Similarities Between Night And Life By Elie Wiesel

For many, the holocaust was a living nightmare, destroying happiness and hope, taking away their sense of humanity. It was an experience that “murdered” many people’s faith, their souls and ruined their “dreams” making robots out of them, lifeless and occasionally insensitive (Wiesel 34). It is one of the worst incidents in history, wiping out thousands of individuals. Many works today depict this appalling event. Among them are Night and Life is beautiful, two different works that share the same purpose: protect the memory of the victims. The first one is a memoir by Elie Wiesel, a Romanian author and holocaust survivor. The second is a movie by Roberto Benigni, an Italian actor, director and comedian. Although two distinct people produce …show more content…
Eliezer thinks about giving up and dying countless times, however, he realizes that if he did, his father would also give up so he has no choice but to keep going (Wiesel 30). He notices that his father is doing his best to keep him alive and be there for him. They become each other’s support, and that keeps them going. During the Ramadan, Elie’s father even forbids him to fast, so he would not die of hunger, since he is already weak due to lack of proper food. The same way, Joshua survives thanks to his father’s support and protection and Guido did all he could to survive so he can be near Joshua (Benigni 1997). Guido did everything he has to feed and take care of Joshua. Since he has to take care of Joshua makes him take care of himself so he does not die without achieving his goal; Joshua becomes his motivation and strength and he become Joshua’s motivation. Although the two works have many themes in common, they do not treat them the same …show more content…
Eliezer has to change and grow up to survive the camp. The horrors he lives and witnesses cause him to lose his innocence and change his mindset. Even his look changes and at the end of the book Eliezer is looking at himself in the mirror, yet he does not recognize himself (Wiesel 115). After the camp Eliezer has to lie about his age. The horrors he experiences at the camp changes him and he has to grow up too fast. He has to take care of his father has well as himself. Joshua, in contrast, comes into the camp as a young boy and leaves. He is not aware of the things going on because he thinks it is a game (Benigni 1997). His father preserves his innocence and childhood by hiding him in the room and sets up a game so that he can go through the camp without witnessing the horrors happening. This approach differs from the one in Night yet they treat the same