Whenever somebody reads a book concerning the Holocaust or World War II, the same thought comes into their heads. Something along the lines of “another one” or “I’ve already read this information two or three times somewhere else”. It is easy to fall into this common trap. The topic has been exhausted over hundreds, maybe thousands of books over the past 70 years. We get tired of hearing similar information time after time. Night absolutely shatters the stereotype. Written as the first person account of Elie Wiesel’s experiences in Auschwitz and on death marches, the novel provides a perspective that nobody else who has ever lived could provide. There are no words that most could use to describe the atrocities of the Holocaust, but Wiesel finds them in complete and utter perfection. He makes us feel like we were there. The insight into the daily life in a concentration camp is what many readers had craved for years. Night is the satisfaction that history nerds had been searching for over years. Elie Wiesel has a way of showing us how rapidly situations can change. In a purposefully rushed transition, his family goes from everyday life to ghettos to death camps. Wiesel was a learning member of the Jewish community, asking all the right questions and searching for every answer. He was curious, but we see that curiosity die throughout the story. He stopped caring about why things were happening and how it affects others. Struggling for the simple necessities in life, Wiesel uses a desperate language to explain the dire circumstances that, as readers, we struggle to understand sometimes. He is able to put the complex nature of starvation in terms a well-fed reader could perfectly grasp. This ability is where the beauty of Wiesel’s writing emerges. He puts death, torture and loss in layman's terms. A person who has never lost anybody in their lives could grasp the nature of the Holocaust from the way that Wiesel writes. The power behind Night is that we think we are there. Extensive imagery is used to allow the reader to see through not just his eyes, but the eyes of his father, who he manages to stay with until almost the very end of his journey. The story is not simply a historical account, it chronicles the unfailing nature of a father’s love, no matter the loss, hardships or trials surrounding them. Sparing food rations is only the beginning, as the two work as a team in an attempt to make it out alive. Elie’s love is shown, as the nature of their relationship is tested like no other. He watches out for his father in a manner only a child could achieve, and the toll of loss is shown through Wiesel’s writing like he had died himself. Elie Wiesel achieved a masterpiece upon writing Night. A topic seen as impossible to completely grasp is put into terms that make it understandable and well received for anybody reading it. He makes living through torture real for the reader. The style and tone used by Wiesel makes the Holocaust come alive for the reader. Granted, not many people want that level understanding. For that reason, the book must come with a warning that a tear here and there or the occasional jaw-drop is to be expected. A deeper understanding of the concept helps to ensure that nothing similar ever occurs again. For that reason, Night deserves a place on every school bookshelf across the nation and the world.
Elie Wiesel has a way of showing us how rapidly situations can change. In a purposefully rushed transition, his family goes from everyday life to ghettos to death camps. Wiesel was a learning member of the Jewish community, asking all the right questions and searching for every answer. He was curious, but we see that curiosity die throughout the story. He stopped caring about why things were happening and how it affects others. Struggling for the simple necessities in life, Wiesel uses a desperate language to explain the dire circumstances that, as readers, we struggle to understand sometimes. He is able to put the complex nature of starvation in terms a well-fed reader could perfectly grasp. This ability is where the beauty of Wiesel’s writing emerges. He puts death, torture and loss in layman's terms. A person who has never lost anybody in their lives could grasp the nature of the Holocaust from the way that Wiesel writes. The power behind Night is that we think we are there. Extensive imagery is used to allow the reader to see through not just his eyes, but the eyes of his father, who he manages to stay with until almost the very end of his journey. The story is not simply a historical account, it chronicles the unfailing nature of a father’s love, no matter the loss, hardships or trials surrounding them. Sparing food rations is only the beginning, as the two work as a team in an attempt to make it out alive. Elie’s love is shown, as the nature of their relationship is tested like no other. He watches out for his father in a manner only a child could achieve, and the toll of loss is shown through Wiesel’s writing like he had died himself.
Elie Wiesel achieved a masterpiece upon writing Night. A topic seen as impossible to completely grasp is put into terms that make it understandable and well received for anybody reading it. He makes living through torture real for the reader. The style and tone used by Wiesel makes the Holocaust come alive for the reader. Granted, not many people want that level understanding. For that reason, the book must come with a warning that a tear here and there or the occasional jaw-drop is to be expected. A deeper understanding of the concept helps to ensure that nothing similar ever occurs again. For that reason, Night deserves a place on every school bookshelf across the nation and the world.