Danger And Punishment In Night By Elie Wiesel

Has your home, your haven, ever become the very epitome of the danger submerging you into a sea of darkness? Have you ever had to leave yourself behind to be the one that survives? Night, by Elie Wiesel, is a novel that explicitly records the author’s experiences in the holocaust, from witnessing the death of his family to experiencing the death of his mind. Translated by Lotafali Khonji, “The Eyes Won’t Take It”, carries us through a story about an Iranian man fleeing his country seeking refuge, simultaneously struggling with the loss of his identity and all that he used to be. How do these two seemingly different experiences connect as one? Despite the tragically different outcomes, these two causalities of war face danger and punishment precisely for who they are and are forced to make decisions that may …show more content…
We see this in the beginning of “Night”, where the inmate urges Elie and his father to lie about their ages to Dr. Mengele. He tells Elie to say he is eighteen, and his father that he is fifty. This short lie keeps the two from being taken to the crematorium, giving them working potential in the eyes of the SS. In “The Eyes Won’t Tale It”, the text says, “ We were approaching New Zealand when my companion told me once again to get up and tear up my passport. One of them quarreled with me, saying that I was ruining not only my own chances of being granted asylum but theirs, too. He told me that if we did not comply, our Iranian nationality would be discovered and we would all be returned home.” This establishes the precautions that had to be taken by the Iranian refugees to keep themselves alive. They, too, were forced to lie about their identity in order to potentially save their lives. While the two had to lie about to very different things, the basis was the same. It was compulsory for them to be dishonest in order to