Justice Theory In Elie Wiesel's Night

1122 Words5 Pages

Justice is derived from the root word just, meaning agreeing to what is considered morally right or good; treating people in a way that is morally right; or reasonable or proper. However, society has become so entangled up in the power which certain individuals possess, they forget all about what is “just”. The justice theory is that justice is at the advantage of the stronger. When an individual is described or depicted as being “strong”, that individual is typically of a larger build, possesses some sort of weapon that causes them to be mighty, and is typically large in size. No matter what circumstances arise, these individuals are expected to be victorious in each battle they fight. The justice theory states that justice is at the advantage of the stronger; however, there have been cases where even the strongest have been defeated. Take Ovid’s Apollo and Daphne for example, or from a biblical perspective, the Book of Judges, or even Elie Wiesel’s novel Night. These writings each …show more content…

Night is told from the first person perspective of a twelve year old Jewish boy. In Night, Jews were discriminated against, captured and sent to concentration camps. Families were separated, women and children were killed and men played a game of survival of the fittest, in hopes of seeing better days. The “strongest” got to stay alive and were moved to another concentration campus, which might have been worse than the last, while the weaker ones were killed. Justice was presented at the advantage of the stronger in this novel because eventually Eliezer, the narrator was freed and able to account the horrible story of previous happenings. Unfortunately, during the process of being freed, he had lost his father along the way due to a horrible illness and old age. Just as in aforementioned examples, the “strongest” person, strength wise, was never the one who possessed justice at their upper

Open Document