Being treated with basic human rights gives individuals the ability to positively impact their communities. When an individual loses these basic human rights, they began being treated like animals. This dehumanizing moves individuals and whole communities down social structures, therefore forcing them to obey demands given to them by stronger forces. Many authors use this dehumanization to show the lack of control certain cultures have over their lives. In the memoir, Night, by Elie Wiesel and the graphic novel, Maus, by Art Spiegelman, Jewish characters during the Holocaust are treated as animals which forces them to follow instructions pressed upon them by more powerful figures, eliminating the control they have on their survival.
In the …show more content…
In Night, the prisoners are referred to as animals throughout the whole duration of time spent at concentration camps. After the Jews are stripped of almost all their human characteristics, they are forced to run from the camp where “if one of [them] stopped for a second, a quick shot eliminated the filthy dog” (Wiesel 85). The powerful Nazi officers are treating the human beings as worthless animals. This control forces the Jews to follow the Nazi demands. This limits the control they have on their survival because they do not have the power to chose how they act. A decision that a Jewish prisoner may make in hopes to save his or herself, such as breaking from constant running, will result in their death. Likewise, in Maus the Jewish characters are once again dehumanized. After going through the torture of being dehumanized, Vladek exclaims “I won’t die here! I want to be treated like a human being!” (Spiegelman 54). The Jewish people recognize that they are being treated like animals, rather than human beings, by more powerful forces. Therefore this control leads to them not being able to act for themselves in order to survive. In order for them to regain control over their survival, they need to be humanized. The more powerful figures are not giving the prisoners any chance of regaining their human characteristics which limits their
In the …show more content…
In Night, the prisoners are referred to as animals throughout the whole duration of time spent at concentration camps. After the Jews are stripped of almost all their human characteristics, they are forced to run from the camp where “if one of [them] stopped for a second, a quick shot eliminated the filthy dog” (Wiesel 85). The powerful Nazi officers are treating the human beings as worthless animals. This control forces the Jews to follow the Nazi demands. This limits the control they have on their survival because they do not have the power to chose how they act. A decision that a Jewish prisoner may make in hopes to save his or herself, such as breaking from constant running, will result in their death. Likewise, in Maus the Jewish characters are once again dehumanized. After going through the torture of being dehumanized, Vladek exclaims “I won’t die here! I want to be treated like a human being!” (Spiegelman 54). The Jewish people recognize that they are being treated like animals, rather than human beings, by more powerful forces. Therefore this control leads to them not being able to act for themselves in order to survive. In order for them to regain control over their survival, they need to be humanized. The more powerful figures are not giving the prisoners any chance of regaining their human characteristics which limits their