Tragedy In Elie Wiesel's Night

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Pages: 3

In the book Night by Elie Wiesel people might ask, is Wiesel's memoir ultimately an account of tragedy or an expression of hope? After reading the book thoroughly and analyzing key events I can say the memoir as a whole is an account of tragedy. Elie Wiesel's memoir Night is an account of tragedy because the ratio of tragedy to that of hope is quite large. Throughout the book Elie references his loss of faith and his loss of belief that he would be liberated from the Nazi death camps. In the end Wiesel's own description of himself is the kicker in a harrowing story of pain and suffering.
One of the most massive reasons Wiesel's memoir Night is an account of tragedy is Wiesel's loss of faith. After witnessing the hanging of three people, two grown men and one ten year old
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This is an expression of hope but it comes quite early on in his stay at the camp, later when he hears of Russian liberation coming again he is skeptical. During this time Wiesel is in the hospital after receiving surgery on his swollen foot, after hearing the rumors he states “Were the SS going to leave hundreds of prisoners to strut around the hospital blocks waiting for their liberators? Were they going to let the Jews hear the twelfth stroke sound? Obviously not.” (Page 57) In this quote the idea of being left alive to wait for liberators is instantly struck down in his mind. After hearing all of the false rumours spread by hopeful Jews you must take everything with a grain of salt. This shows that by the end of his time Wiesel lost hope in being saved or even living through the Holocaust, this is highlighted in his absolute language used when speaking of liberation. Wiesel says the Nazis were not going to let the Jews live. His exact words were obviously not. If a man is still hopeful he would not use such an absolute word to say he wasn't going to be