Caitlyn Adams AP Literature 3 February 2014

The Holocaust was an extremely harsh period in history. It is something that is taught throughout the country and taught multiple times. However, often, people only think of the way Jews were feeling and not others also living through the horror. It is something that people look past. Not only were Jews experiencing the concentration camps but there were also people living in Germany who were forced to believe certain things and obey someone they may not even agree with. The novels Night, by Elie Wiesel, and The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak, show two completely different points of view during the Holocaust period. However, the novels are also similar when describing the feelings of the characters involved and other aspects of the stories. It is quite obvious that both novels a mainly focused on the Holocaust and the lives of the people living in those areas at the time. Both families in each story were sadly separated from each other and showed the harsh brutality of the war. These people were not only kind hearted people, but were terrified by the Nazis. Elie and his family in Night were of course terrified by the Nazis because they were the Jews being put into the concentration camps (Wiesel). However, in The Book Thief you learn that Jews were not the only people afraid of the Nazis. Liesel and her family, along with a great amount of the community, are also afraid of the Nazis and things going on in the war. They may heil Hitler, but often when it came to standing by his side, it was not a task willingly taken. This was simply because Elie was a kind hearted person. He never did anything wrong, much like other Jews, and did not understand why he was being treated unfairly. Liesel and her foster family showed that they were also kind when they willingly took in a Jew for hiding and showed true remorse for Jews who were not so lucky and

Adams 2 suffering. The main characters in both novels do survive. Maybe it was good karma that they were able to live long lives and die at an old age. Although, when losing their loved ones came into the picture, they were not so lucky. The most amazing idea of it all is the fact that each author wrote about experiences they know about firsthand. Often the experiences were extremely sad, but they became sadder when readers realized they were real. In both novels, the characters write a story about their lives. Liesel writes The Book Thief, in the blank book she was given by Ilsa and Elie writes his story Night. What better way to record such extreme events than by writing them down? Elie Wiesel, the author of Night, actually wrote the story from his own personal experience. He was of Hungarian, Jewish decent and survivor of the Holocaust. Night was a story strictly written as a memoir from the events that happened in his life during that time. These events were not even the slightest bit pleasant, but showed the harshness that Jews went through. People always read about things Jews endured during this hard time in history classes constantly, but this novel put a new meaning to the suffering they were expected to live through. Wiesel made it feel as if the reader was an outsider watching these events happen and almost made the reader feel helpless. Despite the anger he shows in his thoughts throughout the story, you learn that Wiesel truly believes in peace, atonement, and human dignity (Goodreads). His anger at the world and God was not something he carried through the rest of his life. Markus Zusak, the author of The Book Thief, also wrote his story on somewhat true events. However, this was more of a realistic fiction novel. The author grew up hearing stories about World War II constantly.His own parents experienced the war. The stories they told him inspired him to write a novel different than any he had ever written before. He got his ideas from fourteen years of thinking about it (Amazon). Certain stories were events straight from his

Adams 3 mothers telling. He even made the character Hans resemble his father because of his profession and thoughts about the war. Night and The Book Thief show two different points of view on World War II. Readers learn about not only Jews thoughts but civilians thoughts as well, which is never really thought of or considered. Night demonstrates the Jewish point of view. This is the point of view that many people are concerned about. How could so many people suffer while nothing was being done to stop the one single person causing the suffering? In the book readers learn about the life in death camps. Death camps have always seemed like the most horrible and terrifying idea of the Holocaust. This novel shows that they truly were the most terrifying part. It was the area where many Jews struggled to simply survive one more day and often question why them? Why were they the ones being punished by god? The difference in this novel is that it is easy to hear inside the characters mind because of the point of view the story is written in. Wiesel never questions whether his thoughts are appropriate to share. Readers experience the things Elie experiences both physically and mentally. This aspect is what makes the novel so unique. It is easy to see what the Jews are thinking because of his own thoughts and their actions. The question of how horrible it was and what the unfortunate people who lived it were thinking becomes answered. Though, the answer is not very comforting and actually extremely sad. Night was about the final year of the Holocaust. It shows the treatment, which was going on for years, in the death camps. Throughout the story, Wiesel shows his transfer to a survivalist mentality. He often questions gods motives but in his anger he still finds time to pray. Wiesel sees silence as the most dangerous ingredient for the Holocaust (About.com). He wants this novel to break the

Adams 4 silence. He wants it to open peoples eyes and show that it really was something very real. Elie does not want the rumors of this event being something made up and imaginary to spread to future generations. He wants this to be his proof, his break from silence, while there are still survivors left to stand by his side. The Book Thief is written in a very different point of view. Death narrates the story during a very busy time in his life. Despite his busyness he focuses on the character of Liesel, a not so fortunate foster child living in Munich, Germany. This place of residence is in fact a very dangerous and unfortunate area to be living in during that time period. The only thing that makes Liesels life easier is the single fact that she is a child living in Germany that is not Jewish. The children she associates with are not preparing for or going to death camps, but instead preparing to serve in the army. Readers see many different things going on in the town and in other areas during this time because of the view Death has on everybody. He sees all and not just in the present but often takes you to the past and warns you about the future. That is one main difference in the novels. The Book Thief has many parts where foreshadowing is involved. It keeps readers on their toes for what is going to happen later in the novel. Death is very good at showing you things that are going on elsewhere. He focuses on Liesel but also makes it known that it was a very busy and sad time for him and he was visiting other areas and putting many innocent people to rest. You hear inside Deaths mind instead of the characters he watches over (Zusak). But these people he did watch over, like Liesel, prove that not everyone who was expected to kiss Hitlers feet really believed in the things he was doing.

Adams 5 This novel shows that there were rebellious children and people who did follow the rules. People like Liesel and Hans Hubermann were the survival of what humanity should be like. People like them were the only hope for that time period. Liesels care for Max, the Jew her foster family hid, showed that she did not agree with the treatment they were being given. From the minute he stepped into their home, she did not judge him, and her love for him only grew throughout the story. Her true courage shows when she finds Max marching through Molching and walks with him. After being found by a Nazi and whipped, her urge to continue following Max is still strong but she is stopped by Rudy who possibly saves her life. Liesel understood that Jews were no different than anyone else and she may have learned this from her Foster father Hans. Hans showed courage by not only allowing Max to live in his house as a favor to an old friend, but by giving the Jews walking through his town bread and suffering the consequences (Zusak). Hans did not do what was acceptable to the people in the town but set a perfect example for Liesel to follow. Both Night and The Book Thief were prime examples of how the Holocaust truly was. They were novels that you would assume to be very similar because of their topic but in reality showed very different sides of the story. The points of views were what made them come alive. Although both were sad and depressing, they gave some valuable lessons. The Holocaust was real and the events that were said to have happened were true. There are people who lived through it to tell their stories and break the silence. Not everyone in Germany, who was not a Jew, was a bad person. These novels support these facts and the authors experiences prove the brutality of the events. It was a very awful point in history and something that should not be forgotten for the sake of humanity and to prevent future disasters.