Night

My experience reading pages 3 to 46 in the novel Night by Elie Wiesel left me feeling many different and complex emotions. For example it made me estranged, because the experience that Elie Wiesel is going through seems surreal and fictional when I know it is in fact not. Another recurring emotion for me was anger/shock because the way the all the different people of Sighet and later on the other Jews from the different regions reacted and faced being expelled from their homes and brought to the concentration camps. An example of this for me is this passage on page 23 which takes place as they are riding in the train toward their unknown destination. “Freed of normal constraints, some of the young let go of their inhibitions and, under the cover of darkness, caressed one another, without any thought of others, alone in the world”(23). This specific passage made me wonder why a person would react in that way to that specific situation. Another passage that stuck out to me affected me in a different way, this passage almost made me feel sick and just imagining this scene and the scenes after specifically to page 34 sent shivers down my spine.”Poor devils, you are headed for the crematorium.” He seemed to be telling the truth. Not far from us, flames, huge flames, were rising from a ditch. Something was being burned there. A truck drew close and unloaded its hold: small children. Babies! Yes, I did see this, with my own eyes . . .children thrown into the flames”(32). Reading this book I noticed that Elie Wiesel’s writing style is sometimes very descriptive at time but sometimes lets your imagination run wild. Also in my opinion his writing also has a hint of dark humor to it, but I am not sure if it was intended or not.