Examples Of Dehumanization In Night By Elie Wiesel

Daniel Dukeshire
11/8/2014
English 2
Block 4
Dylan Saunders
Night

Night, by Elie Wiesel, is a representation of real occurrences throughout the holocaust.
Said by Elie himself, the book was not created for sympathy or empathy in any way, but was to prevent the suffering of himself, as well as millions of other Jews, from repeating itself in history. Experiencing years of torture leaves obvious physical damage, but also chips away at the physiological standpoint of a human being. Elie’s way of portraying the unnatural events he experienced over the course of this despicable timeframe was through the use of dehumanization.
Constantly appearing along the pages of the novel, dehumanization was expressed in three ways: verbally, physically, and visually. Using these three methods of dehumanization, Elie Wiesel has
This was stated by a German officer as Elie and his community were being transported to the concentration camps. To be referred to as a dog is humiliating and mentally restraining. Not only that, but the inability to retaliate or express your opinion would degrade the human mind. As Elie reached his first camp, he was immediately separated from his family. “Men to the left! Women to the right!” (Wiesel, pg 29). Here the Germans view the Jews

as if they were a herd of animals, commanding the innocent people to separate from their most beloved friends and family. Grasping the concept of losing your community, even those who you dislike and avoid, is heartbreaking. The majority of people create their perspective of life due to those who he/she was surrounded by; this understanding that people have adapted for their own kind has led to their emotion to their community. With just a few words commanding to seperate, their whole life can be split in half. Insults and well as orders of any kind rot the brain, and is a direct form of dehumanization. These verbal insults lead to not only your view of yourself,
I had watched and kept silent.” (Wiesel, pg 39). In this scenario,
Elie’s father had been hit by a gypsy due to asking for the direction to the toilets. Elie stood still, not moving a muscle. He had to restrain himself, watching his own father being beaten. He had no other option; if he was to retaliate, he would be beaten harder or even be killed. Another example of visual dehumanization is Elie’s entrance to the camp. “In front of us, those flames. In the air, the smell of burning flesh.” (Wiesel, pg 28). In this passage, Elie was able to even smell those who have died for the same reason as him: nothing. As the disgusting scent trickled into the Jew’s nose, they began to go mad. Seeing the flames, sniffing the air, and watching conscious people walk into fire. This is extremely dehumanizing, an experience one would never forget over the course of his whole life. Watching babies being shot down by guns and unloaded by trucks to a wild fire. Babies are small, delicate cute bundles of joy. Here, they are waste, poured and killed as if they were boulders. After somebody is dehumanized, one might wonder if he can be brought back to his original state, or “re­humanized”. Through my eyes, Elie Wiesel has made it apparent that this