The Strength Of Will In Elie Wiesel's Night And Fog

The Jews had to go through terrible atrocities. They were being treated terribly, but they stood strong against the cruelty. The Jews enduring those terrible acts show how, even while being treated at the lowest levels humans can still persevere, retain their humanity, and live on. This is shown through how they kept their faith, how they treated each other, how they pushed on while being treated like animals, and how they kept on living and pushing on. All of these claims can be explained and supported by, Elie Wiesel's Documentary, his memoir, Night, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and the official documentary of Night and Fog.

One of the most significant examples of strength of will in Night is how Elie always treats his father with kindness and never abandons him like many other children do. Even though his father was old and just a burden to Elie he never stopped taking care of him in an attempt to salvage
as much of his humanity as possible in that terrible situation. Another show of strength from Elie and his father in Night was when they were freezing in the boxcars. When they were being denied warmth and food which are some of the core needs of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs they still refused to die and they worked together to survive. Other prisoners in Night also show this will to stay alive and retain as much humanity as possible. One of these characters was Juliek and how he was terrified for his violin which was all he had left of the world before. Even as he died he played to do something beautiful and human one last time.

Elie Wiesel talked of his hardships in his documentary and how no matter what he did he still could not leave his faith. This wasn't only shown by Elie, but it’s also displayed in many of the prisoners in the book Night as they prayed to God, even when in the hellscape of the camps. To be powerful enough to keep their religion even though that is the precise reason they are in the camps is a very beautiful and impressive thing to me and it shows just how powerful humans can be. Elie also showed strength in the documentary by reliving the horrors and being able to share what had happened to him to warn others not to let it happen again. He talks of how he has seen these terrible things, but he refuses to let it stop him in living his life.

Night and Fog left a huge impression on me how the survivors could live through what was happening.
I had always heard of the things that were happening, but I had never truly seen what was being done. When I saw the bodies being pushed by the bulldozer it really hit me how terrible it was and that there was no limit, no stability or safety, no laws or order. These people were being denied so many of the basic needs on Maslow's Hierarchy. It was terrible for those who died, but for the ones who kept on living it was even worse. They had to live right next to their dead loved ones and endure the same treatment they did and they still pushed on! They still refused to give in and persevered through this atrocity. Another scene that really affected me was when the camera was panning over rooms full of hair. It was an awful scene and it showed how the Nazis treated the Jews as something to profit off of and how they saw them as less than human. Again this shows the power of the survivors who kept their humanity despite being treated terribly and
inhumanely.

In conclusion humans are powerful and will do their best to keep their humanity and live on even in the worst of situations. This is repeatedly proven in Elie Wiesel's memoir, Night, His documentary, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and Night and Fog.