The Struggle to Survive in "Night" by Elie Wiesel
The Struggle to Survive in "Night" by Elie Wiesel
Life is defined as human existence, relationships, or activities in general. When life is taken from a person their outlook on life becomes skewed. Having a positive on life creates joy in many people’s lives. When an outside force comes along and alters someone’s life, his or her attitude is going to change drastically. When someone is forced to go against his or her normal state of life, a negative mind-set is most likely going to be portrayed through that person’s actions. In Elie Wiesel’s novel, Night, a pessimistic disposition is shown towards liberty, life, and faith.
One of the most important rights as a human being is the ability to live freely. Liberty gives people the right to go about living their life the way they choose and enjoy. When someone takes another’s freedom, they are taking away all they have worked and strived for. In reality, their lives are being taken away and controlled by another individual. Therefore they will display a pessimistic attitude towards liberty, and such is the case with the Jews were being held captive in the concentration camps. At Gleiwitz, the Jews are held captive for three nights without any food or water, and they are also not allowed to leave the barracks. Consequently, there is a very negative disposition on the reality of freedom. To them, freedom did not exist at the time. Elie recalls this moment, “The front was following us. We could hear new gun shots again, very close. But we had neither the strength nor the courage to believe that the Nazis would not have the time to evacuate us, and that the Russians would soon be here” (Wiesel 91). The Nazis work Elie and his people so hard, that they no longer have any reason to believe that they are going to be liberated. Another example of this negative feedback towards freedom is when the Jews are on the convoy of trains. Everyone is so tightly compacted into the train cars. There are hundreds in each separate car. Many have died on this trip, and Elie could not tell the difference between the living and the non-living. He then had this recollection, “My mind was invaded suddenly by this realization—there was no...