Born in Hungary in 1928, Elie Wiesel was but a young boy when he and his family were deported to Auschwitz and later to Buchenwald, where both his parents and his sister die. The struggle to survive in the midst of death and murder weigh Wiesel down in his journey to keep his faith steady. The evils of human nature and the abuse he undergoes both physically and mentally are recounted in his autobiography “Night.”
Wiesel’s real-life account of camp life provides readers with an insider’s look on what goes through the mind of a prisoner. Wiesel’s use of the motif “night” reveals the dangers and the new sufferings that accompany each new day. A fear for the night is prevalent among the prisoners, especially in Wiesel and his father. Each night brings a new day, and with a new day, is the fear of death.
In “Night”, the word “bread” is on every other page, if not, every page. Wiesel’s hunger develops into his greatest source of weakness and pain. With his hunger, also comes his desperation to survive and provide for his father who is aging by the day. The scarcity of food accounts for the cruel nature of his fellow prisoners, and at one point, Wiesel encounters a man who loses his sanity after days without nourishment. Hunger plagues the camp.
Perhaps the greatest surprise Wiesel brings to readers is his overwhelming disappointment and hatred in his god as opposed to the guards and leaders of the camp. His faith is shaken during his time at the concentration camp and even by the end of the book, it is unclear as to how he feels about his faith. However, Wiesel’s uncertainty in his faith is made apparent in his words and thoughts.
“Night”, a first-hand account of the largest concentration camp during the Nazi occupation, reveals the cruelties of human nature the mental oppression Wiesel undergoes during his imprisonment. Wiesel reveals a horror that should not ever repeat itself in history by awakening a shocking memory of abuse and evil.
