This is a quick summary and analysis of Night
by Elie Wiesel.
This is a story about a Jewish boy named Eliezer,
who lives in Romania during World War II.
The Germans take him and his family away from
their home and they are headed to concentration
camps. Eliezer is separated from his mother
and sisters, only to be in the company of
his father.
Over the course of the story, Eliezer is transferred
from one camp to another, barely surviving
the grim environments. In fact, several times,
he is nearly separated from his father, but
they somehow find a way to be together.
As the war progresses, the concentration camps
need to be moved further away from the front
line of the war. Those who can't keep up are
left behind to die.
Eliezer's father is extremely sick and dies.
In the end, Eliezer survives and is rescued
by American forces.
This story portrays the harsh reality of the
Holocaust and the extremes that humans can
survive.
The conditions that were described in the
story almost don't seem real, like being cramped
in an overcrowded train or having to run in
the snow and cold. As readers, we know that
the author will survive. Obviously, to write
the book. Yet even though we know that he'll
make it, it's just amazing to go through his
journey and to see what he had to survive
to tell this story.
So even though this story shows the lowest
that men can act towards each other, it also
portrays the fight of the human spirit.
