Over the ages, philosophers have debated the meaning of humanity in pursuit of a way to differentiate between humans and animals, but each time the question arises a conclusion is never fully realized. Different religious beliefs have contrasting views on the meaning humanity. Likewise, scientists also have a plethora of ideas about what defines a human being. In Night, Elie Wiesel explores the idea of humanity and what it means to be human. Over the course of the anecdote, Wiesel compares and contrasts the actions of humans and animals, showing the similarities and differences between people and the other creatures on Earth with the goal of identifying elements that define what it means to be human, namely the recognition mortality and the …show more content…
No human can live forever. Because life is limited, Wiesel argues that it’s what you do with it before it’s over that counts, that makes you human. Constrained by the walls of time, humans can not live in the past, nor in the future. Therefore, they must live in the moment. One way that Wiesel connects mortality with humanity is through the selection in the concentration camp. When Elie’s father realizes the SS officers selected him to be slaughtered, he could “fe[el] time was running out.”(75). Knowing he will not live forever, he gives his inheritance, a knife and a spoon, to his son. He understands his mortality, so he uses the time available to make what he views as the best choice. Humanity requires a finite lifetime in which one must make hard decisions to best use their time. Again, Wiesel shows the connection between humanity and mortality with the death of his father near the end of the book. When Elie’s father realizes he is dying, he, “began talking, faster and faster, afraid of running out of time before he could tell [Elie] everything.”(108). The threat of death affects how people live. A sense of urgency exists that only humans feel because they understand death. As a result of a healthy knowledge of death, people make hard decisions in order to use their time wisely. Wiesel believes that these factors partially define what makes people …show more content…
Although his definition of what it means to be human is not complete nor perfect, Wiesel brings light to several elements that help start the conversation about what it means to be a human. Wiesel argues that a knowledge and recognition of mortality is essential to being human because it causes people to live with a purpose. Because humans are aware of an end, they must make the best of the time they have on earth. Additionally, Wiesel also states that emotional connection is inherently human. Without emotion, people would act like robots who fail to learn from their mistakes or have no emotional reaction to events, something that Wiesel implies is a defining factor of being human. Lastly, Wiesel shows his audience that being human is not much different from being an animal. Their responses to life-threatening circumstances can often be very similar. Both humans and animals exhibit the fight or flight instinct when attacked or frightened. Defining what it means to be human is a tough, inconclusive task, but Wiesel does his best to bring these important elements to the table for discussion about what it really means to be a human
Wiesel pinpoints the indifference of humans as the real enemy, causing further suffering and lost to those already in peril. Wiesel commenced the speech with an interesting attention getter: a story about a young Jewish from a small town that was at the end of war liberated from Nazi rule by American soldiers. This young boy was in fact himself. The first-hand experience of cruelty gave him credibility in discussing the dangers of indifference; he was a victim himself.
The death of who you are is worse than the death of your physical body. When your body dies you still have your soul. Your soul is your identity. It is the things that make you your own self. In the book, Elie was experiencing the death of his very own soul.
Change. Change is an ordinary process in life that allows humans to evolve as individuals, societies, and as a species. Yet, not all changes are the same. Not all changes are equal. The effect of getting a new job is different than the effect of losing a job.
Rosenblatt explains that it was important for Wiesel to make people understand that you have to help one another in times of difficulty. Humanity is the key to ending inhumanity. He didn’t want history to repeat itself, more importantly he wanted humans beings to be there for one another in times difficulty. Though cruelty breed cruelty, and we all born with inhumanity and humanity; we can’t the evil outshine the
This quote that he wrote means people are humans, they feel the same emotions, they all feel pain. Elie wrote about his experience in the Holocaust that led to his advocate for human rights through the book Night that was published in 1956 (Wiesel, Night). Elie Wiesel uses his Holocaust experience, positive lessons, and his purpose for writing Night as a reason to advocate human rights today. Elie’s experience in the Holocaust caused him to advocate human rights after he escaped from the nightmare him and Jews went through. Jew were either killed on the spot or put into a concentration camps (Wiesel, Night).
Elie Wiesel Rhetorical Speech Analysis Elie Wiesel, a holocaust survivor and winner of a Nobel peace prize, stood up on April 12, 1999 at the White House to give his speech, “The Perils of Indifference”. In Wiesel’s speech he was addressing to the nation, the audience only consisted of President Clinton, Mrs. Clinton, congress, and other officials. The speech he gave was an eye-opener to the world in his perspective. Wiesel uses a variety of rhetorical strategies and devices to bring lots of emotion and to educate the indifference people have towards the holocaust. “You fight it.
It becomes clear that Elie Wiesel`s commentary on human nature is that, during extreme circumstances, people are selfish and would achieve anything for their own survival. Furthermore, In Wiesel’s novel people strived to survive this injustice. For example, the Holocaust caused countless amount of
In the book Night by Elie Wiesel, Eliezer Wiesel narrates the legendary tale of what happened to him and his father during the Holocaust. In the introduction, Wiesel talks about how his village in Seghet was never worried about the war until it was too late. Wiesel’s village received advanced notice of the Germans, but the whole village ignored it. Throughout the entire account, Wiesel has many traits that are key to his survival in the concertation camps.
But I was out of tears. And deep inside me, if I could have searched the recesses of my feeble conscience, I might have found something like: Free at last!” This story told by Elie demonstrates how though Elie was somewhat upset, the first thought that occupied his mind was that there would be one less hungry stomach, and one less mouth to feed. This greatly shows that although Elie wanted to mourn over his father, his current mindset of self preservation and instinct would not allow
In his memoir, Elie Wiesel writes, “Since my father's death, nothing mattered to me anymore” (113), showing that his reason for living had left him. He also states that he had “only one desire: to eat. [He] no longer thought of [his] father…” (113), which allows the reader to comprehend that with no reason to live, instinct had taken over. Somehow, he indifferently fought to survive, but it was very clear that his beliefs on life had changed
The human condition is a very malleable idea that is constantly changing due to the current state of mankind. In the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, the concept of the human condition is displayed in the worst sense of the concept, during the Holocaust of WWII. During this time, multiple groups of people, most notably European Jews, were persecuted against and sent to horrible hard labor and killing centers such as Auschwitz. In this memoir, Wiesel uses complex figurative language such as similes and metaphors to display the theme that a person’s state as a human, both at a physical and emotional level, can be altered to extreme lengths, and even taken away from them, under the most extreme conditions.
By having the last two paragraphs laden with questions, Wiesel suggests that society needs a wakeup call to the indifference surrounding everyone. Reinforcing his argument about indifference, Wiesel offers the rhetorical questions as a final food for thought about the indifference that surrounds society, which no one does anything to change. Wiesel, through the series of questioning, engaged identity formations in the audience's thoughts of whether to take action or ignore the problem at hand, forging a lasting impact on his audience’s future
Psychologist Robert Plutchick suggests that there are over ninety different emotions that humans feel, and half of them are positive. Night, written by Elie Wiesel, recalls the struggles that Elie experiences through his astronomical success in surviving the Holocaust. Befriending multiple other victims, Wiesel realizes that his inner conflicts with the loss of his humanity are mutual amongst everyone. The emotional and physical strain that was bestowed on the Jews sapped them of their life and converted them into lifeless being whose exclusive purpose was to survive, even though many did not wish to. Throughout the novel, the Jews’ emotions progressed from a state of denial during much of the beginning, in which accepting their obvious fate was not an option, to thorough apathy towards their melancholic, dismal lives.
When placed in particular situations, humans rank which cultural or personal values they found the most essential. Consequently, certain ideals are not considered. During the infamous incident known as the Holocaust, this occurred frequently. As a result, the people that underwent these horrible situations nominated particular personal or cultural values over others. This selection determined the difference between life and death for several individuals.
The want to survive drives this selfishness forward. Everyone who was going through this crisis feared dying. After Elie’s father gets beat for asking about a bathroom, Elie asks himself, “What had happened