Night Essay, Research Paper

Night

Night is based on a true story and describes the real life conditions of the Nazi concentration camps. The author, Elie Wiesel, describes his dreadful experiences he had in the concentration camps.

The story begins with Elie talking about his old tutor Moshe the Beadle. He is very close to him and talks to him often. When he needed advice he would go to Moshe. One day Hungarian police arrested Moshe along with other foreigners and took them away on cattle cars. When Moshe returns he tells the people of the fate of the exile after they arrive in Poland. Later on Moshe was shot in the leg and assumed to be dead. Elie weeps for he will never see Moshe, his tutor, again.

German officers come along and force the Jews into Ghettos surrounded by barbed wire. They place anti-Semitic laws on the Jews that prohibit them from going to restaurants, trains, and synagogues.

Elie and his family are deported. They have very little food and water. On the trip, a woman known as Madame Schachter, insanely cries out about visions of burning. When they reach the destination, officers tell them false information about the situation. As Elie walks he can smell the retched smells of burning flesh.

Elie and his father are separated from Elie s mother and sister. They are on an inspection line and a fellow Jew tells Elie to tell the SS officers that he is 18, not 14. He also tells Elie s father to say he is a whole decade younger. Elie and his father survive and are brought to the camp. On their was they see babies and humans being thrown into the flames of the crematory.

At the camp Elie is instructed that his gold crowned tooth mush be removed. He gets out of this by faking a fever. After this he sees an SS officer with a naked girl in bed. He is caught staring and laughing and is beaten.

Yom Kippur comes around but Elie and his father do not fast for they need all the food they can get. Elie begins to lose hope in God for He is letting all these dreadful things happen to his people.

Winter has come and the SS officers order the Jews to march to a new camp in the freezing cold and snow. It is difficult for Elie because he recently had surgery on his foot to drain fluid and it is now swollen and sore. As they march the SS officers shoot anyone who falls behind, if they are not first trampled. When they finally get a break, Elie and his father work together to keep each other form falling asleep and freezing to death.

The next day they march to the rail lines and get aboard a train. Here the prisoners survive by eating snow off each others backs. The SS officers are amused by this and throw bread to the starving people which causes chaos. People fighting and killing each other for a small piece of bread. Elie is almost hurt but is saved by his father and a friend. When the train stopped, the only survivors are Elie, his father, and 10 other men.

Elie s father becomes very sick. He begins to ignore his father s sufferings and this bothers him. He starts to eat his father s rations of food for he knows that his father has no chance of survival. Elie wakes up one morning and sees another man in his fathers bunk and he knows that his father has passed away.

On April 10, 6 P.M., American tanks arrive at the camp s gates. The prisoners are rescued and their hunger is satisfied with rations of bread. The suffering is finally over and they are liberated.

There are two characters from the book that are both very similar and very different. This is Elie and his Father. Throughout the whole story they work together helping each other survive. Where one would go the other would try to be. They both had similar strategies of survival and with both minds put together they were able to go a long way. They both cared about each other very much and promised never to abandon one another.

However, Elie has one major difference, his age. Elie s father was becoming physically unable to complete his journey. He was slowing Elie down and was putting him at a greater risk of being killed. Towards the end, even though Elie promised never to abandon in father, he does. His father lay sick and dying in his bed. Instead of wasting food on his dying father, Elie consumes two rations of food, one his the other his father s. His father calls out to him but Elie ignores him for he knows there is nothing that can be done. The major difference shown here is respect and loyalty towards one another. While Elie was going through all the torturous stages, he began very slowly to lose respect for his father. In the end we see Elie s respect for his father is totally gone while his father still respects him and relies on him.

Making this into a movie would be somewhat difficult since it took place awhile ago. It would definitely have to take place in similar settings as the real events took place. By doing this, the viewers will get a better feel and understanding of the entire story. The details have to be so precise so that the viewers can see how badly the Jews were tortured for no apparent reason in the holocaust.

Getting actors, or directors, who have experienced the real concentration camps would be very beneficial. By doing so, they would be able to create a more realistic duplication of the conditions. By sharing their insight of their experiences, the movie would become more precise and influential.

The script of the movie should just pretty much follow the way of the book. To me the book was very influential and if the script were followed the same way I am sure it will have the same effect. A little more dialogue would be necessary. Also to go along with dialogue, expressions and scenery will be needed. For dark and gloomy scenes where things are going bad, a dark gloomy setting should be used along with the characters looking badly hurt or suffering greatly. The viewers will not get the feel for the movie if the characters do not illustrate their emotions. By doing this, they will see what kind of affect a specific situation had on an individual.

If all these factors are put into affect, I am sure that the movie will have a huge impact on the viewers and show them the cruelty that the Jews were put through. After seeing the movie it might also make the viewers think twice about anti-semitism.

Reading this book influenced me in many ways. First of all it brought to my realization the cruelties in which the Jews and others were put through in the concentration camps. I thought the book was very descriptive and made the reader somehow feel what the characters were experiencing.

The book itself is not out dated. I think that in about 100 years it will not be out dated. It is an extremely beneficial book that allows everyone to see what the past was like and what not to do ever again. This book is a good book for anyone to read.

I learned many things when I was reading. I never knew how badly the Jews were treated in the concentration camps. The amount that they suffered was unbelievable. And the fact that some of them survived is very shocking. I learned of some of the ways that the Germans used to torture the Jews, and the inhumane things that they did that are to horrible to even think of. I couldn t figure out how they could separate families and kill new born babies without a single feeling of guilt. The one thing I disliked most about this book was the Germans and the SS officers. How they could do those unspeakable things to innocent people is truly unbelievable. Hopefully by reading this book, this occurrence will never again be a problem in the future of the human race. And if there is a situation that can lead up to it, hopefully people will think twice after learning what I learned from this book.