Dehumanization In Elie Wiesel's Night

The book Night is about the struggles of being in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. One of the main things recurring in the book to the Jewish people is the dehumanization they went through during this time. The dehumanization through Elie Wiesel, Elie’s father, and their fellow Jewish people during the time that they were imprisoned at Auschwitz. Actions or things the characters say really shows how much the Nazi’s tore the Jewish people down mentally and physically. Elie Wiesel was only 15 during the Holocaust when he was sent to a concentration camp with his mother father and sisters. Elie during his time at the a concentration camp, Auschwitz was dehumanized and mentally broken and lost hope. Elie when he was in the camp wasn’t
Elie’s father was with Elie a lot of the time of their stay at Auschwitz. Elie and his father were sent to the Labor Yard and were forced to work. The Jewish people that were sent to the Labor Yards were kept to alive just to work. If they stopped they were beaten, “Suddenly woken up from a heavy doze, he dealt my father such a clout he fell to the ground, crawling back to his place on all fours” (48). The Nazis beat the Jews for having human needs. The Nazis also starved the Jewish people and on occasion were given a small piece of bread to nibble on. The Jews were taught by the Nazis to work until they keeled over and died. The Jewish people were starved and torn apart mentally. They eventually begin to fight each other for what little food they got. Elie saw another father and son arguing and the father screaming, “Don’t you recognize me? I’m your father… You’re hurting me… You’re killing your father! I’ve got some bread… for you too… for you too” (96). Elie betrayed his own blood for the pure fact that he was hungry. Beats and attacks his father for the small piece of bread that his father was going to share with his son. The Jewish people were so dehumanized that they would betray their own