Ace
12-18-2005, 11:25 AM
Well, its done, but not complete, im going to spend the day editing it and touching it up, so if you find anything that needs fixxing, please tell!
“In Night, Elie Wiesel [the author] inverts and reverses, even shatters, the elements of traditional paradigm” (Vanderwerken 305). Various critics rave about the limitless qualities of this hundred-page portrayal and the epic it unfolds. Night, a “memoir,” is told through the eyes of a young Jewish boy named Eliezer. It thoroughly depicts the horrible atrocities and suffering he endures during his forceful stay in the concentration camps of Auschwitz, Poland, and the unbearable sights he is forced to witness. Throughout Eliezer’s occupation of the camp, he learns who he really is and the austerity of his unwanted environment. This award-winning novel unquestionably deserves a spot on a ten honors summer reading list because of its superior academic value.
Although a selected few view Wiesel’s work as a failure of art (Alvarez 1), they clearly have not realized that this novel has been tediously translated twice into unrelated languages. Perhaps they have not evaluated the novel as a whole and considered the devastation that abundant complicated words might have on Wiesel’s vivid portrait.
Night’s exemplary character development gains the reader’s interest in the novel. Eliezer overcomes a change most unlike any other character. His relationship with his father tragically becomes inverted (Vanderwerken 306). “Normally, the father helps the son make the transition from adolescence from dependence to independence. In the kingdom of Night, however, the roles completely reverse; the son becomes the parent” (Vanderwerken 306). With his father’s declining health, his only option is to soothe him and help him throughout his stay in Auschwitz. Since most students have never encountered this situation, they find interest in how Eliezer assumes the role of a parent and how he manages his father’s problems. Wiesel is also intuitively able to bring out the bad qualities of characters without ruining the character in the reader’s eye; Eliezer’s loss of faith is one of them. “Why, but why should I bless Him? In every fiber I rebelled. Because in His great might He had created Auschwitz” (Wiesel 64). The eternal thought lingers in Eliezer’s mind: where is God now? Where is God when I need him most? His faith deteriorates as he realizes that God is not there to help him, no one is. The camps of Auschwitz killed his faith “forever” (Cedars 294). Night is therefore Eliezer’s view of repeated dying, once the death of a man, and then his ideas (Avni 340). Not only does death take place in this grievous story, but the degradation of people’s morals. People around Eliezer begin to worry only about themselves. One son murders his father in a desperate attempt to gain a last piece of bread (Wiesel 96). Eliezer painfully tries to keep thoughts such as these out of his mind. Situations such as these occur and Eliezer begins to transform into someone he doesn’t want to be.
Night’s educational value can highly benefit students. Since most textbooks seem to acquire a reputation for being dry and dull, students tend to skim through them without gaining much information. These textbooks generally have very little space in them for the significance of the Holocaust (Danks 343). Night can play an enormous role in the education of a student in this situation. “Focus on literature in which the author presents his or her experiences as a young person; students can relate more easily to these accounts” (Danks 343). Instead of sitting and reading statistics and numbers, one can feel and relate to the author and the events he imposes on them. The novel is held together by the “sinew of a human being,” instead of glue and string (Danks 343). For most sophomore students, World War II is required in a high-school history class. A novel such as this could definitely be a “positive learning experience” (Danks 343). Parent relationships are also unbelievably important in a teen’s life. “Wiesel’s chronicle provides a glimpse into relationships stretched to their utmost because of factors completely outside the individual’s control” (Danks 344). Not only will a student learn about how to deal with relationships, but also he will learn to value his relationship with his parents for the fear of losing it. A novel such as this will show the “powerful impact” of the Holocaust on a person (Danks 344).
Wiesel’s writing style is unique and beneficial because it cleverly accents the novel’s focus. His concise writing clearly depicts scenes and does not confuse the reader. Cedars states that Wiesel’s concise expression openly portrays the truth (294). While showing the truth, the diction is also brilliantly written in a neutral tone. One critic feels this neutral tone is the language of a witness and that by suppressing all emotion, analysis, and embellishment, it speaks only of despair and cynicism (Cedars 294). By using this tone, Wiesel is able to create an accurate vision in the reader’s mind while allowing the reader himself to make conclusions about the events that took place. Eliezer states in the novel, “I witnessed other hangings. I never saw a single one of those victims weep. For a long time those dried-up bodies had forgotten the bitter taste of tears” (Wiesel 60). As a reader views these lines, or even someone that hasn’t read the book, he is able to imagine the vehement suffering the victims of the Holocaust are subjected to. Without the use of powerful language or embellishment, a bitter memory is engraved in the reader as he pictures the shriveled bodies in his head. Wiesel’s most powerful tool is his “imaginative landscapes” (Alter 526). The only literal analogy Alter can think of for this is the style of romantic poetry where all existence is focused on the lover (526). It is these landscapes that truly bring the novel to life. “Not far from us, flames were leaping up from a ditch, gigantic flames. They were burning something. A lorry drew up at the pit and delivered its load –little children. Babies! Yes, I saw it –saw it with my own eyes…those children in the flames” (Wiesel 30). Unlike most authors who would use vivid words such as “intense, agonizing, or cremating,” the author uses the art of subject. In a world such as ours, the practice of harming a child is universally known to be wrong and sinful. An act such as burning a child is unspeakable in our society and therefore the reader instantly feels hatred towards the Germans. Cedars calls this Wiesel’s “language of silence” (294). Not only are all these literary elements tastefully used, they are also a key aspect in helping one understand what the Holocaust was actually like.
Wiesel’s Night is definitely a recommended addition to a ten honors reading list. Eliezer’s struggle as an individual and Wiesel’s accurate staccato diction combine to create an excellent novel. The changes Eliezer undergoes and the sights he sees provide exceptional educational documentation. A reader should not be left hanging at the end of this novel with the main character’s feelings of self-pity. Instead, he should purchase a book from Wiesel’s trilogy of Night.
“In Night, Elie Wiesel [the author] inverts and reverses, even shatters, the elements of traditional paradigm” (Vanderwerken 305). Various critics rave about the limitless qualities of this hundred-page portrayal and the epic it unfolds. Night, a “memoir,” is told through the eyes of a young Jewish boy named Eliezer. It thoroughly depicts the horrible atrocities and suffering he endures during his forceful stay in the concentration camps of Auschwitz, Poland, and the unbearable sights he is forced to witness. Throughout Eliezer’s occupation of the camp, he learns who he really is and the austerity of his unwanted environment. This award-winning novel unquestionably deserves a spot on a ten honors summer reading list because of its superior academic value.
Although a selected few view Wiesel’s work as a failure of art (Alvarez 1), they clearly have not realized that this novel has been tediously translated twice into unrelated languages. Perhaps they have not evaluated the novel as a whole and considered the devastation that abundant complicated words might have on Wiesel’s vivid portrait.
Night’s exemplary character development gains the reader’s interest in the novel. Eliezer overcomes a change most unlike any other character. His relationship with his father tragically becomes inverted (Vanderwerken 306). “Normally, the father helps the son make the transition from adolescence from dependence to independence. In the kingdom of Night, however, the roles completely reverse; the son becomes the parent” (Vanderwerken 306). With his father’s declining health, his only option is to soothe him and help him throughout his stay in Auschwitz. Since most students have never encountered this situation, they find interest in how Eliezer assumes the role of a parent and how he manages his father’s problems. Wiesel is also intuitively able to bring out the bad qualities of characters without ruining the character in the reader’s eye; Eliezer’s loss of faith is one of them. “Why, but why should I bless Him? In every fiber I rebelled. Because in His great might He had created Auschwitz” (Wiesel 64). The eternal thought lingers in Eliezer’s mind: where is God now? Where is God when I need him most? His faith deteriorates as he realizes that God is not there to help him, no one is. The camps of Auschwitz killed his faith “forever” (Cedars 294). Night is therefore Eliezer’s view of repeated dying, once the death of a man, and then his ideas (Avni 340). Not only does death take place in this grievous story, but the degradation of people’s morals. People around Eliezer begin to worry only about themselves. One son murders his father in a desperate attempt to gain a last piece of bread (Wiesel 96). Eliezer painfully tries to keep thoughts such as these out of his mind. Situations such as these occur and Eliezer begins to transform into someone he doesn’t want to be.
Night’s educational value can highly benefit students. Since most textbooks seem to acquire a reputation for being dry and dull, students tend to skim through them without gaining much information. These textbooks generally have very little space in them for the significance of the Holocaust (Danks 343). Night can play an enormous role in the education of a student in this situation. “Focus on literature in which the author presents his or her experiences as a young person; students can relate more easily to these accounts” (Danks 343). Instead of sitting and reading statistics and numbers, one can feel and relate to the author and the events he imposes on them. The novel is held together by the “sinew of a human being,” instead of glue and string (Danks 343). For most sophomore students, World War II is required in a high-school history class. A novel such as this could definitely be a “positive learning experience” (Danks 343). Parent relationships are also unbelievably important in a teen’s life. “Wiesel’s chronicle provides a glimpse into relationships stretched to their utmost because of factors completely outside the individual’s control” (Danks 344). Not only will a student learn about how to deal with relationships, but also he will learn to value his relationship with his parents for the fear of losing it. A novel such as this will show the “powerful impact” of the Holocaust on a person (Danks 344).
Wiesel’s writing style is unique and beneficial because it cleverly accents the novel’s focus. His concise writing clearly depicts scenes and does not confuse the reader. Cedars states that Wiesel’s concise expression openly portrays the truth (294). While showing the truth, the diction is also brilliantly written in a neutral tone. One critic feels this neutral tone is the language of a witness and that by suppressing all emotion, analysis, and embellishment, it speaks only of despair and cynicism (Cedars 294). By using this tone, Wiesel is able to create an accurate vision in the reader’s mind while allowing the reader himself to make conclusions about the events that took place. Eliezer states in the novel, “I witnessed other hangings. I never saw a single one of those victims weep. For a long time those dried-up bodies had forgotten the bitter taste of tears” (Wiesel 60). As a reader views these lines, or even someone that hasn’t read the book, he is able to imagine the vehement suffering the victims of the Holocaust are subjected to. Without the use of powerful language or embellishment, a bitter memory is engraved in the reader as he pictures the shriveled bodies in his head. Wiesel’s most powerful tool is his “imaginative landscapes” (Alter 526). The only literal analogy Alter can think of for this is the style of romantic poetry where all existence is focused on the lover (526). It is these landscapes that truly bring the novel to life. “Not far from us, flames were leaping up from a ditch, gigantic flames. They were burning something. A lorry drew up at the pit and delivered its load –little children. Babies! Yes, I saw it –saw it with my own eyes…those children in the flames” (Wiesel 30). Unlike most authors who would use vivid words such as “intense, agonizing, or cremating,” the author uses the art of subject. In a world such as ours, the practice of harming a child is universally known to be wrong and sinful. An act such as burning a child is unspeakable in our society and therefore the reader instantly feels hatred towards the Germans. Cedars calls this Wiesel’s “language of silence” (294). Not only are all these literary elements tastefully used, they are also a key aspect in helping one understand what the Holocaust was actually like.
Wiesel’s Night is definitely a recommended addition to a ten honors reading list. Eliezer’s struggle as an individual and Wiesel’s accurate staccato diction combine to create an excellent novel. The changes Eliezer undergoes and the sights he sees provide exceptional educational documentation. A reader should not be left hanging at the end of this novel with the main character’s feelings of self-pity. Instead, he should purchase a book from Wiesel’s trilogy of Night.