Night by Ellie Wiesel

Night is one of the most widely read and popular books for high school students. It develops student imagination and creates in their minds the many cruelties that concentration camp prisoners suffered. Elie Wiesel brings into awareness for readers the endless harshness and the faith that was the only force that helped Elie survive. By reading Night readers understand the real life that existed during the holocaust.

The book Night chronicles many cruel events that concentration camps detainees suffered. Elie Weisel tells of his separation from his mother and sister when entering the gas chamber and the sad moment when he found out they had been killed. "We were not only starved for food, but also, starved for human kindness" was Wiesel's major quote to describe the hunger and the depravity of the Holocaust. Getting their bodies tattooed with identification numbers was the first sign of inhumanity; furthermore, the prisoners were sent out to march, it was the middle of the winter and they were dressed in light weight clothe (shorts and t-shirts). They were headed for Buchenwald which was a forty-two mile march. They had to run most of the time. Once they reached Buchenwald. They rested for a while, as a result of: hunger, putrid smell of dead bodies penetrating in the prisoner's nostrils, sadness of losing his family, and dysentery, Elie father died and Elie continued going on. The last survivors were later liberated at Buchenwald and Elie one among the few one to survive. Night is a descriptive autobiography book that helps the reader create in her mind the cruel events lived by the prisoners.

Even though Night seems to chronicle the endless cruelty of the human heart, it emphasizes the faith that can nourish us through unspeakable experiences. Faith is the only strength that Elie had to survive. Without this faith Elie would have died. Night points out the stability that Elie received from his father when he was alive: -"Never lose faith of your religion". It was the only force that Elie had. Elie almost killed himself while he was on the line waiting to get into the camp, facing the fire pit, but having his father next to him telling him to go on and constantly telling Elie that they would make it made it easier for Elie; it made him go thorough physical and emotional pain, faith kept him strong.

Night emphasizes that life is not always fair and people are not either. The major purpose of this descriptive autobiography is to recount the events that took place during the Holocaust, giving the readers a vivid image of the horror, and the cruelty they are capable of, and the faith that can sustain them in the face of this harshness.