Blog Post #1 (p.3-46)-October 5, 2018
Tell about your experience as a reader of the book so far: Explain how the book makes you feel. Provide specific passages that you found most moving/shocking/poignant/ surprising/interesting, and explain how they affected you (quote passages directly and include page number in parentheses after each quotation). Describe what you noticed about how the author wrote. Comment on the author’s diction (language choices), writing style, the cadence or rhythm of the language. Be sure to include examples from the text that demonstrate what you notice about Wiesel’s writing style.
As I was beginning to read the novel “Night” by Elie Wiesel, I went into it with a cautious mindset. From what I had heard others say about this book, I was not optimistic about the plot line. My assumptions were confirmed when early in the book, an event occured that shocked me immensely: “Infants were tossed in the air and used as targets for the machine guns.” (Wiesel 6). I was so surprised by this passage, for I had never even thought about something as horrible as that. When you would think about modern day ethics, every person in their right mind would say that that is a crime, and is terribly cruel. I cannot imagine being a child and having to watch that. After seeing unbelievably torturous sights, Elie Wiesel’s faith in Judaism wavered. As a young boy, he was extremely observant. Yet after living in the concentration camps, he started to believe that God could not save him, and he began to not value his worship to him as much. “I looked at my house in which I had spent years seeking my God, Fasting to hasten the coming of the Messiah, imagining what my life would be like later. Yet I felt little sadness. My mind was empty.” (Wiesel 19). Wiesel’s writing style is extraordinary to me, because he speaks of these tragic events with little points about how he felt emotionally about them, leaves it for the reader to figure out, and still manages to write his story in first person. The way he writes tends to have a rhythm that is almost calming at times, even though everything moves so fast. In a matter of pages, Wiesel could have moved to an entirely different camp. He often uses foreshadowing to hint about what will come of him next. He defines all of the words in his language that he uses. “This one had an iron gate with the overhead inscription: Arbeit Macht Frei. Work makes you free.” (Wiesel 40). The conclusion to each chapter is a slight cliffhanger, leaving you wanting more. It is not satisfying enough, and I often read over the page limit. Wiesel writes so that you are gripped in from the lead to the end. Reading “Night” is so emotionally draining, yet it is a beautiful story that I am glad the writer was brave enough to share.
ReplyDeleteI agree that his writing is so extraordinary! He can write about a tragic event but he has a twist of hope or joy. You make a very good point about how he hints about what come next for him.
DeleteWhile I agree with you on many things, I don't think his was a super observant child. I think he just seems observant, being from the author is telling this in hindsight. I also thought the time jumps were super confusing as well. I wish more authors had the bravery to tell their stories like this too.
DeleteIn this book I have taken on a new perspective on the definition of torture.It has helped me to realize how effective this time period was on the world. Night has moved me by observing how much hope and faith these victims had to have just to keep themselves alive at night. This book has not made me sad, but it has made me take the time to think and understand what I am reading. In other novels I have been able to read the book at a slower pace. In this memoir, it is a higher level of depth and vocabulary, therefore it has caused me to go back and make sure that I comprehend the story. “ I didn’t know that this was the moment in time where I was leaving my mother and Tzipora forever”(Weisel 29). This passage moved me very much so, because these people did not know that they would never see their families again if they were different genders. It scares me at just the thought of not knowing when you are going to see your relatives again, as well as not knowing what is going to happen to yourself. “ But people not only refused to believe his tales, they refused to listen. Some even insinuated that he only wanted their pity, that he was imagining things” (Weisel 7). It surprised me that the citizens of Sighet, Transylvania, did not believe Moishe the Beadle’s story about his deportation. From the way I read the book, it seemed as though Moishe was telling the truth and trying to warn the citizens before it happened to them. Elie Wiesel’s writing is an interesting style. He briefly describes the actions that he states, but he leaves it up to the writer to describe themselves. Wiesel’s rhythm of writing is unique, because he changes his fronts of writing as the book goes on. He writes in the present as if he is there in the moment while he observes from the future as he has done it already. He expands his vocabulary and he defines his foreign words that he uses. For example, “This one had an iron gate with the overhead inscription: ARBEIT MACHT FREI. Work makes you free” (40). As well as, “... Mother was stroking my sister’s blond hair, as if to protect her” (29). Elie uses this passage as a metaphor inscription as if to imitate the fact that they were in danger.
ReplyDeleteWhat you said about the new definition of torture is very true. The ways of torture that the Nazis used were crazy like branding people, whipping them, putting them into the gas chambers and Throwing people into flaming pits. It's sad to think what those people had to go through on a daily basis.
DeleteYeah I also understand. When I was reading the book, my heart was racing and I had to look back too to make sure I had read what I just heard correctly. Its horrible how they were treated. I'm glad it's not like that here.
DeleteThe book Night feels like a fake story but I keep reminding myself that it is real. All the horrible things the Nazis did was unbearable. “I pinched myself: Was I still alive? Was I awake? How was it possible that men, women and children were being burned and the world kept silent”? (Wiesel 32) On the night Elie arrived at the concentration camp he saw so many horrible things that stained his mind and thought to himself how could someone do that to people and no one was stopping them. This made me feel stunned because tons of victims were trapped and no one had no idea about them until the end. .“The Germans will not come this far. They will stay in Budapest. For strategic reasons, for political reasons… In less than three days, German Army vehicles made their appearance on our street”.(Wiesel 9) The people in Elie's town were for sure that the Germans would get defeated or not come as far as where they lived but they ended up overpowering everyone and capturing them. The author used a lot of Hebrew in the book and expanded into words that I had no idea existed. The vocab he used explained so much of what he was talking about. He makes sure that each sentence is strong so no one can be as powerful as Hitler was.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is hard to believe. Your quote about the people in the town believing that the Germans would be defeated is a good one. I think it is natural for us to believe things will turn out for the better.
DeleteI don't even know how it is possible for a human being to be so cruel. I have a feeling that if I was in the same situation, I would find it hard to believe as well.
DeleteI myself agree with you Night does feel fake. I wouldn't be able to live through the reality of what the Jewish, including Elie had to bear through. I also did not know most of the words in the book so far. It kind of frustrated me to keep reading the book and not be able to comprehend as much as I'm used to. I have to disagree on his strong words. I believe that his words are soft but meaningful but not so strong to have made an impact in my mind. I do believe that his actions are very strong, for example the key points and events that he describes as unbearable are very interesting to me.
DeleteIn all honesty, I was and still am nervous about reading Night, mainly because of how my parents set me up for the book, and my prior knowledge of the Holocaust combined. I think because of this I put up a emotional block surrounding the book. When I read the first section of the book, I didn’t feel anything other than utter disbelief over what had happened to him. I believe what changed within Elie the most was his faith. The whole point of him telling the story of Moishe the Beadle was to show just how religious Elie was as a 13 year old. Elie was very emotionally connected to his faith, “By day I studied the Talmud and by night I would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the Temple,” (Wiesel 3). When I read I was really surprised, this was a 13 year old boy who was that affected by reading the Torah. But by the end of the first section Elie says he’s lost his faith, “Some of the men spoke of God...As for me, I ceased to pray. I concurred with Job! I was not denying His existence, but i doubted His absolute justice,” (Wiesel 45). Even though this takes place 2 years later, Elie stops praying completely Auschwitz within the first 3 weeks broke down his faith in God. Even a trust in God as strong as Elie’s was broken. Elie’s writing style also includes lots of foreshadowing in his stories. For example, “From that moment on, everything happened very quickly. The race towards death had begun,”(Weisel 10). He writes the book in first person, but an all-knowing first person because he’s already experienced it. Because he’s looking back in hindsight, he is able to identify for us the red flags and people that his family and village ignored, that eventually became their downfall.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Reading it has truly been emotionally draining. It is very sad that someone so observant was able to loose faith because of the horrible train of events. And I can understand why. Once these terrible things happen to you that seem to have no purpose, it is hard to still believe there is someone watching over you and keeping you safe.
DeleteI wasn't so much nervous as I felt unable to start Night. Hearing about the Holocaust previously had moved me, but not nearly as much as it has so far. I can understand how Elie had felt like everything was moving very quickly. With that amount of torture and pain it could be hard to believe that only that much had happened in 2 pages or in one night.
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ReplyDeleteThis book is extremely moving and very sad. It’s insane to think that people were that crazy to the point that they would murder 6 million people. Just because of their skin color, eye color, religion or even how big their nose was. On one of the first pages the Nazis were doing some awful stuff and it made me realize how bad they were. “ Infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for their machine guns” ( Wiesel 6). At the beginning of the third chapter another part made me really sad they were doing horrible things to children again. “ A truck drew close and unloaded it's hold: small children. Babies! Yes, I did see this, with my own eyes. . . children thrown into flames” ( Weisel 32). I like how the Wiesel wrote this book in first person. It's easy to understand what’s going on and I also liked the words that he used to describe things. The way Wiesel writes this book makes you read it slowly so you can fully understand. There's a lot of important and historic information. This quote shows that Elie uses very interesting words and that you have to read it slowly to understand. “ I too had become a different person. The student of Talmud, the child I was, had been consumed by the flames. All that was left was a shape that resembled me. My soul had been invaded and devoured by a black flame” ( Weisel 37).
I agree that his writing style, quotes, capital letters, and one word lines, makes you stop to think and let it sink in. You really have to do this to believe it really happend.
DeleteI also agree with you that it is insane for a group to think its okay to murder 6 million people because of their race and religion. It is sickening to think of all the people who were killed or injured.
DeleteI agree with you that it is sad but I think that it is also disturbing. it is sad that 6 million people died but it is also disturbing about how they died.
DeleteIn this book I have taken on a new perspective on the definition of torture.It has helped me to realize how effective this time period was on the world. Night has moved me by observing how much hope and faith these victims had to have just to keep themselves alive at night. This book has not made me sad, but it has made me take the time to think and understand what I am reading. In other novels I have been able to read the book at a slower pace. In this memoir, it is a higher level of depth and vocabulary, therefore it has caused me to go back and make sure that I comprehend the story. “ I didn’t know that this was the moment in time where I was leaving my mother and Tzipora forever”(Weisel 29). This passage moved me very much so, because these people did not know that they would never see their families again if they were different genders. It scares me at just the thought of not knowing when you are going to see your relatives again, as well as not knowing what is going to happen to yourself. “ But people not only refused to believe his tales, they refused to listen. Some even insinuated that he only wanted their pity, that he was imagining things” (Weisel 7). It surprised me that the citizens of Sighet, Transylvania, did not believe Moishe the Beadle’s story about his deportation. From the way I read the book, it seemed as though Moishe was telling the truth and trying to warn the citizens before it happened to them. Elie Wiesel’s writing is an interesting style. He briefly describes the actions that he states, but he leaves it up to the writer to describe themselves. Wiesel’s rhythm of writing is unique, because he changes his fronts of writing as the book goes on. He writes in the present as if he is there in the moment while he observes from the future as he has done it already. He expands his vocabulary and he defines his foreign words that he uses. For example, “This one had an iron gate with the overhead inscription: ARBEIT MACHT FREI. Work makes you free” (40). As well as, “... Mother was stroking my sister’s blond hair, as if to protect her” (29). Elie uses this passage as a metaphor inscription as if to imitate the fact that they were in danger.
ReplyDeleteThat is true. That time period was something that affected people all around the world, emotionally and physically. Sadly, it was mostly for the worst.
DeleteI thought that the book was really sad and awful so far. When the Nazis made the Jews move out of their houses, they made them suffer too. The Jews were dying of thirst and sweat. The Nazis separated the Jews from their families. They beat them and made them starve. They tried tests on them, shot them and burned them to death. I couldn’t imagine having to be separated from my family. And going through all that stuff. I would just break down. I wouldn’t be able to handle it. They must feel terrible. They were put through such torture that they ere probably scarred. Just knowing that people had to go through that makes me feel even more sad. The worst part for me is what they did to the babies. I can’t imagine how the parents must feel. Just imagining it makes me want to cry. Just seeing a baby being thrown up in the air. They never got to live much of a life, and if they would have, it would have been horrid. “Without passion or haste, they shot their prisoners, who were forced to approach the trench one by one and offer their necks. Infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for the machine guns” (Wiesel 6). I like how he wrote. It’s almost as if you can see through his eyes. You know what was happening behind the scenes of the holocaust, you don’t just know that Nazis were killing them and forcing the Jews out. You can hear fear and dread coming from the Jews. They probably had no idea that this was ever going to happen.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I would not be able to handle that to. The Nazis took tons of innocent people and made them suffer just because they were Jewish or was not the race Hitler accepted.
DeleteI agree with you. I don't even understand why/how Nazis had the desire to use infants as targets for guns. As you said, I also like how Elie wrote about his experience. It gives a Jew's perspective on this horrible event. If I was a Jew during the time of the Holocaust, I don't think I would be able to fight back if I had the chance. I can't imagine how scared someone would be if they told people about the Holocaust. It must be terrifying to think what would happen if they got caught.
DeleteI still am in shock that people can do that. Just thinking about what would happen to me if I were to be caught. It gives me chills just to imagine.
DeleteI agree. It is amazing to me that something so inhumane could happen at such a recent time in our history.
DeleteI agree. To be separated from your family is despicable. Then to be sent to the gassing chambers or to be a slave. It is terrible.
DeleteThe cover of Night has a quote from The New York Times--"A slim volume of terrifying power."
ReplyDeleteIt is. How could one race of people, in power, do such inhuman things to another race of people. It is really hard for me to believe or even understand all the horrible things that were done to the Jewish people. It is clear that they were not even treated like people, just "lazy good-for-nothings, (Wiesel 19) just animals. Right after that, Mr. Wiesel writes, what I think will be the most powerful line in the book, "I began to hate them, and my hatred remains our only link today." (Wiesel 19) This line made me stop and think about what it took to feel such hate and how this must destroy you to feel such hate all of your life. He then goes on to say "they were the first faces of hell and death." (Wiesel 19) A scary detail in his writing comes with his first look at the "flames rising from a tall chimney into a black sky" (Wiesel 28) and "in the air, the smell of burning flesh." (Wiesel 28) And then, so sad, as the SS officer commanded: "Men to the left! Women to the right!" Mr. Wiesel writes "eight simple, short words. Yet that was the moment I left my mother" forever. (Wiesel 29) Mr. Wiesel's writing style alternates between telling the story and direct quotes of what was said by the soldiers. This makes you feel the impact of the words from the soldiers. He also writes important things in capital letters or just one word on a line. This says pay attention, this is important. For example: "NEVER SHALL I FORGET that night." Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes." (Wiesel 34)
It is chilling to read Wiesel's writing. He makes you feel like you are there in the moment with him, and you begin to feel the same emotions he did at that point in time. You did a good job describing his writing style.
DeleteI know it is hard for me to read sometimes too. I can't believe they treated other people like that. We're all humans. No one should be treated like that. They may have been different but still, Hitler was different than his vision. Maybe he should explain that.
DeleteThe reading of Night for me has proven to be challenging. It is profoundly moving and, quite honestly, depressing to read. It shines a light on a very dark time for many people in a way that I have never quite seen anyone explains anything. The perfect and vivid depiction of everything that is happening in the story is what makes it so moving. It seems to leave no detail undiscussed. One of the quotes from the book that I found astonishing was this: "It is a concentration camp. Here, you must work. If you don't, you will go straight to the chimney. To the crematorium. Work or crematorium-the choice is yours" (38). My comment on it was this: An impossible choice - Be in (at the time made to seem) infinite servitude, or burn alive and be spared the pain and suffering that was sure to come from the work that they would have to do. Another quote that was surprising to me was this: "If that is true, then I don't want to wait. I'll run into the electrified barbed wire. That would be easier to than a slow death in the flames" (33). My thoughts on that are: I cannot imagine being pushed so far, and is so sure of a much worse death than if I were to do it myself with whatever I had around me, that I would want to do that-to commit suicide to evade a more painful death. The part where they are all on the train, and the woman keeps screaming "fire!" is an essential part for me. I believe that it shows that the author wants to make sure everyone knows how grueling of a task just existing on that train car-packed like sardines with no room at all and forced to live without water. In addition to, a woman screaming, and children crying was for them; to make it more "real" for the reader.
ReplyDeleteYes, I completely agree the story about Mrs. Schaeter made the train scene a the more heartbreaking. Wiesel's description of her insanity and pain was terrible. Great description, but what happened to her was terrible. And hearing the people deciding how they wanted t die was horrifying
DeleteI completely agree with your feelings toward the book. I think that Night has been a challenging read for all of us.
DeleteThe book Night is very moving and a hard book to read. Some of the things that the Nazis did seems fake and not possible, but everything is true. The main character Elie and his family were taken to Auschwitz concentration camp after WWI. His family was split up by gender, his mom and sisters went through one part, Elie and his dad went another way. I was surprised during the part when Elie saw the trucks dumping the infants into the fire. It scared me and made me really think how bad this situation was. "Another prisoner came up to us: "Satisfied?" "Yes," someone replied. "Poor devils, you're going to the crematory." He seemed to be telling the truth. Not far from us, flames were leaping up from a ditch, gigantic flames. They were burning something. A truck drew close and unloaded its load: children. Babies! Yes, I saw it--saw it with my own eyes ... children thrown into the flames. (Is it any wonder that ever since then, sleep tends to elude me?"(32)
ReplyDeleteThis part of the book terrified me and made me very sad. I was in udder disbelief that people could be so cruel and cold-hearted. I was also moved when a prisoner went up to Elie and his dad to tell them that they needed to tell the soldiers they were different ages. " 'Hey kid, how old are you?' 'Fifteen' 'No your eighteen.' Then he asked my father, who answered 'fifty' 'No, not fifty. You're forty, you hear me? Eighteen and forty.' "
Elie followed the man's directions, but if he didn't, they would both be killed. Elie's writing style was in first person. It helped give a real-life example of what happened during the Holocaust. He described his whole experience and the horror he experienced. The events happened so fast that it took me a couple of times to read until I fully understood. The end of chapter 3 was a cliffhanger because Elie and his family arrived at a new camp, but the chapter didn't cover what happened next.
It is really hard to believe those events actually happened to him. It is saddening to us in today's modern society, and we almost cannot comprehend it. I barely can myself.
DeleteI can absolutely relate to being scared or sad in some parts of the book. I am still haunted by the imagery in my head of those small children being thrown into a pit of flames.
DeleteIt is hard for me to understand how someone (the Nazis) could just have another human being burnt to death and not feel any remorse, if not joy because of it.
DeleteIn Night Elie Wiesel I felt emotionally exhausted. It was an emotional rollercoaster, I have vivid images of all the terrors in the Holocaust. Before anyone got to the camps from Sighet Moishe the Beadle warned everyone of what was coming, but nobody believed him. He spoke the truth, but they called him crazy because they couldn’t imagine the horror. “They were ordered to dig huge trenches. When they were finished their work, the men from the Gestapo began theirs. Without passion or haste, they shot their prisoners, who were forced to approach the trench one by one and offer their necks. Infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for the machine guns” (Wiesel 6). This paragraph was especially sad because he told of very gory details of mass murder. On the way to the camps, everyone was in a cattle car on a train. There was no food or water, for days they were stuck in that car. “Lying down was not an option, nor could we all sit down. We decided to take turns sitting. There was little air. … After two days of travel, the thirst was intolerable, as did the heat” (Wiesel 23). I could not imagine what it feels like to have that kind of thirst. To go days on end without food or water traveling to an unknown place. They knew nothing about what was coming. Elie Wiesel has a distinct writing style because it's like he is talking to the reader but also telling a story. He uses his some other language and explains how that word or phrase is relevant. In this memoir I saw a different point of view, the view of a survivor not something from a history textbook.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your writing and definitely can see where you're coming from when you said it was an emotional rollercoaster. If I where alive during this time and someone told me that I was going to be sent to a concentration camp to be put to work, and then there being a very high possibility I was going to be killed for doing absolutely noting, I wouldn't know how to respond or I just wouldn't believe them. When you said "Elie Wiesel has a distinct writing style because it's like he is talking to the reader but also telling a story", I completely see what you mean. I feel that it also made the book more interesting the way he communicates with us through the book.
DeleteThis memoir spiked feelings within me that I was not aware that I could feel for a novel. The story made me feel sad but it has also moved me because it changed my perception of Holocaust victims. I had no idea that these people, who were treated beyond poorly, could maintain such deep faith. “Lying down was not an option, nor could we all sit down. We decided to take turns sitting. There was little air” (Wiesel 23). This passage moved me because it gave me a subtle description of some of the abysmal conditions during the Holocaust. Think about this, you and seventy-nine other people (most of whom you don’t know) are crammed into a small train car with a few buckets of water and little food for almost a week. You would go insane. Yet through all of that, most of these people were able to keep their composure - to a point. “I didn’t know that this was the moment in time and the place where I was leaving my mother and Tzipora forever” (Wiesel 29). This passage left me feeling quite sad because, it is just heart wrenching to think that these people did not know that they would never see their families again. Putting myself in the same situation I can’t imagine being in this position where I didn’t know if was going to see my family again and then having the strength to carry on. It is just difficult to process and wrap my head around the fact that Nazis were so heartless and ruthless. Although I have not read more than half of this book, I am starting to observe some patterns in Elie Wiesel’s writing. He is very articulate in describing the horrors that went on during the Holocaust. In particular, the way Wiesel was able to describe Mrs. Schachter’s actions and her delusion in the train car.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the examples you chose to tell how you felt in this book. I also don't understand how these victims kept with their faith through all of this.
DeleteI agree with you. When the Jews were in the train cart they were told that they would not be separated from their families so they kept faith. They were also told that the camp had good conditions. Although when they arrived they were separated immediately and put to work.
DeleteMy experience as a reader of the book night is that it makes me feel sad and shocked at the same time. There is not one single thing that I can say made me feel sadder than another, because each event brings a different type of hurt to the character that cannot be compared to another. Each event in the book is devastating in its own way which can not be compared to a equally sad event. In the book night I can not choose one sad event I have read over another as the worst to me so these will be some of the awful things they did. “Over there, that's where they will take you. Over there will be your grave. You still don’t understand? You will be burned! Burned to a cinder! Turned to ashes!” (Wiesel 31). This quote shocks me because these people have just gotten to this concentration camp and seconds later they are being told about how they should have killed themselves instead of coming and about how they are going to die a fiery cruel death alongside their families and friends. This also shocks me because Elie is with his dad having to hear this, his own father has to hear about how him and his son die together.the way that Elie wrote this is very descriptive from my point of view making it seem so much more real to the reader. I felt like I could actually tell the way that everyone spoke to each other, making it even more captivating. “The Jews were ordered to get off and onto waiting trucks. The trucks headed toward the forest. There everybody was ordered to get out. They were forced to dig huge trenches. When they had finished their work, the men from the Gestapo begin theirs. Without passion or haste, they shot their prisoners, who were forced to approach the trench one by one and offer their necks.”
ReplyDelete(Wiesel 6). This quote moved me because the Nazis were able to take a man full of life and joy and faith and drain him of all those things. They also took random citizens into the woods and literally made them dig their own graves just to be shot mercilessly. The Nazis also tried to shoot Moishe the beadle and leave him their to suffer and die slowly of blood loss without showing any emotion whatsoever. In this quote I liked the way that the author wrote the story, I don't know why but the way he told the story made it more intriguing than the way other author would write a story being told in their book.
My initial reactions to the first part of this book were that it’s very deep, disturbing, and shocking. For the first 30 pages the reality of the book had not set in yet. Many of the gruesome parts of the book are told in great detail, which is important, but it makes the book even harder to read. One sentence that was particularly moving and shocking was, “Infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for the machine guns” (Wiesel 6). This made me feel very angry and upset. It was also very hard to wrap my head around the fact that humans could even think of doing this to other humans, especially infants. A theme that I’m starting to see emerge in the book is that people are capable of way more than we think they are. In the book, everyone thought it must be some sort of dream or nightmare because they thought humans could never do such awful things. They were wrong. “I pinched myself: Was I still alive? Was I awake? How was it possible that men, women, and children were being burned and that the world kept silent? No. All this could not be real. A nightmare perhaps… Soon I would wake up with a start, my heart pounding, and find that I was back in the room of my childhood, with my books…” (Wiesel 32). The author conveyed a sense of fright and the feeling that everyone was having, that this couldn’t be real. When they arrived at the concentration camps it was a sudden realization that this was real, and not good. “In front of us, those flames. In the air, the smell of burning flesh. It must have been around midnight. We had arrived. In Birkenau” (Wiesel 28). This section of the story was pivotal because the author conveys the feeling that everyone realizes at once what is really going to happen to them.
ReplyDeleteThe book is written in first person by the main character which gives it a more personal feeling, but it also makes the tone of the book even more sad because it is the personal account of what someone went through. The tone of the book is also shown through the setting which is described in detail. Everything about the story is described very well which furthers the reader’s connection to the book. The story slows down at some points to provide more detail and dive into the event. In other parts it moves faster in order to move the book along. As the author was telling the story he would jump forward to the present to show how the event he was explaining affected the future and how powerful that moment would turn out to be. An example of this is, “And I walked on with my father, with the men. I didn’t know that this was the moment in time in place where I was leaving my mother and Tzipora forever” (Wiesel 29). Elie Wiesel added the fact in that this was the last time he saw his mother and sister because it was powerful and showed how important this moment really was. “Night” is very upsetting but is very interesting and important to read, especially because it’s from the point of view of a survivor.
I agree that the way he wrote the book in first person gives it a more personal feeling to it. Like you said it makes the tone of the book more sad, but it also gives more depth to the character and makes you relate to their feeling more.
DeleteSo far the Structure of Night by Elie Wiesel made me feel many different ways, joyful, sad, curious, fearful, angry, and disgusted. His book was mostly written in first person because he was sharing his experience in the Holocaust. His writing style was very different from most author’s writing style. When I was reading, it seemed that everything was happening so fast, but in reality I was reading slow to make sure I comprehended everything. One part of the book that disgusted me the most was when the Nazis threw the infants up in the air for target practice. “Infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for the machine guns” (Wiesel 6). I’m not sure how anyone could bear to do this to such innocent infants. One theme that stood out to me in the book was that the Jews were mostly oblivious to what the Nazis were doing to them. “Get up sir, get up! You must ready yourself for the journey. Tomorrow you will be expelled, you and your family, you and all the other Jews” (Wiesel 15). When they were told this the Jews probably thought that they were going to be let free. However, they didn’t know that they were going to be suffering for the rest of their lives. They didn’t know they were going to be stuffed in a train with 80 people with barely any food or water, they didn’t know they were going to be stripped of their valuables, they didn’t know what a crematoria was, all they knew was that they were going somewhere, but they didn’t know where they were going. While Elie Wiesel was talking about his horrible experience during the Holocaust it was very hard to wrap my head around his experiences. It was really hard to believe that all of this was true and it only happened approximately 63 years ago. How could these people kill around 6 million Jews for doing absolutely nothing? Usually when I read I try to visualize what is going on in the book, but this was probably one of the hardest thing I have ever tried to visualize. It was not only hard to visualize, but it was also really hard to process that this all actually happened. “The inscription: WARNING! DANGER OF DEATH. Was there here a single place where one was not in danger of death” (Wiesel 40). I could never imagine entering a place with a sign that says “WARNING DANGER OF DEATH” and thinking it was a normal thing. Even though this book is very sad, Elie Wiesel would want us to read about it so something like this never happens again.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that this book is very shocking and disturbing, especially the part when the infants were shot. One part of your comment that I don't understand is when you said that the book made you feel joyful. I would like to know what part of it made you feel that way and why. When you say that you struggle to imagine something like this happening, I relate to that very much. I think that you explained that very well. It took me a long time to even process that all of this was real.
DeleteWhen I first heard that we were assigned to read Night by Elie Wiesel, I was concerned that the book would be really depressing and hard to get through. Although the first half of the story was very depressing, it helped me to feel grateful about my life and reminded me that I should be more appreciative of how lucky I am. So far the Nazi soldiers have been dehumanizing the Jews. “The orders came: ‘Strip! Hurry up! Raus! Hold on only your belt and your shoes…’ Our clothes were to be thrown on the floor at the back of the barrack. There was a pile there already. New suits, old suits, torn overcoats, rags. For us it meant true equality: nakedness. We tembled in the cold.” (Wiesel, 35). When I read this quote for the first time it made me feel disgusted and I wanted to know how anyone could do that to other people without feeling guilty. “The three ‘veteran’ prisoners, needles in hand, tattooed numbers on our left arms. I became A-7713. From then on, I had no other name.” (Wiesel, 42). When the soldiers told the Jews to take off their clothes and make them get tattooed numbers on their wrists, I felt like that made them feel less human and more like property. It also helped the German soldiers to carry out their mistreatment of their prisoners by removing the emotional connection. The hard truth that the author puts into this novel really shows you what it is like to be him and the struggles he went through as a child. I noticed that the author changed to present tense to show the impact it put on him many years later. “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces of children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes. Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to lived as long as God Himself. Never.” (Wiesel, 34). Elie Wiesel’s writing style it a very fast pace yet has a lot of imagery and details. The fact that Wiesel uses words and expressions from other languages helps to create more of a scene in the reader's mind. “‘ Yisgadal, veyiskadash, shmey raba… May His name be celebrated and sanctified…’ whispered father.” Now that I am reading Night, I am thankful that I am getting educated on what happened during the Holocaust.
ReplyDeleteI like how you mentioned that before reading Night, you thought that it was going to be too sad and depressing. Now it makes us realize how lucky we are and how grateful we should be. We don't realize how great our lives are until we read and hear something like that.
DeleteI too agree that seeing what him and countless others went through makes us realize how amazing our lives are, but it also shows how important it is that we don't let something like this happen again. In your comment you say that the author tells the hard truth, and I think it is so important that he does so. If we don't see the depths of everything they went through, we might not understand enough to make certain something like this never happens again.
DeleteThis book has really horrified me. The passage that I found the most tragic described what they did to infant children. The author wrote, “Infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for the machine guns” (Wiesel 6). This was truly abominable. This made the Nazis almost seem un-human to commit such an inhumane crime. Also, I believe that the Holocaust not only surprised the world, but the people experiencing it. Wiesel stated after the gypsy had beaten his father in the camp, “Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminal's flesh. Had I changed that much?” (Wiesel 39). This quote demonstrated how seeing such atrocity made Wiesel almost become one of the guards and accept beattings and tragedy as reality. I found that the author wrote at a much faster pace than what the reader can digest. I believe that he naturally does this because it all is so real to him. He lived through this, while to the reader it is so horrifying and must be read slowly to fully understand the atrocity completely.
ReplyDeleteI also found the quote about the infants being shot in the air one of the most tragic quotes that disgusted me the most. After the Nazis did such a horrible act, I was certain that they were un-human. When you said “Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminal's flesh. Had I changed that much?" I think that it mostly demonstrates how quickly a person can change in the concentration camps. For example when Elie first arrived and he witnessed some being hung he was disgusted, but once he was there for about a week he saw it as a normal thing. When you put this in perspective it is really upsetting what the Nazis did the Jews for doing absolutely nothing.
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ReplyDeleteHaving only started the book Night, it has been extremely sad to me. This sadness comes from the death of 6 million people who were killed by the Nazis and how they died. It is insane to me that these people threw toddlers and children up into the air for gun targets. The emotions that the victims have been through were indescribable. They were kicked out of their homes, put on trains with no food, water, or even a place to sit, and killed. Just from the first couple of days in Auschwitz they were already going crazy because of the madness. “´Fire! I see a fire! I see a fire!´ There was a moment of panic. Who had screamed? It was Mrs. Schachter. Standing in the middle of the car, in the faint light filtering through the windows, she looked like a withered tree in a field of wheat. She was howling, pointing through the window.¨(24-25) Right when the victims entered Auschwitz, the Nazis tore apart families. It is just a horrible thing to think about. And on top of all of this, the victims were always being pushed around. This also created madness. “Faster! Faster! Move, you lazy good-for-nothings!”(19) I think that Elie´s writing style is always full of anxiety.
ReplyDeletePost #1:The Book makes me feel sorry for all of the people who suffered through that and whose family members went through that awful time. It makes me feel thankful that my family and i were not alive in that period in time (1933-1945). “And as the train stopped, this time we saw flames rising from a tall chimney into a black sky” (Wiesel 28). The quote moves me because of the detail and the whole background of the quote. It Moves me and Surprises me. Wiesel’s Language/Detail in the Quote makes me feel that I was in the passage of the book and could see everything that was described.
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