Cruelty In Elie Wiesel's Night

Words: 756
Pages: 4

Cruelty in works of literature often functions as a crucial motivation or a major social or political factor. In the novel, Night by Elie Wiesel, the main character, Elie, and his family experience a level of cruelty that was previously unknown to the human race. In the novel, Elie, a devout Orthodox Jew, recounts his experience of the Holocaust, in which he and all other members of the Jewish religion were inhumanely and diligently persecuted by members and soldiers of the Nazi Party. In the beginning of the novel when the Nazis first start oppressing the Jews, Elie remains faithful and does not realize the intent of the Nazis. However, throughout the memoir, the extreme cruelty of the Nazis is realized, and those who are being oppressed are severely challenged physically, mentally, and spiritually. Cruelty in Night functions as a means of diminishing the faith of the Jewish people and allowing the Nazis to usurp the power of God. Many people who endured the Holocaust lost all faith in what they believed in; Elie was no exception. Prior to the Holocaust, Elie was a devout Jew who was in the process of studying the Jewish oral law. His faith was deeply instilled within him. However, this changes for the worst as the Holocaust …show more content…
Enduring the horrific events of the Holocaust ripped Elie’s deeply instilled faith right out of him. He was unable to believe in a benevolent god because he presumed a well-meaning god would never have allowed the slaughtering of his people to happen. Also, as the Nazi’s used fear to strongly condescend over and dehumanize the Jews, they were able to determine whether innocent men, women, and children would live or die. Elie’s recount of the Holocaust serves to explain the true capabilities of human beings and urge people to never allow something so sadistic to happen