Essay of “Night”

By Eliezer Wiesel

Essay written by: Lesley Mayhew

Professor: Ms. McG
December, 18th 2009
Ultimately, Night by Elie Wiesel was a whirlwind of emotions.
Although the most prevalent emotion displayed throughout
his entire memoire was fear. This memoire exemplifies the
most disturbing of fears experienced by the victims during
the Holocaust: Fear of the certainty of losing each other was
indefinite, as was fear of pain experienced, and lastly fear of
death.

Although fear of pain and death were always existent, the

captives of these work camps were always fearful of losing
friends and family. Even before Elie and his family entered
the work camps, fear of losing each other was apparent,

“I wanted to return to Sighet to describe to you my death so that you

might ready yourselves while there is still time...But I wanted to warn
you.”(Wiesel 7)

When Moishe the Beadle had a near death experience, he

returned to Sighet for the single purpose of being fearful that
Elie and the kind people of Sighet would be lost. He could
not bear to have them experience the same as he had.
Another example that displays fear of losing each other
would be when the Wiesel family inhabit the small ghetto
(Wiesel 20), and a former maid known as Maria finds them
and begs the Wiesel family to take refugee with her family.
This shows how Maria was trying in earnest to not lose her
dear friends by offering them protection. In the same
manner, the Wiesel family did not want to endanger Maria or
separate themselves. Thus by rejecting Maria’s offer they did
not have to fear losing each other as they were together.
Even though fear of losing each other was most prominent in
the beginning, it was also associated to fearing pain.

Moreover, fear for pain was neck and neck with fear for
losing each other. Upon entering these work camps, Elie had
associated the initial shock/fear of the monstrosities he had
seen and the pain that had been inflicted immediately after.

“Dozens of inmates were there to receive us, sticks in hand, striking

anywhere, anyone, without reason.” (Wiesel 35)
Therefore after having just seen horrific cruelties happening
to innocent people, and being beaten, Elie and many others
associated their dread with their pain and consequently fear
it extremely. The SSI (German officers) and those in charge
would use that fear to their advantage striking when need be
and making threats.

“Listen to me you son of swine! So much for your curiosity. You

shall receive five times more if you dare tell anyone what you
saw!” (Wiesel 58)

When Idek had threatened Elie, it was after Elie had just
been whipped twenty-five times, therefore making Elie all
the more frightened of pain. Elie and many others were very
frightened/ fearful of pain and it was incomparable to the
fear of death.

Under normal circumstances, when people pass away,

those around them are entitled the opportunity to mourn.
Victims of the Holocaust, however, were never given this
opportunity in the work camps, making them evermore
fearful for the unjust deaths of loved ones, but possibly their
own deaths as well.

“Do you see that chimney over there? See it? Do you see those
flames? (Yes we did see the flames) Over there-that’s where
you’re going to be taken. That’s your grave, over there.” (Wiesel
28)

The very existence of the inmates was not important to the

Germans; their lives could blow out like a flame and the
Germans would not care. Everyone was appalled at what
secrets were kept in these camps, but they were most
fearful of whether or not their own lives would be lost in the
flames.

“We were all going to die here.” (Wiesel 98)

Despite their fears, death was quite certain all the more at
these work camps, short-living the lives of many innocent
people.

The emotion that was displayed extensively throughout

this memoire was fear. Elie and many others feared for loved
ones, for the pain that had been always oncoming, and for
that of their own lives. Each individual fear was intertwined,
creating a chain-reaction of emotions, but ultimately fear
itself was the core. Fear was the most extensively displayed
emotion, in Wiesel’s memoire.