Zach Golding
Night Themes
1/30/14
Block E
In life there are plenty of messages that are either seen or ignored and once they are ignored, the
possibility of history repeating itself is predictable. In the story Night by Elie Wiesel there are plenty of
themes that occur throughout the novel giving it its importance and making it an incredible book. The
book takes place during the Holocaust; Elie and his Father are in concentration camps using each other as
tools to their survival. Throughout their adventure they witness things no one would normally see on a
daily basis which gave certain moments meaning and even change characters dramatically after a while.
The three significant themes that develop in Night are cruelty, family bonds, and faith.
The first major theme that develops throughout the novel is cruelty. It is all anyone thinks about
when they hear the word Holocaust and they are comparable words. Cruelty is demonstrated when a child
is being hanged on the gallows. The gallows are a place where prisoners are hanged as a punishment for
actions the Nazis think are inapropriate. Cruelty has a special impact on Elies life because it shows the
Nazis enmity towards the Jews and shows how insensitive the human race can be. All the gore , so many
people in ruins and still had the ability to sleep at night, For more than half an hour he stayed there,
struggling between life and death, dying in slow agony under our eyes. And we had to look at him full in
the face (Wiesel 62). Elie witnesses human bodies being burned with his own eyes. He sees adults,
children and babies die, which is a awful thing to spectate. A lorry drew up at pit and delivered its load-
children. Babies(Wiesel 32). This provides a glimpse into the cruelty throughout the camps. It is not like
these horrific events happened once- they were a daily consequence.
The second major theme in the memoir is family bonds. Families are mentioned often in this
book and there is a time in the book where a son kills his father for a piece of bread no bigger than pin,
which shows the effect that the Holocaust has on families. It shows survival can become a desperate fight
till death; every man for himself. Dont you recognize me? Im your father youre hurting me youre
killing your father! Ive got some bread for you too for you too(Wiesel _). Furthermore, Elie decides
to help his father learn to march which helps Elie and his father become closer than ever. I decided to
give my father lessons myself, to teach him to change step, and to keep rhythm(Wiesel__). The
Holocaust puts a lot of stress on family bonds and recreate ones that werent as well built as others.
The final major theme developed in Night is faith, as a result of his experience at the camps, Elie
starts to lose faith. Elie is wondering where is God when he witnesses a child hanging from the gallows.
Behind me I heard the same man asking: Where is God now?(Wiesel 62) Elie feels as if God is testing
their strength, by putting them through hell, which is expected to be heard from a religious person, God
is testing us. He wants to find out whether we can dominate our base instincts and kill the Satan with in
us.(Wiesel 42). A religious person at the beginning of the story, ended up coming out as a person that
doubts the justice of God. This shows the impact of the Holocaust on plenty of people, including Elie
himself.
As one can clearly see these themes all have some sort of connection and they all have an impact
on Elie. The themes change who he is and make him a different person at the end of it all. There are plenty
of life lessons people can learn from reading this book. Elies words encourage everyone to appreciate the
things they have and the oppurtunities they are given. He reminds the reader to take advantage of the
oppurtunities.
