Humanity is the most important factor that sets us apart from the rest of creation. The ability to feel a variety of emotions, to grip vastly complex concepts, and to feel compassion and empathy toward our fellow man is what puts us a notch above the savage animals in the wild. Our humanity is our ability to grasp all the things that make us human, like love and a moral conscience. However, our humanity is not perfect. It can be shaken, or even lost entirely from us, if we are reduced to our basic survival instincts. When we lose our humanity, then we are no longer above the savagery of animals. In the book Night, we see the transformation that occurs when humanity is lost. The Jews, who are forced into the concentration camps, are reduced
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This devolution is characterized by two main changes. First, people began to become very violent without any provocation. Anything deemed as a threat to one’s own survival instantly became a target of violence. “On the third night of our journey, I woke up with a start when I felt two hands on my throat, trying to strangle me” (Wiesel 102). Elie was attacked while he slept simply because his very existence meant less food for the rest of the inmates. The second sign of this transformation is shown in the apparent lack of compassion. All feelings of brotherhood and solidarity became lost in the mob mentality. “In the wagon where the bread had landed, a battle had ensued. Men were hurling themselves against each other, trampling, tearing at, and mauling each other” (101). In this instance, the men in the wagon lose all consideration for each other once they catch sight of …show more content…
Although his failures are not nearly as extensive as those of the prisoners around him, he still falls into inhumanity in one small way or another. Elie is guiltier of the second form the devolution into savagery took, the loss of compassion, as opposed to the raw violence of the first form. His most notable loss of compassion was when his father was dying. “His last word had been my name. He had called out to me and I had not answered” (112). In this lapse in compassion, Elie’s dying father is calling out to him for water, but Elie refuses to help him because he is afraid of the SS soldier. Elie had become single mindedly focused on his own survival, so much so that he could not risk his own life to save his only loved
This devolution is characterized by two main changes. First, people began to become very violent without any provocation. Anything deemed as a threat to one’s own survival instantly became a target of violence. “On the third night of our journey, I woke up with a start when I felt two hands on my throat, trying to strangle me” (Wiesel 102). Elie was attacked while he slept simply because his very existence meant less food for the rest of the inmates. The second sign of this transformation is shown in the apparent lack of compassion. All feelings of brotherhood and solidarity became lost in the mob mentality. “In the wagon where the bread had landed, a battle had ensued. Men were hurling themselves against each other, trampling, tearing at, and mauling each other” (101). In this instance, the men in the wagon lose all consideration for each other once they catch sight of …show more content…
Although his failures are not nearly as extensive as those of the prisoners around him, he still falls into inhumanity in one small way or another. Elie is guiltier of the second form the devolution into savagery took, the loss of compassion, as opposed to the raw violence of the first form. His most notable loss of compassion was when his father was dying. “His last word had been my name. He had called out to me and I had not answered” (112). In this lapse in compassion, Elie’s dying father is calling out to him for water, but Elie refuses to help him because he is afraid of the SS soldier. Elie had become single mindedly focused on his own survival, so much so that he could not risk his own life to save his only loved