NIGHT

1
NIGHT

• Section 2

2
HUMANKIND

• One of Wiesels concerns that is brought up in
  this memoir is the exposure to inhuman cruelty
  and how it can cause people to act in certain
  ways.
• By treating the Jews as less than human, the Nazi
  soldiers cause some of them to ACT as if they
  were less than human. Cruelty breeds cruelty.

3

• In the ghetto, the Jews maintained their sense of
  morality. Once robbed of their homes and treated
  like animals, Eliezer sees some people forgetting
  what is important to them and how to treat people.

4
Example

• We see this in the scene involving Mrs.
  Schachter In order to quiet her screaming, some
  of the Jews in the cattle wagon beat her, and
  others vocally support the beating.

5
DENIAL

• The Jewish prisoners denial of what is happening
  around them reflects one of the major barriers in
  writing about the Holocaust.

6

• Until the Jews experience the horrors of
  Auschwitz, they cannot believe that such horrors
  exist.
• Even after hearing Moishe the Beadles story,
  when the Jews arrive at Auschwitz, they still
  believe that it is merely a work camp.
• This shows how difficult it is to convince others
  of the horrors committed by the Nazis.

7
SANITY vs. INSANITY

• Mrs. Schachter, who foresees the furnaces of
  Auschwitz, raises an important question about the
  boundaries between sanity and insanity when
  dealing with the evils of the Holocaust.

8
Examples

• 1. Mrs. Schachter, who is supposedly crazy, sees
  clearly into the future.
• 2. The other Jews, who are supposedly sane, fail
  to foresee their fate.

9

• Throughout the memoir, sanity and insanity become
  confused in the face of evil and violence.
• One would think it insane to imagine the
  extermination of 6 million Jews, yet it happened.
  

10

• In the world of Auschwitz, the normal standards
  of sanity and insanity become confused, just as
  ones sense of morality is turned upside down.