Elie Wiesel's Night And No Man Is An Island

In the texts, Night by Elie Wiesel and “No Man is an Island” by John Donne, portray a similar theme, collective identity. This idea revolves around the concept of a united front and an optimistic voice. Similarly, the authors both illustrate that every man belongs to a community exponentially larger than an individual. The collective voice in Elie Wiesel’s Night is the theme expressed in John Donne’s poem. The passages both involve a voice that is larger than one person. In Elie Wiesel’s memoir, the war had arrived upon the Jewish Republic of Sighet. However, a hopeful attitude still hung over the people. “The daily bombardment of Germany; Stalingrad, preparation for the second front. And we, the Jews of Sighet, were waiting for better days, which would not be long in coming now” (Weisel 17). On the other hand, even as the Germans advanced, hope still remained and optimism flowed freely at full strength. “Optimism soon revived. The Germans won’t get as far as this” (Weisel 19). This is easily associated with John Donne’s poem “No Man is an Island”. By being involved with mankind the author correlates that “Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind” (Donne, 6-7). As a …show more content…
After forcefully being moved to the ghettos, the people regained strength and reformed a jointed front. The Jewish republic accomplished this by appointing “...a Jewish Council, a Jewish Police, an office for social assistance, a labor committee, a hygiene department-a whole government machinery” (Wiesel 21). This corresponds to John Donne’s poem by both being included in something bigger than each individual. “No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent” (Donne, 1-2). The Jews had become a collective community, thus all of the people belonged to each other. This is also expressed in Donne’s work by conveying that no man will ever not belong to a