Essay

Write a full 3 page essay. Complete in MLA format, use direct quotes and outside sources (academic level.) Just remember to cite all. Turn in a hardcopy (formal typed essay.) Use the outline that we have been working on to help you write more effectively. Choose one of the following topics for your essay:
ESSAY QUESTIONS

1. Dehumanization is the process by which the Nazis gradually reduced the Jews to little more than "things" which were a nuisance to them. Discuss at least three specific examples of events that occurred which dehumanized Eliezer, his father, or his fellow Jews.

2. After Eliezer’s father was beaten by Idek, a Kapo, Eliezer says, "I had watched the whole scene without moving. I kept quiet. In fact I was thinking of how to get farther away so that I would not be hit myself. What is more, any anger I felt at that moment was directed, not against the Kapo, but against my father. I was angry with him, for not knowing how to avoid Idek’s outbreak. That is what concentration camp life had made of me." Discuss what the last line signifies. Discuss how his attitude had changed.

3. Discuss why you think the townspeople remained complacent despite the advance of the German army.

4. Discuss why Eliezer lied to Stein, his relative, about Stein’s family. Discuss whether or not you think he was morally right.

5. Discuss the significance of "night" in the novel. Cite examples from the story to support your answer.

6. Explain the author’s meaning when he says after the handing of the youth from Warsaw that "the soup tasted excellent that evening," yet after the pipel was hanged, "the soup tasted of corpses."

Catherine McCollum
Mrs. Bosch
Honors English 10
24 December 2008
The Soup Tasted of Corpses
In the novel Night, by Elie Wiesel, the author presents the significance of the executions at the concentration camps. He said after the handing of the youth from Warsaw that "the soup tasted excellent that evening," yet after the pipel was hanged, "the soup tasted of corpses." Wiesel reveals the meanings of death becoming apparent, the revealing of bad conquering good, and the reality of God hanging upon the gallows before the Jews. He revealed that the Nazis were coming dangerously close to destroying Wiesel's faith in God, and he was unable to enjoy anything for all goodness had been destroyed. All the meanings revealed connect in such a malicious destruction of life and hope that joy could not be reached for all goodness had been destroyed.
When Wiesel had witnessed the execution and had such distaste, he meant that death and evil become apparent through the realization that death and evil exist without wavering. When the pipel was hanged, Wiesel realized that death and evil was all around and it was likely unstoppable. "Without passion, without haste, they slaughtered their prisoners" (Wiesel Page 4). The terror of the holocaust was never fully understood until it was too late. Death and evil presented themselves so immediately out of nowhere that they took people unexpected as they had Wiesel. "Babies were thrown into the air and the machine gunners used them as targets" (Page 4). The cruelty of the situation never hit Wiesel until he grew compassion after being worn down. In the presence of death and evil he lost compassion and began to enjoy his soup. That is until the pipel was hanged such as babies being killed did Wiesel grow compassion for innocents.
After the execution when Wiesel meant that bad conquers good, he was simply meaning that the Nazis committing genocide to a helpless race of god-praying people was the bad conquering good. He meant that wherever you glanced you saw the downfall of good against evil. "Poor hero, committing suicide for a ration of soup! In our thoughts we were murdering him" (Page 57). Even the good became evil and conquered. They wanted others dead so that they may prosper, and these thoughts were at a constant increase. The Nazis were conquering the Jews through genocide and there seemed to be no stop to it. "I've got more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He's the only one who's keeping his promises, all his promises to the Jewish people" (Page 77). Hitler the ultimate evil was conquering the good Jewish people every day through death and destruction. He forced them from their homes and placed them in concentration camps to die. When Wiesel witnessed the pipel being hanged, he remembered that bad was conquering good.
After Wiesel had eaten his soup that tasted of corpses, he had meant that God hung upon the gallows and had abandoned them. After the pipel was hanged the "Nazis come dangerously close to destroying Eliezer's faith in God" (Moon). Wiesel felt abandoned and alone without God. He thought that if there truly existed a god, that he would not let his followers suffer through such misery and evil as they were pleading at his feet for forgiveness. Wiesel had thought that God hung upon the gallows of the execution and had abandoned them. "Where is He? Here He is- He is hanging here on this gallows" (Wiesel Page 62). He thought God had abandoned them because there seemed to be no end to the evil, hate, destruction, chaos, and genocide. To him it was hopeless to want life, that there was no chance of survival. He wanted to accept death countless times and belief in God would have stopped such doomed thought. After the execution when the soup tasted of corpses, Wiesel meant that God hung upon the gallows and had abandoned them.
After the execution there was the constant reminder of death. "After witnessing the execution, Eliezer feels like death is everywhere and he is unable to enjoy his soup because all goodness has been destroyed" (Moon). The pipel hanged had looked like a sad little angel, and he appeared innocent and full of hope. When he was hanged all hope of pity and mercy dissipated in thin air for Wiesel knew there was no hope for the Jews. "But the third rope was still moving; being so light, the child was still alive... For more than an hour he stayed there dying in slow agony under our eyes" (Wiesel Page 62). The spectators were forced to watch innocence and hope die before their very eyes. They were forced to watch the cruelty of evil and the anticipation & fear of defeat. He was unable to enjoy anything for all goodness had been destroyed.
In the novel Night, by Elie Wiesel, the author presents the significance of the executions at the concentration camps. He said after the handing of the youth from Warsaw that "the soup tasted excellent that evening," yet after the pipel was hanged, "the soup tasted of corpses." The author's meanings are that bad conquers good, death and evil become apparent, and that God hung upon the gallows and abandoned the Jews. The most important meaning that Wiesel presents is that after witnessing the execution, he feels like death is everywhere and he is unable to enjoy his soup. The goodness that had been present prior to the holocaust had been destroyed through defeat, death, evil, and abandonment. Wiesel, the author, meant that through all despair and carnage there no longer existed hope or happiness for all goodness had been destroyed because of the evil present at that time.


Works Cited
Moon, Jennifer. "Night Study Guide | Summary and Analysis of Chapter 4 | GradeSaver." Gradesaver.com. 24 December 2008. GradeSaver. 24 Dec 2008 .
Wiesel, Elie. Night. Hill & Wang edition. New York: Hill & Wang, 1960.