12/8/2023 0 Comments Silent night book![]() One of the first images Wiesel witnesses at Birkenau leaves a scar that is representative of this idea of "victims without reason": the image of babies being burned alive. The Nazis forced these innocent people into these camps where they were slaughtered without cause. This is reflected in the novel not only in Wiesel's struggles but also in the lives of the entire oppressed Jewish race. ![]() The only two options for Holocaust victims seems to be evident in all of these examples: keep quiet or die. And while this is justifiable in Wiesel's situation, this scene still demonstrates exactly what becomes of a person when they are unable to express their opinions or feelings at all. Wiesel never made a conscious decision to abandon his father it simply happened as a result of the oppressive lifestyle of the concentration camps. Weisel does not even react when his father is literally beaten to death before his eyes: "I did not move. And his suffering is only magnified when his father does finally pass away whispering his son's name. In this way, Wiesel demonstrates the only form of suffering that seemed to exist in the death camps: silence - whether internal or outwardly. But, of course, he does this only within himself, never sharing his thoughts with any one. ![]() Wiesel nurses the idea that his life is more important than his dying father's. You ought to be having two rations of bread" (115). However, these kind acts are not done without a sense of selfishness: Wiesel, talking to himself, acknowledges, "It's too late to save your old father. ![]() Wiesel has done what he can to alleviate his father's sufferings in his last few days on earth, bringing him soup and attending to him in his hospital bed. This is also well illustrated in the final example of this type of silence as Wiesel watches his father die before his very eyes. This illustrates exactly why silence is so prevalent in Wiesel's particular situation not keeping silent can cost you a beating, or possibly even death. Wiesel is beaten to the point of silent submission simply because he was unable to keep quiet when it really mattered. "If only I could have told him that I could not move!" (65). After awakening from the whipping, Wiesel is unable to even answer Idek. by the throat," threatened for not keeping quiet, and whipped twenty-five times (64-65). Such is the nature of silent suffering in Night.Ī third example, again involving Idek, occurs when Wiesel witnesses him having sex with a young girl and accidentally breaks out laughing. Wiesel, who had less than a year earlier been living peacefully in his adolescent bliss, now cannot even bring himself to defend the only person that he has left to care about. He even acknowledges in the next sentence that this "is what concentration camp life had made of me" (62). Wiesel has quickly become silent both in his obedience to his oppressors and in his loyalty to his father. Instead of rushing to his rescue, Wiesel actually becomes angry with his father for "not knowing how to avoid Idek's outbreak" (62). Perhaps even sadder is when the same man attacks Wiesel's father. However, one cannot help but wonder what might have happened if Wiesel had not remained silent. His only reaction is to remain docile and hope that the unprovoked rage will subside. This is an example of how Wiesel already seems so crushed by the oppression of his surroundings that he does not even consider fighting back. ![]() Wiesel tries his hardest to remain silent, but this is only interpreted as "defiance" by his assailant (60). One of the first examples occurs when Idek attacks Wiesel for no apparent reason. Wiesel struggles mainly with what could be described as physical silence, in that he is unable or unwilling to physically act even when he knows that he should. The first of these is perhaps the saddest example present in Night. ![]()
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