Night by Elie Wiesel: Unveiling Loss, Identity, and Truth in the Holocaust

“Night” by Elie Wiesel: The Indifference of Loss

“The opposite of love is not hate; it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness; it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy; it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death; it’s indifference.”

Throughout his entire experience of the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel was treated inhumanely and barbarically solely due to his faith – Judaism. Elie Wiesel was born in the city of Sighet, Transylvania, on September 30, 1928.

Having been born in Romania, Elie Wiesel found himself perplexed as to why he was facing such persecution and antisemitism from the Germans. The Holocaust was a genocide of the greatest extent, European Jews, whereby it began in 1941 and ended in 1945. Elie Wiesel and his family were followers of the Jewish faith. They were living their lives as usual in the small city of Sighet in Romania. However, in May of the year 1944, Elie and his family were forcibly taken to Auschwitz, Germany.

They underwent cruel, inhumane confinement and systematic killing till the eventual freeing of both Elie and his two older sisters. Every person deserves the basic human right of dignity and the basic entitlement to respect; however, the Jewish people were stripped of that right the moment they entered the concentration camps. The story depicts the life of Eliezer, who, at the mere age of 13, undergoes the struggles and cruelties of both Auschwitz and Buchenwald. In his novel Night, Elie Wiesel explores the role of loss in regard to faith, identity, dignity, and truth based on his experiences of the Holocaust. Whilst portraying loss, he intertwines his intention to never allow the Holocaust to be forgotten by the world.

A Lost Identity: The Transformation of Elie Wiesel

As a result of the many scarring experiences Elie Wiesel had faced, he had lost sight of his identity: He represented this significantly throughout Night. The inhumane events which occurred every day led to his eventual sense of defeat and a drastic change in his character; he felt lonesome and, at the same time, hated. Elie Wiesel addresses his loss of identity in his book Night, which is essentially shown when Eliezer states, “I was nothing but ashes now”. This is a powerful use of a metaphor by Eliezer to signify a drastic change from his previous identity to his current self. Consequently, this solidifies the fact that Eliezer had undergone a substantial change, from the young boy who knew himself and his aspirations to his current character, which is desolate and lonely, worrying day by day. For instance, Eliezer no longer went by his name but by a mere code.

He was stripped of his right to a name and to an identity. Eliezer proves this by stating, “I became A-7713.” The use of the phrase “I became” signifies that he is no longer who he used to be in the past. Therefore, I can infer that he has undergone a change of identity. Moreover, he goes on to say, “From then on, I had no other name.” This is a crucial link between identity and loss, as he is asserting the fact that he no longer had an identity from that moment onwards. Eliezer had realized that he had become a new person from the day he entered the concentration camp; the Eliezer of Sighet had perished and disappeared. Elie Wiesel demonstrates this by stating, “The child I was, had been consumed by the flames.”Eliezer uses Personification to emphasize the extent to which he had become a different person; this gives the flames a human characteristic.

Moreover, Eliezer states, “I too had become a different person”, which yet again links back to the theme of loss in regard to his identity. He uses the past tense to signify a change from his previous self to his current self. Furthermore, Eliezer states,” invaded and devoured by a black flame”; his use of several verbs further emphasizes a severe change in his identity. The use of the word “flame” can allow us to infer that the flame is negative, or how I interpreted it to be the soldiers, as he was violated and beaten by the Schutzstaffel soldiers. 

A Shattered Faith: The Loss of Trust in Humanity and God

Eliezer faced inhumane treatment and antisemitism solely due to his faith, and this led to his eventual loss of God and trust in humanity. The inhuman events which occurred in Auschwitz, from starvation to beatings, led to Eliezer reconsidering whether or not God had truly existed and, if so, why he hadn’t acted yet. A way that Wiesel had shown his faith was being tested throughout his journey was through his decision not to fast in the holy Jewish month of Yom Kippur. The author proves this; when he writes “I did not fast… I no longer accepted God’s silence.” The author is insinuating that the reason behind his breaking the fast is solely due to “God’s Silence” or, in other words, his lack of justness.

Consequently, I can surmise that Eliezer’s faith in God is slowly deteriorating. Elie was perplexed; if there truly was a God, then why hadn’t he saved all the Jewish people with his absolute justice? Many Jews around Eliezer maintained their faith and hoped that one day God would save them. E.W. remained in disbelief. Elie demonstrates this when he writes, “As for me, I had ceased to pray I concurred with Job! I was not denying His existence, but I doubted His absolute justice”. To not pray is a clear defiance against God himself. Therefore, I can gather that Elie is slowly losing his faith in God. To prove this, Eliezer uses a biblical allusion when he writes, “I concurred with Job.” Job is referred to in the Bible as a devout believer in God who faced misfortune one after the other; Eliezer has a corresponding fate. Similarly, he, too, doubted God’s absolute justice.

Therefore, the link between himself and Job further emphasizes the conflict within himself. Moreover, Elie writes, “I was not denying His existence, but I doubted His absolute justice.” This proves to us that Elie does still believe that God exists; however, he’s questioning God’s true justness. Eliezer questioned humanity in its entirety; why had no one interfered when the Jewish people were being murdered in these so-called re-educational camps? Why had no one stepped up and tried to help these helpless people? Eliezer writes, “How was it possible that men, women, and children were being burned and that the world kept silent? No. All this could not be real.” Eliezer was contemplating how the massacre of Jews was happening in all of the concentration camps; yet not much action was made by the Allies in retaliation. He was disheartened that even the world in its entirety couldn’t put an end to this homicide sooner. Furthermore, Eliezer had hoped that this was a nightmare, as it seemed unrealistic to that extent. Elie was resentful towards the world for having put them through that barbaric experience for so long.

Dignity Destroyed: The Tragic Struggles of “Night”

Elie Wiesel showcases a loss of personal dignity throughout the Night by showing the inevitable result of the systematic punishment incurred on the Jewish prisoners. After days of routine oppression by the Nazis and the S.S. officers, Eliezer and many other Jews could no longer hold out; they had given up all of their dignity and pride. Elie Wiesel demonstrates this when he writes: “We no longer clung to anything.” This particular quote emphasizes the fact that the Jewish people no longer “kept” their pride or their dignity. This, therefore, allows me to infer that they no longer had any basic human rights that a normal person would ordinarily have.

Elie goes on to write: “The instincts of … of self-defense, of pride, had all deserted us.” I can deduce from this quote that their “dignity” left them the moment they had set foot in Auschwitz, as, in a sense, they were no longer treated as human beings. Following the brutal beating of his father, all Eliezer could do was stare and do nothing at all, in fear of being beaten alongside him. Elie Wiesel demonstrates this when he writes, “As if he wished to ascertain that the person addressing him was actually a creature of flesh and bone, a human being… My father had just been struck in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent.” Through this quote, Eliezer proves that he was helpless and couldn’t move an inch. His self-pride and his dignity at that moment were shattered. To witness your own father being beaten inhumanely and treated horribly and yet not being able to do anything. Eliezer’s father is his role model, and not acting in fear of getting beaten alongside him shows that his dignity is being challenged.

Elie Wiesel felt powerless at the hands of the soldiers as a result of his fear and lack of pride. Had he interfered, he would’ve been beaten alongside his father; however, due to his nonexistent dignity, he couldn’t do a single thing. Eliezer shows this when he writes, “I shall never forgive myself. Nor shall I ever forgive the world for having turned me into a stranger. His last word had been my name. A summons. And I had not responded.” Eliezer asserts that he will never be able to forgive himself nor the world for making him cower at the hands of the soldiers. His father called for him, yet Eliezer couldn’t move whatsoever. Moreover, Eliezer uses sibilance to stress the meanings of the words and strengthen the understanding of the quote when he writes ‘awakened in me the basest, most primitive instincts”. Primitive and Basest principles are those which are immoral; in other words, Elie is stating that he, at that moment, no longer had any pride or dignity. In addition, Eliezer uses anaphora when he writes, “I shall never …. Nor shall I ever”. His use of anaphora allows the reader to sympathize with Eliezer’s losses. 

The Truth Must Not Be Forgotten: Elie Wiesel’s Mission

Overall, Elie Wiesel proves his intention to not allow the truth to be forgotten or, in other words, lost, in regards to his experiences of the Holocaust, which are depicted in his memoir Night. Eliezer knows the world wants the Holocaust to be forgotten. However, he feels a sense of responsibility in passing on his story and the story of those that passed from the horrific genocide. Eliezer writes, “The public knows that the number of survivors is shrinking … they are fascinated by the idea of sharing memories that will soon be lost.” This particular quote demonstrates Eliezer foreshadowing events that will occur in the future, in our case, the memories being lost. This ties in with our main idea, which is the loss of the truth, as if memories are being lost, that also means that the truth is eventually going to become overlooked. Additionally, Eliezer discusses the public’s “outlook” on the loss of memories, and I find it quite peculiar as to why they would be fascinated at the deaths of innocent people unless there was probable cause.

Elie Wiesel insinuates that the main interest that the public has is, in fact, the forgetting of the Holocaust in its entirety. After a mere ten years, all the actions of the Germans and the Nazis have been forgotten, and Elie Wiesel can’t possibly allow this; he will do anything in order to keep the story continuous. Elie demonstrates this when he writes ‘scarcely ten years after Buchenwald, I realize that the world forgets quickly. … Germany is a sovereign state. … The past seems to have been erased, relegated to oblivion.’ Once again, Elie Wiesel stresses how the world has forgotten the atrocities committed by the Germans a mere ten years ago. Ten years is all it takes for the world to forget a genocide of the greatest magnitude: the Holocaust. In addition, Eliezer asserts that the past seems to have been forgotten and has assigned the Holocaust to an inferior position in our society today. Thus, Elie Wiesel is fundamentally asserting that never will he accept the world forgetting about the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel feels like he has a duty to unfold his story and the story of those who weren’t fortunate enough to survive.

He has no right to allow the actions of the Germans to be forgotten. Eliezer demonstrates this when he writes, “For the survivor … is clear. His duty is to bear witness for the dead and for the living.” Through this particular quote, I can infer that Eliezer has a responsibility as a survivor of the Holocaust to tell the world their story in their stead. Eliezer can’t possibly imagine how they would feel had the whole world forgotten the inhumane acts and atrocities. Thereafter Elie writes, “To forget would be not only dangerous: to forget the dead would be akin to killing them a second time.” Eliezer describes how if we were to forget the Holocaust, then we’d essentially be killing “them” for a second time. Although Eliezer has experienced loss, many people experienced loss alongside him during the Holocaust. Therefore, having people forget the Holocaust, and forgetting how people have lost greatly, truly shows me the author’s true motivation in writing his memoir. His duty as a survivor is to ensure that the world knows of the Holocaust due to the extent to which he and many others had experienced loss throughout the unforgivable genocide.

Conclusion

In conclusion, in his novel Night, Elie Wiesel explores the role of loss in regard to faith, identity, dignity, as well as truth. Throughout his book, I witnessed Elie Wiesel portray several aspects of loss and perceived just how despicable Elie’s life was throughout the Holocaust. I feel that Elie Wiesel portrayed the theme of loss to a great extent. The first aspect I touched upon was the loss of identity; this is a prime theme as throughout the book, I witnessed how Eliezer changed from the innocent young boy living in the city of Sighet into a lonely, prideless, racially discriminated against young boy. In my opinion, the main reason behind Elie’s loss of identity is due to the inhumane treatment of the Jewish people, which eventually led to them losing their identities entirely. The second theme which I analyzed was the loss of faith and trust in humanity.

Throughout his journey, Eliezer faced many inner conflicts within himself regarding God and why he hadn’t acted during their times of need. Slowly yet gradually, he was losing faith in God himself, from breaking fast during the month of Yom Kippur to no longer believing in God’s justice. Eliezer believed that the world hadn’t interfered enough with the Holocaust. Moreover, he held them responsible for the millions of deaths of his fellow people. Moving on, I explored the theme of loss in regard to dignity. At the start of the book, Eliezer believed in himself and was dignified, yet the moment he entered Auschwitz, that mindset and personality perished, and a new Elie Wiesel was born. Essentially, he no longer believed in himself as he was treated inhumanely throughout the Holocaust. Finally, I touched upon possibly the most important of all, the loss of the truth; Eliezer demonstrated his intention to not allow the Holocaust to be forgotten. As for me, I sincerely sympathized with Eliezer as he had faced many struggles across his journey and finally fulfilled his duty in revealing their side of the story.

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