Theme Of Oppression In Night

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Oppression towards groups of people is a recurring theme in history. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night gives readers a chance to learn about his firsthand experience of living in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. Wiesel argues that the world’s silence partly led to these horrific events. The documentary Bully illustrates the dangerous consequences of ignoring everyday injustices. Although some people think problems of oppression will eventually fade away, Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night and the documentary Bully show how important it is to stand up for others. One reason why it is important to stand up to injustice is the effect oppression will have on the victims. During the Holocaust, the Nazis treated the prisoners as if they were animals and this eventually led them to be barbaric, “A terrible thought crossed my mind: what if he had wanted to be rid of his father? He had felt his father growing weaker and, believing that the end was near, had thought by this separation to free himself of a burden that could diminish his own chance for survival”(91 Night). Regard for family members became less and less important to individuals as the …show more content…
In Bully, Alex was stabbed, hit, sat on, etc. on the schoolbus. The vice-principal did very little about it, and as a result, the abuse continued. Alex began to think it was a normal interaction, only making the rate of the bullying increase due to the easy going attitude Alex kept. Belittling the issues will only give them room to grow, “Yes, we even doubted [Hitler’s] resolve to exterminate us. Annihilate an entire people? Wipe out a population dispersed throughout so many nations? So many millions of people! By what means? In the middle of the twentieth century” (8 Night). People around the world doubted that Nazi Germany was annihilating millions of people. This allowed Hitler to gain power while the rest of the world watched in silent