So far, Elie Wiesel’s Night has provided me with a different perspective of what happened in the Holocaust: “The synagogue resembled a large railroad station: baggage and tears. The altar was shattered, the wall coverings shredded, the walls themselves bare. There were so many of us, we could hardly breathe. The twenty-four hours we spent there were horrendous. The men were downstairs, the women upstairs. It was Saturday--the Sabbath--and it was as though we were there to attend services. Forbidden to go outside, people relieved themselves in a corner.” (22) I knew prior to starting to read Night that the Jews were treated horrifically, but it had a different impact on me when I heard it from a first-person point. Elie Wiesel’s decision to write in first person made his writing that much more powerful. It is almost unfathomable to think that these horrible things happened to people just like us not so long ago. It makes me sad and ashamed to hear the torture people suffered: “They passed me by, one after the other, my teachers, my friends, the others, some of whom I had once feared, some of whom I had found ridiculous, all those whose lives I had shared for years. There they went, defeated, their bundles, their lives in tow, having left behind their homes, their childhood.” (17) This quote particularly moved me. When I imagined putting myself in Wiesel’s shoes and seeing my friends, neighbors, teachers, and everyone in my life and childhood march to their death, it pained me. Wiesel’s writing so far has helped me better understand what it was truly like for the Jews who suffered in the Holocaust. Writing about the perspectives of people who didn’t have a voice really enlightened me on how horrific the Holocaust was.
The way Wiesel writes his memoir is almost like it’s written in prose, he is extremely descriptive with his writing, and his sentences flow, but he keeps the plot fast-paced and moving like the greatest poems are. There was one part I read that almost brought me to tears: the uncertainty of it, the questions it left, and the horrifying thought that it was pure hope that was keeping these people alive when there truly was nothing to hope for. “Take care of your son. He is very weak, very dehydrated. Take care of yourselves, you must avoid selections. Eat! Anything. Anytime. Eat all you can. The weak don’t last very long around here”… And he himself was so thin, so withered, so weak… “The only thing that keeps me alive,” he kept saying, “is to know that Reizel and the little ones are still alive. Were it not for them, I would give up.” One evening, he came to see us, his face radiant. “A transport just arrived from Antwerp. I shall go to see them tomorrow. Surely they will hav...
Ellie, I completely agree with your emotions and writing. I agree that hearing from a memoir point of view, completely changed my perspective of the Holocaust. I felt sad and ashamed as well. I enjoyed that your quotes were very moving, and enlightening to the Holocaust.
ReplyDeleteEllie,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your emotions while reading the book. Although you did a great job on the quotes, I feel like you could have explained more about Elie's writing techniques. Do you think that he is a quick writer? What do you think about his vocabulary?
Ellie,
ReplyDeleteHow did Weisel's writing style, diction choices, and/or rythm affect these feelings?