Night Theme Essay

...

you filthy dogs!" (85). This metaphor is important as it compares the men perfectly to a dirty,crazed, worthless animal. It is an act of inhumanity by the soldier, who feels a disturbing difference between him, the master, and them- the dogs. People should never be discriminated against because of religion, nor compared to anything so vulgar such as a filthy dog.

Towards the end of the book, Eliezer becomes much weaker but strengthens his desire to live. While Eliezer is marching from one camp to the next, they must begin running by order of the soldiers he thinks to himself, “I couldn’t help thinking there was two of us- my body and I. And I hated that body.” (85). Eliezer included this hateful, upsetting tone to describe the awful condition of his body. He wishes he could get rid of his body—just leave it behind and separates the true "Eliezer" from his physical body and has another “person” inside of him who is someone he had not hoped to be. After a fellow prisoner drops to the ground while running and tells Eliezer he had stomach cramps, Eliezer has a disturbing thought, “The idea of dying, ceasing to be, began to fascinate me. To no longer exist. To no longer feel the excruciating pain of my foot. To no longer feel anything, neither fatigue nor cold, nothing. To break rank, to let myself slide to the side of the road…” (86). Eliezer’s bitter tone proves he is in so much pain, it is hard to imagine. Death begins to sound appealing as an escape from suffering such pain, perhaps not just from his foot, he loses hope but keeps going on. While remaining next to his dying father, Eliezer is struck when a veteran announces that remaining prisoners will be taking a shower. Despite being near to the loss of his father, “The idea of a hot shower fascinated [him].” (104). It describes how unprivileged Eliezer was, as hot showers, even back then, are normal to humans. This tone is desperate- it is miraculous to know that humans were deprived of such basic necessities.

As demonstrated, Eliezer Wiesel used several literary devices and elements in his non-fiction memoir, Night to prove that when given enough power, people will use it to dehumanize others.Think of a time when you or someone you know was treated unfairly due to who you or they were. Think about being forced to do something you did not understand. This is a modern problem that also conflicted Jews during World War 2.Humans have such need to feel on top, that they will destroy others to fill their needs. People should allow others to control their own lives and leave other’s faiths or other choices not affect them.