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: