The Importance Of Human Rights In Night By Elie Wiesel

1560 Words7 Pages
By definition, something that is fundamental is basic, essential, and involving all aspects of the subject at hand. Seeing that the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that there should be a universal respect for and observance of the inalienable human rights and fundamental freedoms set forth in it, who could deny a human these things? ‘Human’, in this instance, is used as an adjective to describe the rights, which are of and belonging to all members of the human race; regardless of race, religion, color, gender, or social status. In the memoir, Night, by Elie Wiesel, he tells of his life as a young Jewish boy, and of the horrors he, his family, and others faced due to the stripping away of their rights by those who felt they had the power to do so. In the novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, a story is told of discriminatory acts against many different people. Lee’s characters, Tom Robinson and Arthur “Boo” Radley, were the two who had their rights violated the most. Tom Robinson was accused of a capital crime, rape, because of the color of his skin and questionable circumstances. Boo Radley was rumored about and slandered because he had been locked away inside his house for fifteen years. In each of these circumstances, humans were treated as less. How can a human be viewed and treated as less than a human? Why are humans treated this way? What are the consequences that may arise if they are treated with such inferiority? By