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BradleyRustin
Mrs.Butorac
HonorsEnglishA3
24March2016
ElieWieselsTechniquesinDemonstratingPurpose
ElieWiesel,Holocaustsurvivorandauthorof
Night
,spenthischildhoodinSighet,
Transylvania.AstrongbelieverintheJewishfaith,Wieselengagedinreligiousstudiesatalocal
synagogue.Thesufferingandanguishheexperienced,bothmentallyandphysically,duringhis
timeatAuschwitzallowshimtospreadunderstandingoftheeventsintheHolocaustasan
activistandteachertoday.Wieselimplementspowerfulwordchoice,selectionofdetail,anda
sombertoneinto
Night
toeducatethefuturegenerationsonthedangersofindifferenceandto
persuadetheworldtoneverallowindifferencetooccurinatimeoftragedyagain.
Wieselsvividlysomberwordchoicein
Night
createsfeelingsofangerandfearinthe
reader.Variousscenesthroughoutthetextdemonstratetheauthorsmethodinproducingsuch
strongemotionsfromhisaudience.Wieselrepeatedlywriteswordssimilartonightinthistext
toemphasizethedarknessanddepressionthatwasaproductofindifference.AsWieselreflects
onhislifeattheNaziconcentrationcamps,hestates,NevershallIforgetthatnocturnalsilence
whichdeprivedme,foralleternity,ofthedesiretolive(Wiesel25).Here,Wieseldescribesthe
silenceofindifferenceas,nocturnal,oroccurringduringthenight.Hereiterateshowfatal
silencecanbe,andappealstoemotionsofthereadersinawaythatbecomesverypersuading.In
atimewhencorpsesofbabiesareburnedintoashes,Wieselsfrustrationwiththerestofthe
worldisclearlydisplayed.Heuseswordslikedeprivedasawaytostresstheintense

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oppressionthatheandmillionsofotherssufferedunder.Wieselalsousesthephrase,desireto
live,orlackthereof,toshowhowtheconcentrationcampsdestroyedhiswilltocontinueliving.
Thesecomponentsofthequoteallowthereadertounderstandhowindifferencecausessuffering
andanguish.Intheverynextsentence,Wieselcontinues,NevershallIforgetthosemoments
whichmurderedmyGodandmysoulandturnedmydreamsintodust,(Wiesel2526).Atthe
beginningofthequotethereadercanseetheuseofparallelstructure,asthissentenceispartofa
longpassageinwhicheachnewpartstartswith,NevershallIforget...Althoughthisdoesnot
directlyhavetodowithwordchoice,hispurposefuluseofthistypeofrepetitionnearlyburns
theeffectsoftheHolocaustintothereadersminds.Then,Wieselusesthephrase,murderedmy
Godandmysoul,andimmediatelythereaderreceivesasenseofterrorandfear.Inaworld
where84%ofpeoplebelongtoafaith,theimageoftheirGodbeingmurderedisundoubtedly
disturbing(PewResearchCenter).Whetheritbeoutofdutyorpurefear,Wieselssomberword
choiceensuresthatthefutureofthehumanracewillpreventindifferencefromhappeningagain,
atallcosts.
Wieselselectsdetail,suchasappealtotheemotionofthereadersandphilosophical
principles,inordertoevokeemotionfromthereader.Throughout
Night
,ElieWieselwriteswith
detailsthatnotonlyenhancethewaythestoryistold,butenhancehowitaffectshisaudienceas
well.Heappealstotheemotionofthereadersattheexactmomenthisfaithislostforever,ashe
states,WhereisHe?HereHeisHeishanginghereonthisgallows(Wiesel48).Thisissuch
anemotionalmomentforthereader,asmanycanimaginehowdifficultitwouldbetosufferto
thepointofalossinfaith.Itevokesasenseofintensesorrowandsympathyforthereader.Any
personwithanounceofcompassionwouldsympathizewithamanwhohadlosthisGodforever.

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IfonerecallsWieselschildhood,itrevolvedaroundhisfaithintheJewishMessiah.Therefore
whenheloseshisGod,heloseshischildhoodandpreviouslifesimultaneously.Thisappealto
emotionmakeshisaudiencewanttohelphiminhistimeofsuffering,andpreventtimesof
sufferingfromcontinuing.ElieWieselsuseofphilosophicalprinciplesin
Night
alsocontributes
inexplaininghispurpose.AtthetimeoftheHolocaust,therewasobviouslyanabundanceof
morallywrongincidents.OnthelastlegofWieselsjourney,heremembers,Aworkmantooka
pieceofbreadoutofhisbagandthrewitintoawagon...Dozensofstarvingmenfoughteach
othertothedeathforafewcrumbs.TheGermanworkmentookalivelyinterestinthis
spectacle(Wiesel73).Inthiscircumstance,therearemultipleimmoralactions.First,and
perhapsthemostobvious,iswatchingmanenjoythepainandsufferingofanotherman.Wiesel
realizesthathisreadersknowrightfromwrong,anditisabasicmoralprinciplethatnoman
shouldwatchtheagonyofothersfortheirownpersonalamusement.This,asaresult,evokes
feelingsofangerinthereader.Second,mansstarvationovertakesanylogicalthinking,which
resultsinfightingtothedeathoverafewcrumbsofbread.TheNaziscontrollingthe
concentrationcampsturnedtheseinnocentmenintosavagesinjustmonths.Wieselsabilityto
appealtotheemotionsofhisreadersandtoquestionthemoralprinciplesoftheHolocaustaided
inexplainingcasualtiesthatarearesultofindifference.
In
Night
,ElieWieselcreatesasolemn,gloomytone
,
whichreflectsthisperiodinhistory
andallowsthereadertobetterunderstandtheeventsoftheHolocaust.Hedoesnotmake
attemptsathumororwitatanypointinthestory.Wieselusesashort,butextremelypowerful
sentence:Iwasawareofnothingbutthestrokesofthewhip,(Wiesel42).Thisthoughtoccurs
duringtorturewithawhip.Thereisperhapsnothingmoredarkandsinisterthanrepeated

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torment.Thisaccountofthelashingshereceivedthatdayopenedtheeyesofmanyreaders,who
begantorealizethelevelsoftragedytheHolocaustreached.Wieselwaswhippeduntilthepoint
ofunconsciousness,andcontinuedtoreceivemore.Anyformoftortureismorallyunacceptable,
butthisformisespeciallybarbaric.Yet,therestoftheworldcontinuedtobebystanders,
watchingonesocietyimprisonandtortureanother.Wieselssimple,yeteffectivewordsinthis
quoteexplaintothereadersthedangersofbloodshedleftneglected.Heendsthebookwithone
finalthought,onethatstressestheoveralltoneinthepiece,Fromthedepthsofthemirror,a
corpsegazedbackatme.Thelookinhiseyes,astheystaredintomine,hasneverleftme
(Wiesel83).Withthistone,itisevidentthatWieselisachangedman,andachangedsoul.The
gloomylifelessnessofacorpseperfectlyreflectsthegeneraltoneof
Night
.Inthedepthsofan
objectorplaceindicatesadeepdown,darkplace,whichalsocoincideswiththenovelstone.In
thisquote,Wieseldoesnotrefertohimselfinthefirstperson,butratherheseesacompletely
differentmangazingintohiseyes.Thissuggeststhatalltieswithhispreviouslifehavebeen
lost,somewherethatcanonlybefoundinthedeep,darkpartsofhismemory.Thisquote
explainstothereadershowseverelytheHolocaustalteredsomanymindsandsouls.Wiesel
elaboratesmorethansimplyexplainingthephysicalhardship,butstressestheemotionaland
psychologicalstruggleaswell.TheseinstancesofagrimtonehelpWieseltoinformhisreaders
ofhowindifferenceduringtheHolocaustproducedsevereresults.
Wieselsintensewordchoice,selectionofdetail,andhumorlesstonehelptoconveyhis
purposeinwriting
Night
tohisaudience.Hispurpose,toinformforthcominggenerationsofthe
threatofindifferenceandtopreventhistoryfromrepeatingitself,wasconveyedwonderfully
throughthesetechniques.AsWieselhassaid,Sometimeswemustinterfere.Whenhumanlives

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areendangered,whenhumandignityisinjeopardy,nationalbordersandsensitivitiesbecome
irrelevant(Wiesel).Hehopesthatthismessagewillresonateamongthefutureleadersofthe
humanrace.Ifpeopleareeverinneedofsupport,whetheritbefinancial,military,or
physiological,othersshouldcomefromtheendsoftheEarthtoensuretheirsafetyandsecurity.

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WorksCited
Wiesel,Elie,andMarionWiesel.
Night
.NewYork,NY:HillandWang,aDivisionofFarrar,
StrausandGiroux,2006.Print.
"TheGlobalReligiousLandscape."
PewResearchCentersReligionPublicLifeProjectRSS
.
PewResearchCenter,17Dec.2012.Web.18Mar.2016.