HallahanS Third Reader Responce

This was the last section we had to read and I was able to read though this section the fastest.  It was the most dramatic and painted some of the worst images in my head. I think that there was definitely a lot more death in this section. I was actually feeling cold in this section while I was reading it because they talk about having to run through the cold snow and it made me picture it in my head and it made me cold. They were so cold and tied and emancipated that they could barely even feel the cold. Elie says, “to no longer feel anything, neither fatigue nor cold, nothing” (86). I couldn’t imagine being so cold that you can’t feel anything. I know how it feels in the cold when you’re outside and it’s so cold it’s hard to text. There are also times like when they first get to that last camp that looks like an empty village that all they want to do is stop and rest but they can’t or they will die in the cold snow.

I think one of the most influential parts is when they are in the cattle cart. He says, “The spectators observed these emaciated creatures ready to kill for a crust of bread” (101). Did they think it was a game? That’s so messed up to me. It’s not like throwing fish in a fish tank and watching the fish swam it to get a piece. These are actual human beings! Our own kind. People just like us. I don’t know why they weren’t disgusted with the way these people were treated. Instead they played along and antagonized the people. Sons were killing fathers and everyone was beating each other up and climbing over each other for crumbs. This entire book really makes you think about mankind. Is life really everyone for themselves? Or are we suppose to reach out and want to help each other?

Another part that I found astonishing was the liberation day. He is finally freed! For the past year or so Elie has been tortured, beaten, fed as little as possible, watched everyone round him die; and on the day that it will finally all be over and he will be free to live his life the way he wants to from now on he acts like it’s no big deal? I know that I would be bawling my eyes out with joy! The second I left those gates as a free child I would be jumping around crying and hugging everyone around me! How do you not celebrate? He just looks at himself in a mirror and is like, yeah, I changed. That’s it? I know he went through a lot and all but I still feel like he deserves to be happy now that he is free. I hope I will never have to know what it feels like, but I think it would be a little more exciting than what he makes it to be.

JFonseca, Blog 3

There must be some human instinct that everyone has to push their bodies to impossible limits. For example, Elie wrote, “I was putting one foot in front of the other, like a machine.” (Wiesel 85). This young boy was forced to run for a lengthy amount of time, with a recently operated foot, or he would be killed. Unfortunately, if I was in his position, would it have just been easier to die? It would end all his pain and agony; that’s how I felt as I read this text. I don’t know if I would have had the drive to keep pushing myself forward, I probably would have given up much longer. Both Elie and his father were staring at death every moment of every day.

                Throughout this entire journey, it has transformed Elie into a whole different person. For example, he questions, often, whether or not he should abandon his father. How could he do such a thing? He father has stayed by him, helped him and comforted him in his times of need. Now, he just wants to get rid of his father, to better himself? One day, a man says to the young prisoner, “In this place, there is no such thing as a father, brother, friend. Each of us lives and dies alone.” (110). Was this man right? Should Elie assist his father even if he is nearing death or abandon him in his time of need? I don’t know if I’d be able to turn my back on the ones I love, but this whole experience has recreated everyone. Also, he lost a lot of his faith in God. He couldn’t understand why the God he has prayed and worshiped all his life could allow these horrible acts to occur. He questioned his faith often and also denied some of his teachings. I would do the same thing, if the God I had been praying to for all my life decided to his back on his followers. This whole novel just proves how awful and unfair the world can be. Everyone is forced to be alone, and to survive alone. This whole experience transformed everyone who enters the gates of this tragic world.

JFonseca Blog 2

                As I continue to read the text, I can start to accept or get use to the way of life they have now adapted to. For example, the “showers” and when and how much food they receive, it all becomes “normal”. Fortunately, I believe that, or how I feel as a reader, that every time they have to relocated, both fear and hope engulfs them. When they move to another location, it opens up a whole range of wonders and hopes for them. Is this place going to be like the one before? What are we going to have to do? What’s it going to be like? Is the end coming near? Once Elie and his father get transferred to their new Kommando I question, just like Elie, why is there a Kommando for music? I don’t understand a lot of motives for why events happen in these horrible places.

                Overall, Elie has been surviving because of luck. He and his father haven’t been separated, why, when almost everyone else has been separated from their love ones throughout their journeys? Then, they both get sent to the orchestra block? That was one of the best places they could have gotten sent to, under the conditions they were in. Next, because Elie had a gold crown on one of his teeth he was ordered to have it removed. He lied and said he was ill, so the dentist would postpone the removal; he was able to delay the surgery, until the dentist was arrest and was no longer capable of removing it. How is that not lucky? The young boy weaseled his way out of this situation, allowing him to save his crown for a later date. Later on, the camp was being bombed; anyone could have been killed in that explosion but they were able to survive. Which that brings up a question, why would an American plane bombed a concentration camp, when we were there trying to save these people? A daily occurrence on these camps was selection, anytime officers were ordered to call a selection; anyone found too weak or sick by a doctor was to be sent to the crematorium. During one of those times Elie’s father’s number was written down, he had not passed the selection. Fortunately, his father was able to pass the selection, how? Now came winter, the worst time of the year, how were they able to survive that time? Around January of that year, Elie had a problem with his foot. Luckily his leg did not need to be amputated and he was able to leave the hospital to be evacuated with his father. Which, he learned much later, that if he had only stayed in the infirmary, he would have been liberated within two days.

                Overall, not that I agree with this, but if the point of these camps were to terminate these people, why did they have hospitals? Why didn’t the officers just let them die instead of trying to cure these inmates? Elie and his father were lucky to make it as far as they did. They were able to conquer every obstacle and elude death at every corner. I believe it was strictly out of chance and good fortune.

Concentration Camp Hospital

BPangborn: Response Three 3/9

     While reading the last section of Night by Elie Wiesel, I felt freedom coming nearer. Something I did not expect, though, was the sacrifice of Elie's father for freedom in turn. In the last few chapters, the dehumanization didn't cease. One of the first few words written within the beginning of the section were the commands of the SS officers yelling "faster you filthy dogs," (85). ...So now the remaining prisoners, at this point only a week or two from freedom had been reduced to the living standards of animals? 
     Everyone's strength had been tested daily. Elie recounts that, "we were stronger than cold and hunger, stronger than the guns and the desire to die, doomed and rootless, nothing but numbers, and we were the only men on the earth" (87). Excuse my french, but damn right they were the only men on the earth! No "man" today would be able to endure an event even close to this. I feel as though the definition of a man has changed. In the past, a man was someone who brought food on the table and endured events like this one. Now, a man is considered to be a male who has large muscles and has a way with the ladies. I was truly inspired by this statement because it shows Elie's reflection about his experience during the Holocaust. I admire his strength, both physically, mentally, and emotionally.
     The death of Elie's father is what really touched me. He was days from walking through the gates of the concentration camp, out from under the cruel ruling of another, never having to look back. I feel as though when many people read this, they wonder why Elie didn't do everything in his power to save his father. Even the most loving person in the world would probably react to this situation the same way Elie did. Put under such a strain just to survive would change anyone's views on life. For example, when a fellow mentioned to Elie that, "each of us lives and dies alone" (110). This brought the truth to Elie's actions - for each person dies alone. When his father died, Elie was relieved of the responsibility to take on two lives close to death.
     Therefore, I enjoyed this book, but was a little taken back by the heaviness of the Holocaust. Although Wiesel is a well spoken writer, I believe that I should've read this book that a later age, and not have read it in school. I believe that this is a very personal book that I may have been able to relate to more if I were more experienced in life. I have not been exposed to many hardships in my life that would be able to make me reflect on my own life experiences. In conclusion, even though i thoroughly enjoyed this book, it would've been in my best interest to read this book at a later age. Nonetheless, this book shows the foundation of humanity, and just how much a human can be pushed to the limit. Elie Wiesel is a true survivor.


This is a photograph showing Wiesel in one of his concentration camps. Notice the number of people forced to lie in just one bunk. Also take not of how emancipated the man standing is, and it wasn't just him either. Everyone suffered the same effects of living in the concentration camps.

EAndrikopoulos Reader Response 3

     In the final chapters of Night, I felt a great deal of sympathy for both Elie's father and Elie like I had throughout most of the book. When the SS officers did the selection at Gleiwitz, I became very nervous that Elie's father would be shot because he was weak. Elie writes, "The SS officers were doing the selection: the weak, to the left; those who walked well, to the right. My father was sent to the left. I ran after him," (96). When I read this I soon began to feel as if that was the end for his father. However, as I read on, I had a little bit of hope that both Elie and his father would survive this also event. When I got close to the end of the book, I was saddened when I read that Elie's father had not made it. It was heartbreaking to read this novel and learn the tight bond that the father and son had throughout this horrific experience. After all they had been through, it didn't seem fair that his father died. However, this entire experience for the Jewish was not fair at all. This novel is a prime example of how life isn't always fair and you have to overcome obstacles in life. The Holocaust took this lesson to the extreme.

      When I neared the end of the novel, I was somewhat disappointed with the ending. Of course, I was upset Elie had lost his father after everything that had gone through together for all those years, but I was especially disappointed that that is basically how Elie ended the novel. It's understandable that Elie was horrified and left numb when his father died, however, I wish he had said more about how he survived this terrible, historic event. Elie says, "I remained in Buchenwald until April 11. I shall not describe my life during that period. It no longer mattered. Since my father's death, nothing mattered to me anymore... I no longer thought of my father, or my mother. From time to time, I would dream. But only about soup, an extra ration of soup," (113). He goes on to say that they freed all the Jews and he became ill two weeks later and went to a hospital. This is all he says. It leaves me wondering, if Elie's father had died at the very first selection when they were first brought into the concentration camp 3 years prior, would he have survived? If he did survive, would he have still written this novel? I think that Elie had such a strong bond with his father that he was the main reason that he wrote this novel. If he had lost his entire family within the first week of entering the concentration camp, I do not believe he would have written this novel or even survived the Holocaust.

Abbott K: Third Response

          The final section of Night is definitely the hardest to read.  The most tragic scenes happen in the final chapters, and at times it is difficult to turn the page and keep reading.  The way the Jewish people are treated is absolutely repulsive.  They aren't even treated as human beings anymore.  The Germans treat the Jewish people more like animals.  They herd them up like cattle, and let them beat each other up for food like predators.  The Jewish people are even put in cattle cars when the group must travel by train.  Elie describes, "An indefinitely long train, composed of roofless cattle cars.  The SS shoved us inside, a hundred per car: we were so skinny!" (97)  Traveling on the train takes a while and many people die while they are on it.  The train stops every once and a while and the dead are simply thrown off.  They aren't buried and no prayers are said for them.  The bodies are chucked like they are nothing more than a piece of wood.  This news is completely devastating to me.  How could you simply treat a body like it is almost nothing?
           It is also greatly disturbing at how the Jewish people fight one another when bread is thrown into the car by citizens.  Some kill others in the desperate struggle to get the bread, and the person who gets the bread is not safe once it is in their hands.  The people all swarm in like a pack of piranhas trying to get the ration, and the citizens watch with interest as if they are watching an animal show.  It couldn't be any more horrible to read. One father gets a ration or two of bread and eats one piece, and his son comes over and kills him to get the other piece as if he has gone insane and doesn't realize that he is attacking his own father.  It must have been terribly gruesome to be on that train for any of the prisoners.  When Elie's father dies, it is really depressing.  He just gave up on his life knowing that he was dying.  Elie kept caring for him until his death, and he didn't even get to see the body removed.  He just came back one day, and his father was gone.  Elie states, "I woke up at dawn on January 29.  On my father's cot there lay another sick person.  They must have taken him away before daybreak and taken him to the crematorium." (112)  How dreadful is that?  Elie can't even see his father's body one last time to say prayers.  Once Elie is free again though, my spirit rises again because I'm glad his suffering is over.  Knowing that Elie makes it out alive gives me a great feeling.  The novel is extremely well written and I recommend that any person must read this novel for it truly gives the reader an insight to the life of a Jewish person during the Holocaust.  

HallahanS Second Reader Responce

Now that we have started to read more, we are in the middle of the story. I kind of hate to say it, but I think it’s easier to read this book because you want to keep reading o find out what happens next. A lot of books that we read in school are hard to stay focused on and you don’t want to read them, but this one is actually pretty interesting. One thing that is hard to listen to though is to keep reminding yourself that this isn’t just a story. It actually happened. Am I the only one wondering why that act like it is normal to be naked a lot? He says, “I undressed leaving my clothes on my cot. Tonight, there was no danger that they would be stolen… All the block inmates stood naked between the rows of the bunks” (71). They had to be naked for selection; everyone did. No one made a fuss and the just stood there. They were altogether for shower too. I think that would be awkward and embarrassing but apparently not to them. But I think that they are all too afraid to complain because they don’t really have a choice because if they don’t listen then they are killed. Even still, I think that would be very uncomfortable. Is it different for guys and girls though? Either way, I think that would be something very hard for all of us to have to adjust to.

There are still a lot of extreme punishments that are spoken about in this section. For example, a younger male is found guilty of messing around with the wiring system of the electric barbed wire fences. The leaders of their camp saw this as an opportunity to teach the rest of the inmates a lesson. Along with the younger male, two other men were also found guilty too. They decided to hang all three of the men, yet some of the SS leaders thought it might be dangerous to hang a child in front of everyone. This was one of the saddest parts for me. It says, “But the third rope was still moving: the child, too light, was still breathing…” (65). This part was so sad to me because I feel like if someone is going to be killed for crime, they should not have to suffer through it. That poor boy had to suffer through that pain and everyone was forced to watch. I can’t imagine having to watch someone suffer right there in front of me and knowing that I couldn’t help at all. How would you handle it? I don’t think it’s right at all.

Another thing we see is Wiesel’s dedication to not leaving his father. When there was a possibility that his father did not pass selection, we see how close he is to him. When that is the only person you have left, I don’t blame him. My dad and I are very close and I could not see myself being separated from him too. When that is all you have, how could you give them up? I would feel too lonely and everything would seem so scary and hopeless. I don’t know how Elie will survive if his father leaves him.

EAndrikopoulos Reader Response 2

     As I began to reading the section section of Night, I began to be saddened by the lack of hope the people began to feel. I understand that after an entire year in a concentration camp, hope will be the last thing you feel. I felt so much sympathy for the people living in the camps. I disagree, however, when Elie began to turn his back on God and blames him for everything that is happening. Elie says,

"Why, but why would I bless Him? Every fiber in me rebelled. Because He caused thousands of children to burn in His mass graves? Because He kept six crematoria working day and night including Sabbath and the Holy Days? Because in His great might, He had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many other factories of death? How could I say to Him: Blessed be Thou, Almighty, Master of the Universe, who chose us among all nations to be tortured day and night, to watch as our fathers, our mothers, our brothers end up in the furnaces? Praised be Thy Holy Name, for having chosen us to be slaughtered on Thine altar?" (67).

Although I try very hard to understand Elie's understanding on turning his back, it doesn't make sense to me blaming this horrific experience on God. In this time, it's understandable that people would start to point fingers. Although it's realistic, it is not right for people to point fingers. It is not His fault that the human race that He created has decided to take advantage of their existence and their ego's. How is is His fault that Hitler decided to wipe out all of the people or an entire race that he did not like? Although this could be fathomable for other readers, this made no sense to me and made me actually dislike Elie a little bit even though I still feel sympathy towards him.

     It also saddened me when Elie tells about the selection. The SS Officers take the physically most weakest men and kill them off. I don't agree with this at all, even if they were in a concentration camp. I believe, even if they are physically weak, everyone has something to offer to the world whether it be through art, words, or other ways. It's unfathomable that such horrific cruelty can be focused on one group of people just because of their beliefs or their descent. When I read about Elie's father not passing the first selection, my stomach dropped. He had first thought he passed but then realized that they wrote down his number without him realizing it. I was disappointed when I heard that he didn't pass the first selection and he gave Elie his spoon and knife, his inheritance. I felt hope, though, when he came back and said he had passed the second one. I was so worried that he wouldn't pass after everything he and his son have been through. They had tried so hard to stay together and get through the difficult and horrific times by each other's sides. I greatly feel for Elie and his father's fear living in the concentration camp.

BPangborn: Response Two 3/6

     As I began to read the second portion of Night by Elie Wiesel, I continued to feel more sympathy for the characters and I felt as though I became apart of the text. The conditions in the concentration camps only worsened and started to make Elie unresponsive to the events occurring around him. As he grew more and more emotionless by the minute, he didn’t even blink an eye when his father was getting beaten (54). I was starting to feel as though Elie was being corrupted. Prior to this event, Wiesel described the rare qualities of a Jewish Blockalteste named Alphonse. He was a very generous leader who would “organize a cauldron of soup for the young, for the weak, for all those who dreamed more of an extra portion of food than liberty” (51). It showed that even during madness of the Holocaust, the Jewish race still provided for and respected one another. My thoughts were quickly altered though, as Elie was helpless and showed not one care about his father. Wiesel was beginning to deteriorate physically and emotionally: he was punished with a whipping for spying on Idek, and was losing hope in God. When two men and a child were hanged, many asked, “Where is God?” and the response was, “hanging from the gallows.” This marked Elie’s realization that there was absolutely no hope left for God to save the Jewish prisoners from the camps, and he recounted that “the soup tasted of corpses” that night (65). As the last day in Auschwitz arrived, I began thinking…will this actually be their last day? Last day, not only meaning in Auschwitz, but living…? Heartache struck me when I learned that the Russians freed the people who stayed in the infirmary after the war (82). If Elie and his father had only stayed in the infirmary, safe, with an abundance of food and freedom in their future, his father’s life would’ve never been lost – which would have saved Elie from a great deal of grief. In my eyes, I believe that is the worst way to die – knowing that someone will be pleased with their cruel actions. To be completely honest, if I were in this situation, I would’ve committed suicide by now. I would never let my enemy have the satisfaction of making my life a mere memory.



This is a picture of an infirmary after it was taken over by the Russians - where survival was unknown at the time, but guaranteed in the end:

Abbott K: Second Response

     The second portion of the novel, Night, shows truly what the followers of Judaism have to suffer through at the concentration camps.  At these camps, they receive barely any food, and the food is barely edible itself.  The food is a ration of bread and a bowl of soup, and the people are only fed twice a day.  Also, the people that are kept are forced to work all day.  It makes me wonder, how can these people live and stay healthy by working hard all day and receive very little food?  The imagery in the novel is extremely strong.  The text is very detailed to the point that the reader can picture every scene clearly just by viewing the words.  The leaders seem to be nice most of the time, but when they start to get mad, the leaders prefer to unleash their anger on the prisoners.  Elie describes, "Idek was on edge, he had trouble restraining himself.  Suddenly, he exploded.  The victim this time was my father....And he began beating him with an iron bar." (54)  How can the leaders behave so horribly to the prisoners?  Of course, the leaders aren't supposed to be friends with the prisoners, but the unnecessary violence toward the prisoners isn't right at all.  It's not just the leaders either, because the prisoners can be rude to other prisoners as well.  One day, and friendly prisoner named Franek notices the gold crown in Elie's mouth.  After seeing the gold, Franek wants the tooth, but Elie tells him that he won't give the tooth to Franek.  Greed quickly consumes Franek and he starts to threaten Elie.  For revenge, Franek begins to beat Elie's father in order to make Elie give in so his father won't be beaten anymore.  Elie's father tells him not to give up, but not being able to watch his father's pain any longer, Elie gives Franek the tooth.  After receiving what he wants, Franek becomes friendly again.  It is amazing at how the men change so quickly when they receive what they want, and what they will do in order to get it.  As the novel progresses, Elie begins to reveal individual deaths at the camp.  Some of the men attempt to steal extra food, and get caught in the process.  As a punishment, the men are hanged, and the whole camp is forced to watch and stare in the eyes of the dead man's face.  One man spoke out as he was hanged, "Long live liberty!  My curse on Germany!  My curse!  My-" (62)  As they were about to die, these men didn't cry.  Instead the stood bravely and heroic, and they let death take them.  It is very unfortunate that the men in the Holocaust have to suffer so greatly, and from reading up to the point I'm in, it will be very joyous and triumphant when the prisoners are free.

First Reader Responce

In the first section of Night by Elie Wiesel that we had to read, I was greatly disturbed by the horror that went on. I can’t believe the types of abuse those people were going through. They were living a normal life as happy as possible, but then suddenly everything was flipped around. As I was reading, I kept thinking about how awful all of the things going on there were. Then I remembered that this book is told from Elie Wiesel’s point of view; this all really happened! They were kicked out of their homes and could only bring one bag with them.His father says, “Each of us will be allowed to bring his personal belongings… Nothing else”(Wiesel 14).  I don’t know how I would be able to pack up my entire life into one bag. I have so many things that I’m attached to in my room. There are so many memories from each of those objects and there is no way I would be able to pick only a few of those to bring with me. And then when they got off of the cattle carts to their final destination, they had to leave everything behind. They went from having at least one bag to absolutely nothing. If nothing else, I would feel so empty and broken. You know nothing good can come from an event like that.

Besides all of the tragedy going on, I am really interested in the book. I feel like it started slow and was hard for me to really get into it, but now that it had picked up its really good. Hearing the sorrows and problems they face and go through is like sitting there reading a horror story. They are so addicting to read because you want to keep going to see what happens next, even though you want to look away, you can’t.

I think the thing that affected me most was when he says, “A truck drew close and unloaded its hold: small children. Babies! Yes, I did see this, with my own eyes… children thrown into the flames” (32). How do you feel when you read this? The worst part is, to me, is to think, that could be kids that were just running around their town. Who has the right to kill children so small? They are innocent. They haven’t even had a chance to do wrong yet! I just feel so bad for those parents. It’s almost disturbing to think about that quote. I don’t want to picture it, but when I read something, I automatically picture it.

JFonseca, Blog 1

                As I began reading Night by Elie Wiesel, I instantly had mixed feelings of whether or not to put the novel down. Wiesel is an exceptional writer and conveys the events explained in this novel very well, but the context itself, is very heavy. For example, in the preface Wiesel states, “I heard his voice, grasped the meaning of his words and tragic dimension of the moment, yet I did not move.” (Wiesel xi) This young boy, at the time, had to witness, and hear his father last breaths. As he calls out for his son, he can’t do anything but sit there and just listen to his father’s cries. Why didn’t he want to comfort his father during his last moments on earth? Why should anyone want a young boy to witness his father’s death knowing he could do nothing to save him? As the preface persists, the author continues to summarize some of the horrific and repulsive events that occurred inside those barbed wires. Occurrences such as Jews being shipped in cattle cars, men, women and children, being killed by “chimneys” that burned them to death, or having to dig their own graves and then shot to death. What kind of people could have the heart or decency to treat others in that way? They were treating them like ANIMALS! I understand that it was the officer’s lives that were in danger as well but if enough of them would stand up against what was happening, they most defiantly would have been able to put an end to this, long before it killed over six million, innocent people.

                As the narrative continues, Wiesel explains how one day a group of Jews were hauled away in cattle cars and never heard of again but “life was normal again” (6). Some of your friends were just taken away and everyone can pretend like it never happened?! Why is everyone so clueless about what is happening in the world around them? Moise the Beadle was able to survivor being dragged away by the police and came back to the community to warn the others. He describes the unspeakable events he observed; men and women were digging their own graves then being lined up and shot. Also, “Infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for the machine guns.” (6). How could any person be capable of doing that? The actions that the officers portrayed were vile, dreadful; ghastly….there isn’t a word that could possibly describe how horribly evil they were. World War II displays how malicious a person can be. Once I read that line, I had to hold back the tears; that’s a little, breathing, heart-beating, innocent life. I believe Moise the Beadle survived to be able to return and warn the others. WHY DIDN’T ANYONE LISTEN? If I heard a story like that, it would be hard to grasp but I wouldn’t forget or ignore it! Later on Elie Wiesel’s asks his father to sell everything and move to Palestine, where it was safer. Unfortunately, he denied his son’s request and continued on with the life he was in now. If only he had listened to his son. The police then create the ghettos; why is everyone so calm about being concentrated into one area and not being allowed to leave?

                Not knowing where you’re going, what’s going to happen, or if you’ll ever return, must be the worst feeling you could have. Then to make matters worse, you are traveling, who knows how far, to a place unknown. Once he arrived in this terrifying place, he can see weak, ill men, along with fire bellowing through the sky, and the smell of burning flesh. What could possibly be going through his mind, a boy only 15 years old, looking death in the eye? Then to make matters worse, he gets separated from his mother and sister, leaving only his father in his company. How would you feel, knowing that, that was going to be the last time you were most likely ever going to see your family again? How would you react? Then, being a human just like the officers, him and his father, along with many others,were stripped from their belongings, and branded just like animals! These people were seen as pure nuisances to society just because of their religion or their appearance. Why didn’t anyone stand up for them and stop this horrible event from occurring? It just verifies that evil is present in everyone.

EAndrikopoulos Reader Response

In the novel Night by Elie Wiesel, we learn about the absolute disgrace of the concentration camps that Jewish citizens have been put in to. The horrific description of these camps has absolutely disgusted me. When Elie writes, "Infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for machine guns," (Wiesel, 6). It's astonishing that the men who ran the camp or just all the German officers in general could treat people the way they treated the Jews. What if they were the ones being put in to the concentration camp? I understand that if they didn't do what they were told, they would be shot, but why would the person shooting them think this is all ok? It all traces back to Adolf Hitler. No, healthy person has this much hate and this much anger towards a certain group of people. Why didn't they control him when they knew he was sickly so that the Holocaust never happened. What had the world come to that throwing babies around and shooting at them is no big deal? The concentration camps made slaughter houses look good. One person Elie encountered said, "What do you expect? That's war...," (6). If that's war, how manly sickly people are out there? No one in their right mind would ever treat other people this cruelly and this harshly. Elie does a phenomenal job giving insight to what really happened inside the concentration camps. He put all of his emotion in to his writing so that the reader can feel exactly what he feels. When he separates from his sisters and his mother, he make you put yourself into his shoes. You wonder how high your emotions would be running, knowing that could be the very last time you see your family. It's inspiring how even after everything they've gone through, the threats, the crammed bus ride, and the abuse that Elie and his father are still greatly optimistic and still have hope that they will soon see the rest of their family and they are still alive. They are very brave to go on through this journey not knowing what it going to happen to them next. At one point Elie debates throwing himself in to the barbed wire electric fence just so he would have a quick death rather than burning a slow, painful death in the crematoria. I do not blame him for having this thought cross his mind because without a doubt, it would have shown up in others' minds at some point thought this journey. Elie’s use of imagery helps the reader picture in their own mind the horror that he had to go through at this camp. His writing techniques make you feel as if you were standing right there next to him during this horrific event.

BPangborn: Response One 3/1

     As I began to read Night by Elie Wiesel, I immediately became connected to the book. Wiesel’s writing technique is extremely captivating and relatable. Especially in the Preface, where Elie summarized his experiences, he used vivid imagery, which captured me quickly. Wiesel elaborated about the fact that he, as a witness, “has a moral obligation to try to prevent the enemy from enjoying one last victory by allowing his crimes to be erased from human memory,” (viii). For me, I believe this is imagery because within my morals, I also would do anything in my power to impede someone of their satisfaction in their crime. I thought of this as a true statement that accurately mirrored my beliefs. Also within the Preface, he used a quote that really spoke to me. Eli was explaining how the world forgets things very quickly and stated, “Those who kept silent yesterday will remain silent tomorrow,” (xiii). This immediately rung a bell in my head – the topic of bullying. Many people who are being bullied, or who have trouble coming to terms with their feelings keep their emotions bottled up inside, which can lead to trouble later on in life. I feel as though when a tragedy happens within a community, it stays afloat and on everyone’s minds for a few weeks, or even months, then it suddenly fizzles out of the forefront. While people are still suffering, the world continues to revolve without them, and no matter how much suffering a person goes through, it is never enough to understand how much someone else has suffered. I have had many tragedies occur in my life, but I can never begin to imagine how far he was pushed to the limit. Especially by telling about his life during the Holocaust, he should be commemorated everyday for his human strength – evidence that a human can withstand almost anything physically, mentally, and emotionally. As the Jewish culture was being transported from one ghetto to another, anyone who tried to save their own life would risk the other’s lives (22). The Jewish culture was being pinned up against a wall – forced to give up their freedoms, and forced to object to their own culture. As well as living in horrible living conditions for the first week or so of confinement, Elie also became detached from his soul and morals. He becomes increasingly angry and doesn’t react to situations that he would’ve acted upon prior to living in Auschwitz. Wiesel recounts that his “soul had been invaded – devoured – by a black flame,” (37). Fear became instilled within him as the chimneys released heavy black smoke of fellow Judaists from the crematorium. Wiesel bared the heinous working conditions only to escape death.

Photo of the Chimneys of the Crematorium that "devoured" Wiesel's soul:

Abbott K: First Response

        The novel, Night, by Elie Wiesel is able to allow the reader to experience a firsthand account of the Holocaust which is not a version that many can view often since few have survived  the Holocaust.  By the end of chapter two, Elie has already shown his life prior to the Holocaust, and his first week in the concentration camps.  He is like any ordinary boy growing up during the time period of the 1940's.  Elie may be a follower of Judaism, but despite that, how is he different from any other boy?  He has dreams of accomplishments he wants to achieve when he gets older, and his parents are like every other hard working citizen.  Why did Adolf Hitler have a problem with followers of Judaism?  While reading the text, the novel made me think of the Ku Klux Klan and how they were very racist to any group of human beings that they disliked.  Hitler and his followers are just like the Ku Klux Klan.  They singled out those who didn't meet their idea of being perfect and eliminated them.  Elie states, "It is obvious that the war which Hitler and his accomplices waged was a war not only against Jewish men, women, and children, but also against Jewish religion, Jewish culture, Jewish tradition, therefore Jewish memory." (Preface)  It is a very horrible choice that Hitler made.  It goes against world peace and not being prejudice or racist.  The characters in the novel didn't do anything wrong.  All they did was minding their own business and continue to live through their daily lives.  Elie and his family didn't try to hurt anyone, so why did others view them as dangerous threats?  I believe that any form of racism is horrible for a person to have.  I wonder why Hitler had such a problem with the followers of Judaism.  

         The one literary element that I like about the literature is that the author's point of view is his own. It shows how he would think, not how some imaginary character would think.  Knowing it is the author's own thoughts makes the story more believable than any fiction novel.  The Holocaust is truly one of the worst disasters in history.  The mass murder of the Jewish religion is very repulsive.  Why did the author have to give every last detail to the reader though? Some of the text seems almost impossible to read because the reader is filled with so much disgust that they can't even imagine what might happen next since he or she is trying to hold down their last meal.  Elie says, "A truck drew close and unloaded its hold: small children.  Babies!  Yes, I did see this, with my own eyes...children thrown into the flames." (32)  I can only imagine the shock that must have been coursing through Elie.  To see such a sight must have been extremely horrific.  It is very unfortunate that any person had to experience such a tragedy right before their eyes.  The novel is excellent up to the point that I have read to.  It may be depressing, but that doesn't make a difference to any novel that is well written.