Question

Look again at the opening pages of Night. When it begins, twelve-year-old Eliezer lives in the Transylvanian village of Sighet with his parents and sisters. How does being introduced to such people alter your understanding of the fact that, a half- century ago, six million Jews were exterminated in the Holocaust? How is this sickening truth achieved through Night’s dual purposes of memoir and history? If this is a story of one person’s journey as well as a history of one horrendous part of World War II, how do the plot and the theme of the book overlap? How does the author blend the personal and the universal aspects of Night? In what ways does Wiesel relate not only his own nightmarish memory of the Holocaust but also humanity’s? (5 pts.)

Answer 1

Night gives a firsthand record of the holocaust, which is told from memories of E. Wiesel. Throughout the story, details of losing family members, harsh living conditons, and massive loss of life all show a smaller piece of the whole theme of WWII; It was a very bloody war in which there was no true winner. Battles left cities reduced to rubble, and both sides (each individual country) faced severe casualties. Even though Elie survived, he lost everything he loved in the process, like so many others from many different countries.