Timmy's Post #3

Dear Elie Wiesel,

      As I conclude your novel, Night, I sit back and think about the title.  Your title choice intrigues me as I think of the word night.  Your introduction in the “never shall I forget” passage, kept me thinking throughout the entire novel.  Night is mentioned as you say, “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed” (Wiesel 34).  Literally, night is the period of time between sunset and sun rise in the 24 hour cycle.  One word always comes to mind, darkness.  During your experience at the concentration camps you experienced darkness in many forms.  You face physical darkness, mental darkness within yourself, and darkness within human nature.  The Holocaust was one long night; a real nightmare that changed and altered humanity forever.
      Physically, the darkness that you persevered through gives one the inspiration to accomplish and take on any challenge.  As you are moved from camp to camp, you see darkness strangling the world around you.  Normally, when one is stuck, they are rescued by light.  Ironically, the only physical light that is constantly present is fire.  However, fire is correlated with fear, directly related to death and horror.  You witnessed the fire that the Nazis used to burn innocent children as you entered the camp.  You describe the scene as you say, “Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever” (Wiesel 34).  Even more terrifying, fire is the tool of murder used in the crematoria, where many faced their death.  Physically, you were better off being trapped in darkness than within the light of the fire.  Do you agree?
     As you lose touch with God, your vanishing faith causes you to witness darkness within yourself.  Your struggle to maintain a relationship with God darkens your world.  Initially, you prove yourself to be a faithful Jew, one who had a close relationship with God.  As a strong believer, you had faith and courage to take on the world.  However, through the destruction of the world around you, you lose hope, faith and communication with God.  As your soul is darkened, you find yourself trapped.  In the end, you were able to wake up from ‘the nightmare’ and realize that, “The look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me” (Wiesel 115).  Although, you have been traumatized and scared for life, you realized that you are still you.  By saying this, you not only prove yourself to be a powerful and courageous individual but also one who has reconnected with his faith.  Looking into the mirror, what did you see differently? 
     As one observes the Holocaust and your memoir, one can analyze and see the darkness that is embedded into humanity.  Often in life, we let the ‘id’ within us take control because of the world around us.  Humans are more influenced by nurture rather than nature because we are followers.  There are only a few humans who step up to the plate to become a leader.  As Hitler became leader, through persuasion and humanity’s inability to decipher between right in wrong in times of fear, he immorally attempted to eliminate Jews.  Humans let the Nazi party take control.  However, they should have stood up for what was right.  Often, night is taken advantage of by humans.  Crimes, murders and actions that one doesn’t want others to see are completed at night.  However, with people like you, night is able to restore peace within the world.  I would like to personally thank you for the work you have done to make our world a safer and more peaceful place.  You are a true hero.

Sincerely,

Timothy Salit