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Examples Of Inhumanization In Night By Elie Wiesel

Decent Essays

Night takes place during the time period of World War II. The story features a boy named Elie and his father. The two men witness horrible crimes against humanity in the concentration camps, living under the bitter rule of the Germans. The Germans treat the Jews with extreme harshness by shaving their heads, forcing them into a poisonous gas room and giving them hardly any food. I chose to discuss the topic of inhumanity because it is the most prominent idea exhibited throughout the novel. In Night by Elie Wiesel, he displays how man’s humanity toward other man can have a cruel affect a person’s life through the usage of characterization, imagery and setting. Wiesel employs characterization throughout the book to show the creation of fictional characters. The use of this literary element lets the audience connect to the story and characters. He …show more content…

Wiesel uses imagery in Night to help reveal the theme of inhumanity. A scene that stood out to me was when the surviving Jews were in a train car and a few Germans started to throw bread at them, intrigued by their reaction. The Jews begin to fight for the bread, they “hurl themselves against each other, trampling, tearing at and mauling each other.” Wiesel uses imagery to describe how the “beasts of prey were unleashed” and “an extraordinary vitality possessed them, sharpening their teeth and nails” (Wiesel 101). The fight resulted in two men dead. Inhumanity is displayed in this scene when the Jews turn into vicious animals attacking each other for scraps of bread. To expand on this idea, the scene where the young boy was hung also reveals inhumanity. They hang a small boy for being a part of a secret group but he is too light so he “remains for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death, withering before our eyes” (Wiesel #). Wiesel uses imagery to describe the way the boy suffered which relates to the theme of

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