I would say that the liberation of the Buchenwald camp is
depicted without comment or interpretation. It is a testament to Wiesel's great style
and artistic skill that he would defy convention. One would think that the Allied
liberation of the camp would be a moment where reflection and thought would be present.
Yet, Wiesel does not embellish this moment. In fact, he undercuts it with Eliezer's
illness resulting after the liberation. In doing so, Wiesel does not seek to take "the
easy way out" of the moral implications of the Holocaust. One of the primary messages
from the work is the idea that the Holocaust was an event where blame and moral
responsibility can be parceled out to many people. The individuals who discarded Moshe
the Beadle's warnings or Madame Schachter's visions possessed the same dehumanization
practices that Dr. Mengele or Idek held. In this light, Wiesel seeks to create a
complex portrait of moral psychology within the Holocaust. In refusing to comment in an
arbitrary and expected manner, Wiesel also brings out the portrait of indifference that
the world possessed towards the Holocaust. The hope of liberation and rescue was
blighted by the intense delay that Eliezer had to endure. In refusing to comment and
presenting the moment of liberation as a moment in time, in the continuum of Eliezer's
narrative, Wiesel has been able to provide the context in which the questions behind the
Holocaust are continued to be asked, almost bringing the reader full cricle from Moshe's
claim that the strength to ask the questions to God is more important than the answers.
In refusing to comment, Wiesel continues the questions being
asked.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Identify some events in Night that Elie Wiesel presents without comment or interpretation.
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