Night by: Elie Wiesel

Summary: Eliezer Wiezel is a survivor of two concentration camps. He went through hell, hardships and oppression. He lost everything. All at age 15.

Themes: Physical feats are conquered by one's pursuit of freedom and hope. Power gives wicked people justification for their actions.

Style: Elie uses a lot of dark tones to emphasize the dark, depressing way of the concentration camps. He often uses metaphor to tell how he feels, hopeless, inhuman, or hopeful. He often mentions God, religion being a constant theme whether it's that people are losing hope or asking Him for help. He also has a constant feeling of depression and sadness that's supported by what he feels is right and just and how he constantly is seeing justice and righteousness being bashed and ignored by himself and the others in the camp, prisoners and officers.

Today's Relevance: This text can also serve as a warning for future generations that even though you may see a certain type of people as inferior, everyone deserves basic human rights. Everyone has feelings. Treating people as cattle up to slaughter, like animals, can lead to serious mental implications, along with millions dead. Elie serves as an example of what happens when people are treated this way and live through it. Some people today think that Muslims are the cause of America’s problems, like Hitler did with the Jews. We don’t want what happened to Elie to happen to another religion. No one deserves to to be treated as less than human.

The sell: You should read, Night, because it is a compelling story of maltreatment and abuse in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. It’s also a light read of only 77 pages, but that doesn’t take away from the all around enjoyment of the emotions this story sends you through.

Rating: 4/5 stars Good book, it was enjoyable.