Cbizzle 3/13/14 Period 5 Night Eliezer Development Paper

In the memoir Night Elie is taken to concentration camps and is separated from most of his family. This event takes place during The Holocaust. While in the concentration camps, Elie witnesses immense tragedy and death. One such event occurs in chapter 5 when he observes the hanging of a young boy. This is also relevant in chapter three, where he is oblivious to the situation, in chapter five, where Elie eventually accept his fate, and in chapter nine, where he reverts to a self-loathing attitude after the recent death of his father. Throughout the memoir Elie changes from naive and innocent to corrupt as evident by his obliviousness in chapter three, his acceptance in chapter four, and his self-loathing personality in chapter nine. Elie changes drastically, from when he was an oblivious adolescent in chapter three. In chapter three, Elie is oblivious when the inmate questions him when arriving at Auschwitz. In Night, Wiesel says, True. We didnt know. Nobody had told us, (30). Elies admittance to what the inmate had pointed out reveals his innocence in the situation as he was unaware of the horrors emitting from the camp. Another quote that reveals his innocence is, Could this be a nightmare? An unimaginable nightmare? (Wiesel 31). The second quote reveals Eliezers obliviousness as he is clearly in disbelief and is questioning whether or not it is a dream or an actual occurrence. Evidently, Elie was oblivious and innocent, whereas he is accepting of his fate in chapter 4. In chapter four, Elie is accepting of his deterred state when his fellow inmate, Idek, beat him and he is in deep thought. During the beating, Elie exclaims mentally, As I bit my lips in

order not to howl with pain, (Wiesel 53). This quote reveals Eliezers true notion on accepting his role as the prey in this dangerous scenario. Eliezer bit his lip during the beating because he knows there is no point in fighting back because he understands his friends fury and that theres no point in fighting back. Eliezer also bit his lip because if he fought back he feels as if he would end up losing all the energy he had and lose all motivation and end up dying. Another quote that reveals his condition is, The bread, the soupthose were my entire life. I was nothing but a body, (Wiesel 52). This reveals that Elie feels his whole life is based on survival and the need to nourish himself, and also this reveals that he has accepted the new role given to him by the Nazis and has reverted back to primal instincts; to eat and survive. As Elies mental state is slowly deteriorating, he hits rock bottom in chapter nine after the death of his father. In chapter nine, after the death of his father, Elie starts to demonstrate a lack of care in the world and starts to loath life. On page 113, Elie exclaims in deep thought, Since my fathers death, nothing mattered to me anymore (Wiesel). Witnessing the Nazis perform criminal negligence on his father, and feeling guilty about the situation causes Elie to slowly hate life, and slowly give up. The death of his father took a heavy toll on Elie. Another quote that exemplifies this is, I spent my days in total idleness. With only one desire: to eat, (Wiesel 113). The death of his only true motivation to stay alive, causes Elie to turn into a husk of his former self, and further dehumanize as his only desire is to eat. Elie is reverting back to primal instincts, due to the atrocities exposed to him. Elie has drastically changed from an innocent, oblivious adolescent to a corrupt, unethical man. These atrocities exposed to him in chapter three, chapter four and chapter nine all shape the person he is currently and ultimately removed his internal innocence. Watching the babies being burned, getting beaten by his fellow inmate and seeing his father die and get beaten all in unison

turned Elie into a corrupt husk of his former self who shall wallow in the memory of The Holocaust until he can find eternal peace.