How anyone thinks Eliezer faked and dramatized parts of his story in order to popularize the Holocaust and make money is beyond me. Reading Eliezer Wiesel’s account of his experience in the WWII Holocaust through his novel, Night, has opened my eyes to the pain and suffering that truly went on at this period. The speed at which the isolation and condemnation of Jews happened was incredible. The pinnacle point of a boys life happens during his teenage years. In the prime of Elie’s teenage years his life changed dramatically. Just finding the basis on who he wanted to be and finding the work he wanted to do through his faith is tragic as it was all taken from him. Not only was his striped of the only things he knew in life, but it was replaced with hell. Entering Auschwitz for the first time, the imagery in which he described the smell of burning flesh and the condition in which he saw humanity broken, he had already died to himself.
Night incapsulates the story of an insider in the Holocaust, an important view many tend look over as it is not a popular view to be shared. The importance of this rare story come from the root of why we study history in the first place. History, or rather the mistakes of history, should never be repeated. Although the Holocaust is not the only case of mass genocide, it is one of the biggest. The book harped on an individual’s experience, one that wasn’t easy to write about. The Holocaust should be seen as an educational tool to critique current and future society and government. The government choices that led up to Eliezer’s life through the Holocaust should be ones that generations now should take seriously. Linking the smallest decisions of previous and modern society, this book is worth reading and studying as it calls attention to a life modern times does not want to face.
I have read many articles discussing how Elie Wiesel changed some of the details in his book. I think the reason that this happened was because he was writing the book from his memories and how he remembers it happening. People are just overly critical of the writings and will use anything to tear someone down.
ReplyDeleteI think that people critique this book because no one wants to admit that a society is capable of such evil. No one wants to believe that there was a mass execution. When you read this book you experience his pain, his fears, his life as a young boy. Some will say it is easy to fudge the details or exaggerate the facts because he waited 10 years before publishing Night but I think he waited to reflect. Anyone directly out of such trauma could easily write about what they have been through. Elie took his time and wrote to best describe how his life was changed through such a terrible time.
ReplyDeleteIt horrifies me that anyone anywhere could deny the Holocaust happening. It is even more sickening when people critique individuals like Wiesel, who have lived through hell and put a lot on the line to tell their story. How could anyone compare or try to justify someone else's experiences and pain? No one can tell you how you fell or how you experience something, therefore how can someone critique a book that is based entirely off how one individual experienced the Holocaust.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading this book in 7th grade and it still blows my mind reading it, even now. The struggles these people had to endure just to fight death was insane to me. The mentality they had was that they had to fight for themselves, no matter what. With that being accurate, they would get separated from their families and fight for survival. In the book Night, it broke my heart how Eliezer had to give up a lot of his rations of food for his father to survive, and he felt that was right. Also, it's so sad that there was nothing he could do for his father once he got dysentery and others were telling him to start taking his father's rations just to survive. I would never imagine people trying to discredit Wiesel after what he experienced and even had the bravery to write a book about it.
ReplyDeleteIt's frightening that more and more people believe that the Holocaust didn't happen, and because people are refusing the past similar things are starting to happen again. I can't imagine going through something like that and have people say i'm lying about it. People criticize the book because it makes them have to think about the fact that humans are capable of such terrible deeds. It doesn't seem to matter how much evidence there is either, they believe what they want to believe.
ReplyDeleteI cannot even begin to imagine all the horrors anyone faced during the Holocaust. Especially as a teenager. In today's society teenagers have to go through bullying, battle mental health, and always try to please, yet that is nothing compared to what the teens of the Holocaust had to withstand. What is even more sad is that people deny this happened. Personal account after personal account and they still refuse to believe it. That is scary in itself, due to the fact that ignorance leads to mistakes.
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