Psychological Analysis Of Night By Elie Wieser
In the book Night by Elie Wieser, the author explains the situation of Jewish people confined in concentration camps through his very own experiences. According to him, he was forced into labor by the Nazis, like all the other people who were held with him. Some people might say that the hardships the laborers faced helped build stronger relations amongst them. However, I strongly disagree with this idea. I believe that the experiences in the camps weakened relations between the people and was exacerbated as time went by, because people started to not care about people other than themselves, and because of the psychological issues the prisoners went through.
To begin with, the relations between families, mostly between a father and a son,
became weakened or even changed to bad relations. This was because the prisoners no longer had the ability to take care of others, even their families. All that mattered were themselves. In the camps where surviving with a burden was so hard, sons abandoned the responsibility on taking care of their fathers. For example, in the book, when the prisoners were forced to run and move from Buna, Rabbi Eliahou’s son ran away from his father and tried to abandon him. This is because the presence of his father in the camp was a burden that obstructed him to survive. “Rabbi Eliahou’s son had felt that his father was growing weak … his separation in order to get rid of the burden, to free himself ...” In addition, there is also an extreme case of this concept. In the truck where one hundred of the prisoners got into, a man kills his father just to steal a piece of bread. This behavior never seems to be possible in any society. However, the harsh times the prisoners went through in the camps had made them make selfish judgments, and it has let the prisoners value the relation between a father and a son less than a piece of bread.
Also, the relations never seemed to be made stronger but was wrecked and destroyed over the tensions and fears the prisoners faced while being under confinements of the Nazis. Since people experienced serious threats to their lives and strong fears that they never have gone through, they tend to change their attitudes towards people; they start to not care about others and they are willing to harm each other for their own good. For instance, in the cattle car that Eliezer gets into when heading to Auschwitz, this phenomenon first shows itself. A middle aged woman called Madame Schachter gets into mental states and scares people by saying that she sees fire. At first the people feel empathy towards her, but later, they hit her and discipline her because she makes them feel anxious. This situation illustrates how negative emotion people suffered under Nazi influence affected people's relations.
I think that relations between the people had weakened. However, the relations were not all weakened and destroyed; some were made stronger through the process of overcoming hardships together. Since the Jews had absolutely nothing; no government, no police, no help-to rely on, they relied on each other. They encouraged each other and took care of each other in the camps because they felt like they were families. The experiences in the camps clearly helped them build strong relations. For example, Eliezer and his father encourage and help each other while they are moving from Buna. At first Eliezer gets tempted into sleeping on snow, which might kill him. However, his father wakes him up and tells him that he would die if he does not wake up. Later that night, Elieser does the same thing to his father. These behaviors are done because they had built empathy while staying in the camps together. They struggled for life together, and the experience built strong bonding between the two.
To begin with, the relations between families, mostly between a father and a son,
became weakened or even changed to bad relations. This was because the prisoners no longer had the ability to take care of others, even their families. All that mattered were themselves. In the camps where surviving with a burden was so hard, sons abandoned the responsibility on taking care of their fathers. For example, in the book, when the prisoners were forced to run and move from Buna, Rabbi Eliahou’s son ran away from his father and tried to abandon him. This is because the presence of his father in the camp was a burden that obstructed him to survive. “Rabbi Eliahou’s son had felt that his father was growing weak … his separation in order to get rid of the burden, to free himself ...” In addition, there is also an extreme case of this concept. In the truck where one hundred of the prisoners got into, a man kills his father just to steal a piece of bread. This behavior never seems to be possible in any society. However, the harsh times the prisoners went through in the camps had made them make selfish judgments, and it has let the prisoners value the relation between a father and a son less than a piece of bread.
Also, the relations never seemed to be made stronger but was wrecked and destroyed over the tensions and fears the prisoners faced while being under confinements of the Nazis. Since people experienced serious threats to their lives and strong fears that they never have gone through, they tend to change their attitudes towards people; they start to not care about others and they are willing to harm each other for their own good. For instance, in the cattle car that Eliezer gets into when heading to Auschwitz, this phenomenon first shows itself. A middle aged woman called Madame Schachter gets into mental states and scares people by saying that she sees fire. At first the people feel empathy towards her, but later, they hit her and discipline her because she makes them feel anxious. This situation illustrates how negative emotion people suffered under Nazi influence affected people's relations.
I think that relations between the people had weakened. However, the relations were not all weakened and destroyed; some were made stronger through the process of overcoming hardships together. Since the Jews had absolutely nothing; no government, no police, no help-to rely on, they relied on each other. They encouraged each other and took care of each other in the camps because they felt like they were families. The experiences in the camps clearly helped them build strong relations. For example, Eliezer and his father encourage and help each other while they are moving from Buna. At first Eliezer gets tempted into sleeping on snow, which might kill him. However, his father wakes him up and tells him that he would die if he does not wake up. Later that night, Elieser does the same thing to his father. These behaviors are done because they had built empathy while staying in the camps together. They struggled for life together, and the experience built strong bonding between the two.