Uncomfortable Literature In Night By Elie Wiesel

As Virginia Woolf once said, “You cannot find peace by avoiding life”(Woolf) Avoidance is something that many people find alluring, but it consistently works against one's efforts to advance both mentally and physically. Additionally, reading uncomfortable literature might help students gain crucial social and emotional skills. Also, it might inspire students to consider their opinions, past experiences, and biases. By exposing students to uncomfortable literature, we can foster their intellectual and emotional growth and equip them to be active and responsible citizens, yet avoiding uncomfortable literature is a band-aid solution to a long-term problem that prevents students from addressing and overcoming the underlying issues, limiting their

Furthermore, limiting students' exposure to uncomfortable literature can also prevent them from gaining valuable insights and perspectives that can only be gained through engaging with such material. Also, the negative impacts of avoiding issues and feelings on mental and physical advancement documented by Night, and “Under the Influence” are undeniably an excellent example of this. A holocaust survivor named Elie Wiesel, who now holds a Nobel Peace Prize, wrote a book called Night which is about his journey during the holocaust. The book holds many examples of the effects of avoidance on someone. Especially when Elie Wiesel arrived at Auschwitz, he was confronted by a few inmates. One of them asked him, “Didn’t you know what was in store for you in Auschwitz? You didn’t know? In 1944?’ ‘True. We didn’t know. Nobody had told us. He couldn’t believe his ears” (Wiesel). This quote highlights the importance of knowledge and awareness in preventing atrocities like the Holocaust. The survivor's disbelief at being asked why they did not know what was happening in the camps emphasizes that they were not given the information they needed to understand the gravity

Perusing literature that stimulates comfort can be a powerful tool for students to learn these skills, as it exposes them to diverse perspectives. An example of this can be portrayed in “Avoidance: The Band-Aid Solution to Long-Term Problems” when Smith stated, “Avoiding these situations may spare them from uncomfortable feelings, but will also prevent them from learning effective coping skills to deal with difficult social situations in the future”(Smith). These ideas can be connected back to the ideals of reading uncomfortable literature. Reading literature that challenges our beliefs and perspectives, even if it makes us uncomfortable, allows us to develop empathy and understanding toward different perspectives and cultures. By reading uncomfortable literature, we are exposed to other ideas and ways of thinking, which in turn helps us develop better social skills, such as communicating effectively with people with different beliefs and experiences. Additionally, reading uncomfortable literature helps us acquire the ability to navigate and understand complex social issues and form our own opinions and defend them with reasoned arguments. A real-life implication of developing emotional and social skills is presented within Night. This occurred when Wiesel wrote about a man who “had called out to me and I had not answered. I did not weep, and it