In Night by Elie Wiesel, Wiesel encapsulates the horrors of persecution from his experiences in the Holocaust, and how such cruelty breeds men into beasts. As readers, we began to question: what differentiates us from animals? By examining the behaviors seen in the initial deportation of The Jews of Sighet, Wiesel’s witness to the killings over bread and Juliek’s last violin concerto, we are able to see how apathy and empathy defines us as ‘humans’.
‘Ignorance is bliss,’ and such is the case of the Sighet Jews. Their ignorance of their situation has caused their demise – blinded from the truth due to governmental propaganda and lack of information. They were “still smiling” (10), even when the Nazis occupy their village. Wiesel highlights the lie that humans are incapable of being savage, being beyond the barbaric idea of killing one another due to prejudice. This is the lie in which the Jews has chose to believe in; coming from a community grounded with religious teachings and high morals. The Nazis later proved themselves become …show more content…
The beauty found in his playing symbolized as the last sliver of humanity found in an inhumane, cruel world. Juliek became a vehicle for the remnants of the Jews’ past, hopes, and dreams, and serving momentary peace. This allowed the prisoners to be reminded of their human qualities, that they are not “dogs”, they are humans. Juliek’s death also symbolized how the hopes of the Jews are killed, how their lives were lost to the war. As Wiesel described, Juliek was playing his life. His whole being was gliding over the strings. His unfulfilled hopes. His charred past, his extinguished future. He played that which he would never play again. (95) The stark contrast of the beauty of his playing and the ugliness of the pile of corpses provides a powerful image; an image of hope that is seared into Wiesel’s
‘Ignorance is bliss,’ and such is the case of the Sighet Jews. Their ignorance of their situation has caused their demise – blinded from the truth due to governmental propaganda and lack of information. They were “still smiling” (10), even when the Nazis occupy their village. Wiesel highlights the lie that humans are incapable of being savage, being beyond the barbaric idea of killing one another due to prejudice. This is the lie in which the Jews has chose to believe in; coming from a community grounded with religious teachings and high morals. The Nazis later proved themselves become …show more content…
The beauty found in his playing symbolized as the last sliver of humanity found in an inhumane, cruel world. Juliek became a vehicle for the remnants of the Jews’ past, hopes, and dreams, and serving momentary peace. This allowed the prisoners to be reminded of their human qualities, that they are not “dogs”, they are humans. Juliek’s death also symbolized how the hopes of the Jews are killed, how their lives were lost to the war. As Wiesel described, Juliek was playing his life. His whole being was gliding over the strings. His unfulfilled hopes. His charred past, his extinguished future. He played that which he would never play again. (95) The stark contrast of the beauty of his playing and the ugliness of the pile of corpses provides a powerful image; an image of hope that is seared into Wiesel’s