortability.
