A memoir is a retelling one’s personal life experiences. It does not require research, dates, or facts that need to be double checked, such as an autobiography. It focuses on specific moments such as a vivid childhood or adolescence, or special circumstances as war, travel, service, or other. With this definition in mind, Night affects a reader’s understanding based off its author’s, Elie Wiesel, point of view. The point of view is based off many factors. Some of these factors can be what life information an author chooses to include, what emotions they choose to include, and what response one has towards the author. Based off the definition of a memoir, the understanding of Elie Wiesel’s novel is affected by the point of view it’s told in.
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One of these factors is what information is included by Elie. The novel is effected because starts when he meets Moishe the Beadle, few days before the first transfer of Jews in his town to three or so years later when he is in a hospital and finally sees himself in a mirror for the first time. “I met him in 1941. I was almost thirteen…” (Wiesel 3) to “I was transferred to a hospital… I decided to look at myself in the mirror on the opposite wall… I had not seen myself since the ghetto… The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me.” (Wiesel 115). Since this is the only information included by Elie, it focuses in on his suffering during this “special circumstance”, which is his experience during the war. Within Elie’s memoir, emotions are an important factor of the reader’s understanding along with information. Emotions within the novel are often fear, despair, anger, and others. Fear is a common emotion in Night because the concentration camps Elie stayed at were always torturing and abusive. One example is when Elie was working at the warehouse in Buna, “One day when Idek was venting his fury, I happened to cross his path. He threw himself on me like a wild beast, beating me in the chest, on my head, throwing me to the ground and picking me up again, crushing me with ever more violent blows, until I was covered in blood. As I bit my lip in order not to howl in pain, he must have mistaken my silence for defiance so he continued to hit me harder and harder” (Wiesel 53). This shows how fear was a common factor in Night because before and after this attack Elie was living in fear of Idek because of his fury. Finally, the reader’s response towards the author is important to the reader’s understanding along with emotions and information. A reader’s understanding can be defined as a reader needing to examine, explain and defend her/his personal reaction to a reading. This influences the
One of these factors is what information is included by Elie. The novel is effected because starts when he meets Moishe the Beadle, few days before the first transfer of Jews in his town to three or so years later when he is in a hospital and finally sees himself in a mirror for the first time. “I met him in 1941. I was almost thirteen…” (Wiesel 3) to “I was transferred to a hospital… I decided to look at myself in the mirror on the opposite wall… I had not seen myself since the ghetto… The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me.” (Wiesel 115). Since this is the only information included by Elie, it focuses in on his suffering during this “special circumstance”, which is his experience during the war. Within Elie’s memoir, emotions are an important factor of the reader’s understanding along with information. Emotions within the novel are often fear, despair, anger, and others. Fear is a common emotion in Night because the concentration camps Elie stayed at were always torturing and abusive. One example is when Elie was working at the warehouse in Buna, “One day when Idek was venting his fury, I happened to cross his path. He threw himself on me like a wild beast, beating me in the chest, on my head, throwing me to the ground and picking me up again, crushing me with ever more violent blows, until I was covered in blood. As I bit my lip in order not to howl in pain, he must have mistaken my silence for defiance so he continued to hit me harder and harder” (Wiesel 53). This shows how fear was a common factor in Night because before and after this attack Elie was living in fear of Idek because of his fury. Finally, the reader’s response towards the author is important to the reader’s understanding along with emotions and information. A reader’s understanding can be defined as a reader needing to examine, explain and defend her/his personal reaction to a reading. This influences the