Night by Elie Wiesel - Essay Example

Night by Elie Wiesel Introduction: A small book of one hundred odd pages wins the Nobel Prize. Going by the contents, it depicts the story of four grave years of the century that concern the humankind. It has emerged straight out the heart of Elie Wiesel. This is a story of a great human tragedy and those who are adversely affected on all counts during and after World War II will recall with horror, the mass of flesh of the rotting bodies that once belongs to their near and dear ones. Personally for Wiesel, death threatens to overpower him at every moment between those years (1941—1945).A strong element of doubt creeps into Elie Wiesel’s mind, how God deals with humankind in such an atrocious style. Why human beings whose inner world is divine, act like demons, while dealing with fellow human beings and yet he transcends his bitter feelings and remains an optimist. The grave question of Elie Wiesel is how can the Nazis throw the babies into gas chambers and spray bullets to kill them in the most heinous options? The horrid conditions in the concentration camps baffle any sane individual. He and his father are often shifted to different camps and each time they think that it is the last journey and they are not sure of reaching another destination. With each shifting, the count of internees decline. They are killed like animals in a slaughterhouse. Animal slaughter has an economic perspective. Killings human beings with whom the killers have no previous personal enmity are heinous acts. Wiesel is just a boy of fifteen when he is separated from the rest of the family, but his father is with him. He finds inner strength to absorb the effect of such tragic events that engulf one after another only because his father is with him during the most critical phase of his life. Finally they are liberated by the Allied Forces. Wiesel is a writer by compulsion, not by choice. He candidly says that it is not his intention to describe the nature of brutalities and the main purpose of the book are committed to a hearty prayer that such gory incidents shall never be repeated by humanity. The commitment to world peace is possible, not through political philosophies, but change of heart of each individual. Religious tenets as they are practiced today by the followers will not herald the changing process. Not the blind following but practice of true spirituality can bring about the desired change. Spirituality is something that transcends the mind. At that level, all differences cease; conflicts are no more there. We need to give such an orientation to human beings, right from childhood. When the thought process of the individuals changes, the action process also changes! With such noble human beings, universal peace becomes an attainable reality. Notwithstanding his experiences at the portals of near death, where survival is a matter of chance, Elie Wiesel remains an optimist. He says in his Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech delivered in Oslo on December 10, 1986, “Thank you for building bridges between people and generations. Thank you, above all, for helping humankind make peace it’s most urgent and noble aspiration.”(117) He cautions people about complacency, why one must strive one’s best in performing one’s duty to humankind, “That I have tried to keep memory alive, that I have tried to fight those who would forget. Because if we forget, we are guilty, we are accomplices.”(118) The book is written straight from the heart by Wiesel. It value is, therefore, more than that of a well-researched document. Human heart is the best research laboratory. The devastating circumstances that he encounters as a young boy will turn any individual cynical and one’s belief systems will shatter. But Wiesel gradually draws strength from his inner world to reaffirm his belief that some Supreme Power runs the world. At the same time he lays much importance to the secular efforts that must continue without intermission to build goodwill amongst of the people to make world peace an attainable reality. Mang Tzu (370-286 BCE), known to the West as Mencius, is born in the present province of Shantung, China. According to his preaching, all men have a mind that is not amenable to the suffering of others. Nazi atrocities on the Jew community have proved him wrong. He would not have been able to offer any solutions to atrocities unleashed by the votaries of Nazism in the given circumstances prevailing then. Hsun Tzu (c.310—c.220 BCE) professes that the nature of man is evil. He has made the correct diagnosis of the man, and that is applicable to Nazi leadership. But even he would not have been able to check the avalanche of evil called Nazism. He also opines that the inborn nature of man is envious and to hate others. Hitler would have liked to be one of Hsun Tzu’s sincere followers. Wiesel’s experiences are in tandem with the line of thinking of Hsun Tzu. As for Thomas Nagel, Strawson and Taylor, their observations about the Nazi behavior is correct from the theoretical aspect that people are more influenced by external, situational factors than by internal traits and motivations. The Nazi forces and middle level leadership which is directly involved in the acts of atrocities against the Jews are working under orders. Individually many of them may be good at heart but they are compelled to perform the most unpleasant duties. Situational psychology is crucial to understand why the perpetrators of the crimes act like incarnations of evil. These psychologists and philosophers can only explain the mindset of the people. They cannot change the onslaught of evil forces like Nazis, when they hold sway over the subjects and inject poisonous ill feelings with relentless propaganda. The repetition of a lie a thousand times from a platform makes it the truth; that is the operational strategy of the Nazis. Wiesel has great concern about individual freedom and plight of the poor. He says in the same speech, “As long as one dissident is in prison, our freedom will not be true. As long as one child is hungry, our life will be filled with anguish and shame.”(120) Conclusion: Elie Wiesel strongly believes that one can forgive, but shall not forget. One section of humanity shall not be a silent spectator to the atrocities being committed on another section of community. The use of force is not immoral in the defense of a noble cause. Humankind has no other alternative but to seek peace, as violence will not offer permanent solutions to any issues. Works Cited Wiesel, Elie. Night (Oprah's Book Club). Trans. Marion Wiesel. Hill and Wang, 2006. English, Print. Read More