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.