Write a critical response in which you discuss what you have learned about

the relationship between society and the individual through your study of
texts this year.

“An immoral society betrays humanity because it betrays the basis for
humanity,” – Elie Wiesel. The individual in society is faced with many obstacles,
such as trying to find their place in the community, that combats their ability to
improve the life of those within the society. Elie Wiesel, author of the memoir
Night, conveys this idea throughout the recount of his horrific childhood
memories – his experiences in Auchwitz and Buchenwald death camps. While
being faced with the inevitability of death, his character changes immensely and
he succumbs to the ignorance shared through the majority of society. The
relationship between the individual and society are also explored through the
play Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and the novel Lord of the Flies by
William Golding, through diverse themes such as the inevitability of death, an
individual can gain power if good people do nothing and the individual against
society.

“In this world, nothing is said to be certain, except death…”. Bob Franklin’s
theory is explored through Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night. Night illustrates this idea
through the inevitability of death around him in the camps. With people he
knows having their lives taken from them all around him, physically and
metaphorically, it alludes to the concept that death is creeping closer to him.
This atmosphere of death closing in is first revealed to the audience when Elie
Wiesel arrives at the death camp and he spends his first night there. Wiesel sees
thousands of bodies of children getting ready to be placed in the furnace.
“Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned
into wreaths of smoke… Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my
faith forever.” The use of anaphora emphasises the horrors he had faced for
simply one night at the death camp and foreshadows the further horrors that
these places hold for him. This moment in the book is also one of great
importance as it signifies to us the moment that he starts to believe the horrible
things the future holds for him; the moment the fear starts to consume him and
leaves in his place an empty shell of a person, who is reduced to do nothing but
fight for his own survival – the death of his childhood.
The inevitability of death is also depicted through the hanging of the young boy
and Wiesel’s perturbation over it. “That night, the soup tasted of corpses.”
The dark metaphor creates a disturbing gustatory image within the reader,
making it almost uncomfortable for them to read or even simply imagine. It
alludes to the idea that, if they were heartless enough to sentence a child to the
gallows, they would do anything to inflict pain in any instance to the Jewish
people.

Similarly, this concept is also depicted in Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet.
The play shows the battle of a forbidden love which eventually ends in the lovers’
demise. The play foreshadows the tragic ending from start to finish, with the
prologue beginning by introducing Romeo and Juliet as “star crossed lovers.”
The cliché draws a reference to fate, as if a power vested in the stars will draw
them together. It also holds a sense of foreboding – as if their lives have been
sealed in concrete and nothing can happen to diverge this.
Therefore, through the analysis of these texts, the audience is left to suggest that
society holds an overwhelming power over the individual, by reminding them
that death is inevitable as it is all around them.

“All that is needed for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing,” Edmund
Burke’s statement is examined in Wiesel’s memoir, Night. It delves deeper into
the occurrences during the Holocaust and illustrates to the audience that any
individual who spoke out and tried to revolt against Hitler was punished,
generally resulting in their loss of life. Due to this fear of death and the need to
survive, Wiesel was forced to change into someone who was only concerned for
his own survival. This is shown to the audience when Wiesel’s father is punished
for asking where the bathrooms were. “My father had just been struck, before my
eyes, and I had not flickered an eyelid.” This sense of imagery creates an
atmosphere of injustice. It shows the audience how frightened the Jewish were of
the German guards if they could not even speak up against an injustice
happening to their own loved one. It also divulges the selfish change in Wiesel –
he once loved his father and was scared that he would be sentenced to the
furnaces, however now he does not even move or feel rage that his father is
victim to injustice. One is also able to see evil triumph while good people stand
by in one of the very first scenes, where Moche the Beadle returns after being
expelled from Sighet as he was foreign. As he tries to tell the Jewish people of
Sighet the horrors done by the Gestapo that he’d seen, the ignorance they
showed towards the old man was a trait that ended in their fatality.
“….I wanted to come back, and to warn you. And see how it is, no one will listen
to me…” The emotive language that Moche the Beadle uses in his speech to Elie
Wiesel allows the reader to understand the horrors that this man had seen,
unlike the Jewish community of Sighet had at the time. It obliges the reader to
feel sympathy towards them.

This idea is also comparably looked at in Goldings novel, Lord of the Flies. By
showing the boys in two groups – one “good” and one “evil” – Golding is allowing
us to see more within this segregation: the battle of good versus evil. Ralph being
leader of the boys on the island results in a revolt from Jack. Jack’s hunger for
power is explored throughout the novel and when he is undergoing his
transformation (from young boy to a savage), the novel foreshadows his
takeover. “Jack leapt to his feet, slashed off a great hunk of meat and flung it
down at Simon’s feet.” This reveals that Jack is turning into a savage – the
imagery conveys to us the atmosphere of an animal, or something that is unlike a
young boy. The fact that the other boys are ignorant towards Jack’s
transformation early on also allows the reader to understand that the other boys
were not expecting such dramatic events to happen on the island at the hands of
children.

Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night explores the idea that individuals are made to
conform with society and that if they do not, they will be punished. It conveys
this idea to the audience through the Gestapo – if the Jewish people do anything
to pose a threat to their authority, they are immediately punished. In the scene
where Wiesel walks in on one of the guards with a woman, we are able to see the
lengths that the Gestapo will go to to protect their position within the camps.
“They brought him a box. ‘Lie down on it! On your stomach!’… then I was aware
of nothing but the strokes of the whip.”
The reader is allowed a haunting experience through tactile imagery; a pain that
we could not imagine unless we had gone through it ourselves.

Contrastingly, Goldings’ novel Lord of the Flies does not explore this theme,
however it explores the individuals’ battles against society. It depicts the idea of
the individual versing society through the character of Simon. Simon appears to
be the only character in the novel who can see things for what they really are and
who has the inner strength to take a stand against the antagonist, Jack Merridew.
This is shown when Simon confesses his thoughts on what the ‘beast’ is.
“What I mean is… what if it’s only us?” This statement from Simon shows us that
he is far more mature than any of the other boys on the island and is able to see
through the extremity of their situation and put things in perspective.
Unfortunately, he is the only character who realises this early on and there is an
inability to resolve any conflicts once the idea of civilisation is rejected.

“The ultimate authority must always rest with the individual’s own reason…”
Dali Lama. It is not the society that should hold the authority over the individual,
but the individual should stand up and make an effort to change the society for
the greater good of the people within it. This concept is the underlying meaning
within Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night, William Goldings novel Lord of the Flies and
William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet. Through studying the ideas that
“death is inevitable”, “evil individuals gain power when good people do nothing”
and “the individual must conform with society”, the audience is able to
understand that the relationship between the society and the individual must be
one where they live in harmony with each other and it is not a struggle for
power. However, the individual must still be able to express their opinion and
not be penalised for it and society must respect that not everybody will conform
with one idea.