EWRT 1C Class 27

GRAVITY

Themes

ThemesLiterary StyleTensionsTheoretical Approaches

Review: Literary StylePOV, Allusion, and the Anti-bildungsroman

Narrative and Point of View Night is a short piece of fiction born of the author's

eight hundred-page memoir of his time in the Nazi death camps.

The story is told from the first person point of view. Not only does the narration not enter other characters’ minds, there is little effort to explain what is going on in the narrator’s mind.

The reader's conclusions are meant to be independent and based on events and behavior; however, readers are clearly led toward a loathing of the camps.

Allusion

Night is full of scriptural allusions, or hints of reference to biblical passages. One example of allusion is the execution of the three prisoners, one of whom is an innocent child, a pipel. This scene recalls the moment in the Christian Gospel when Christ is crucified in the company of two thieves.

Anti-bildungsroman The traditional German bildungsroman is the story

of a young, naive man entering the world to seek adventure. He finds his adventure that provides him with an important lesson. The resolution finds him mature and ready for a productive life.

Wiesel's novella turns this tradition upside down. He presents an educated, young man forced into a man-made hell. There he learns more than he asks for. The result is not that he will think about being a productive worker, but about healing humanity.

Group Discussion

ThemesTensionsTheoretic

al Approaches

Themes and Tensions

Themes Death

"Someone began to recite the Khaddish, the prayer for the dead. I do not know if it has ever happened before, in the long history of the Jews, that people have ever recited the prayer for the dead for themselves."

God and Religion Hasidism teaches belief in a personal relationship with God. One of

Wiesel's favorite prayers may serve as a summary: "Master of the Universe, know that the children of Israel are suffering too much; they deserve redemption, they need it. But if, for reasons unknown to me, You are not willing, not yet, then redeem all the other nations, but do it soon!”

Sanity and Insanity There are many examples of madness exhibited during the novel.

Two in particular stand out as representing the greater insanity of the Holocaust. The first is the hysterical Madame Schachter and the second is Idek's enthusiasm for work—being more than a simply mockery of the motto "Work is liberty!"

Tensions

External tensions: Between Jews and

their Nazi oppressors

Between Jews and the harsh winter climate

Among Jews about how to respond to brutality and terror

Internal tensions: In the narrator’s

mind about his response to the dehumanization at the hands of the Nazis

His loss of religious faith

How he should behave toward his father.

Theoretical Approaches

Trauma?

In two of Wiesel's later novels, The Testament and The Fifth Son, the author explores the effects of the Holocaust on the next generation of Jews. Critics, notably Globe and Mail contributor Bronwyn Drainie, have questioned the validity of the author's belief that children of Holocaust survivors would be "as morally galvanized by the Nazi nightmare as the survivors themselves." Richard F. Shepard asserted in the New York Times that even if the feelings of these children cannot be generalized, "the author does make all of us 'children' of that generation, all of us who were not there, in the sense that he outlines for us the burdens of guilt, of revenge, of despair."

Trauma and Memory

Wiesel writes, "Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never."

Using the theoretical lenses

Psychoanalysis and Faith

“YOM KIPPUR. The Day of Atonement. Should we fast? The question was hotly debated. To fast could mean a more certain, more rapid death. In this place, we were always fasting. It was Yom Kippur year-round. But there were those who said we should fast, precisely because it was dangerous to do so. We needed to show God that even here, locked in hell, we were capable of singing His praises.

I did not fast. First of all, to please my father who had forbidden me to do so. And then, there was no longer any reason for me to fast. I no longer accepted God’s silence. As I swallowed my ration of soup, I turned that act into a symbol of rebellion, of protest against Him” (Wiesel 69).

Why did Elie choose not to fast on Yom Kippur?

Psychoanalysis and Faith

“In days gone by, Rosh Hashanah had dominated my life. I knew that my sins grieved the Almighty and so I pleaded for forgiveness. In those days, I fully believed that the salvation of the world depended on every one of my deeds, on every one of my prayers.But now, I no longer pleaded for anything. I was no longer able to lament. On the contrary, I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused. My eyes had opened and I was alone, terribly alone in a world without God, without man. Without love or mercy. I was nothing but ashes now, but I felt myself to be stronger than this Almighty to whom my life had been bound for so long. In the midst of these men assembled for prayer, I felt like an observer, a stranger.”

What [happened] psychologically to Elie as he loses faith in his religion?

Trauma and Faith“My faceless neighbor spoke up:

“Don’t be deluded. Hitler has made it clear that he will annihilate all Jews before the clock strikes twelve.”

I exploded: “What do you care what he said? Would you want us to consider him a prophet?His cold eyes stared at me. At last he said, wearily: “I have more faith in Hitler than in anyone else. He alone has kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people.” (80-81)

How has Elie’s “faceless neighbor” been traumatized?

Trauma and Relationships

“No Rabbi Eliahou, I haven’t seen him.”“…”At terrible thought loomed up in my mind: he had wanted to get rid of his father! He had felt that his father was growing weak, he had believed that the end was near and had sought this separation in order to get rid of the burden, to free himself from an encumbrance which could lessen his own chances of survival.I had done well to forget that. And I was glad that Rabbi Eliahou should continue to look for his beloved son.“…”My God, Lord of the Universe, give me strength never to do what Rabbi Eliahou’s son has done. ( 87)

Psychoanalytic/trauma lensQ: What is the ID and how is this passage a traumatizing event for Eliezer?

Psychoanalysis and Relationships

Yet at the same time a thought crept into my mind: if only I didn’t find him! If only I were relieved of this responsibility, I could use all my strength to fight for my own survival, to take care of myself…instantly I felt ashamed, ashamed of myself forever.

I listened to him without interrupting. He was right, I thought deep down, not daring to admit it to myself. Too late to save your old father… you could have two rations of bread, two rations of soup…

It was only a fraction of a second, but it left me feeling guilty. I rant to get some soup and brought it to my father. But he did not want it. all he wanted water.

What are the ID, ego, and superego in the story?

Psychoanalysis and Change

“Meir, my little Meir! Don’t you recognize me … You’re killing your father… I have bread…for you too … for you too… ”

He collapsed. But his fist was still clutching a small crust. He wanted to raise it to his mouth. But the other threw himself on him. The old man mumbled something, groaned, and died. Nobody cared. His son searched him, took the crust of bread, and began to devour it. He didn’t get far. Two men had been watching him. They jumped him. Others joined in. When they withdrew, there were two dead bodies next to me, the father and the son.

I was sixteen.

How were the Jews changed by the traumatic experience in the story?

Psychoanalysis and Truth or Not

“He told us that he had been deported in 1942. He said, “I heard people say that a transport had arrived from your region and I came to look for you. I thought you might have some news of Reizel and my two small boys who stayed in Antwerp…”43

I knew nothing about them…Since 1940, my mother had not received a single letter from them. But I lied: “Yes, my mother did hear from them. Reizel is fine. So are thechildren…”

He was weeping with joy. He would have liked to stay longer, to learn more details, to soak up the good news, but an SS was heading in our direction and he had to go, telling us that he would come back the next day.”

Why did Wiesel lie to his distant relative Stein about his wife and son?

Psychoanalysis and Truth or Not

“But then perhaps my faceless neighbor, afraid of being among the first displaced, simply wanted to get rid of me, to free my bed, to give himself a chance to survive … perhaps he only wanted to frighten me. But then again, what if he was telling the truth? I decided to wait and see.”

Why did Eliezer decide not to listen to the Hungarian Jew’s advice?

Trauma and Art “I was thinking of this when I heard the sound of the violin. The sound of the violin, in this dark shed, where the dead were heaped on the living. What madman could be playing the violin here, at the brink of his own grave? Or was it really a hallucination.It must have been Juliek.He played a fragment from Beethoven’s concerto. I had never heard sounds so pure. In such silence.It was pitch dark. I could hear only the violin, and it was as though Juliek’s soul were the bow. He was playing his life. The whole of his life was gliding on the strings—his lost hopes, his charred past, his extinguished future. He played as he would never play again.”QHQ:Why does Juliek play his violin with his last bit of life to a dying audience?

Trauma and Art

I shall never forget Juliek. How could I forget this concert given before an audience of the dead and dying? Even today, when I hear that particular piece by Beethoven, my eyes close and out of the darkness emerges the pale and melancholy face of my Polish comrade bidding farewell to an audience of dying men.I don’t know how long he played. I was overcome by sleep. When I awoke at daybreak, I saw Juliek facing me, hunched over, dead. Next to him lay his violin, trampled, an eerily poignant little corpse.”(95).

How does Juliek leave an everlasting impression on Eliezer?

Trauma and SanctuaryMrs. Schächter had lost her mind. On the first day of the journey, she had already begun to moan. She kept asking why she had been separated from her family. Later, her sobs and screams became hysterical. On the third night, as we were sleeping, some of us sitting, huddled against each other, some of us standing, a piercing cry broke the silence: “Fire! I see a fire! I see a fire!”……”She is mad, poor w o m a n …”Someone had placed a damp rag on her forehead. But she nevertheless continued to scream: “Fire! I see a fire!” Her little boy was crying, clinging to her skirt, trying to hold her hand: “It’s nothing, Mother! There’s nothing there…Please sit down…She continued to scream and sob fitfully. “Jews, listen to me,” she cried. “I see a fire! I see flames, huge flames!”But it was all in vain. Our terror could no longer be contained. Our nerves had reached a breaking point. Our very skin was aching. It was as though madness had infected all of us. We gave up. “Keep her quiet! Make that madwoman shut up. She’s not the only one here… ”The night seemed endless. By daybreak, Mrs. Schächter had settled down. Crouching in her corner, her blank gaze fixed on some faraway place, she no longer saw us.Q. How is “sanctuary” effected in this passage for the prisoners, especially Mrs. Schachter?

Freud’s Death Drive Eliezer’s first attraction to death comes on the first day at Auschwitz:

“[…] then I don’t want to wait. I’ll run into the electrified barbed wire. That would be easier than a slow death in the flames” (33)

Eliezer’s next death fascination comes during the “death march.” He says, “the idea of dying, of ceasing to be, [begin] to fascinate me” because he no longer has to go on living his current painful life. However, his father’s presence keeps him from falling apart: “I [have] no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? I [am] his sole support” (86-87).

“All around me, what [appears] to be a dance of death. […] One [dies] because one [has] to” (89).

Nevertheless, Eliezer overcomes death drive and even urges his father not to fall asleep (90). In fact, the role reverses as his father grows weak. Eliezer practically revives his father when he is about to be rid from the train as a corpse (99). When his father sits down in the snow begging his son to let his life drain out of him as it may, Eliezer becomes furious, pointing to the corpses: “They’re dead! They will never wake up! Never! Do you understand?” (105). Here again, Eliezer’s perception of death is unsettled by the need to live his life for both of them.

Final Questions

Would anybody who has gone through such a traumatic experience be able to readjust back into normal society?

Which internal resource was being relied upon for the survivors (mainly the narrator), so as to avoid the results of trauma?

Why was survival so important when they lost everything they had and even people they loved?

Essay #3: Response to the Novel/Novella The Writing Assignment In a thesis driven essay of 4-7 pages, analyze one or more

aspects of Stephen King’s Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, Elie Wiesel’s Night, or Emma Donoghue’s Room. Consider using one extrinsic theoretical lens (Feminist, Psychoanalytic, or Trauma theories), that we have practiced this quarter to complicate your argument. Aim to convince readers that your interpretation adds to the conversation among those who read stories and write about them. Back up your analysis with reasons and support from the story. Use the critical strategies that we have practiced this quarter.

See the complete assignment on our website

HOMEWORK Read Room: Chapter 1 “Presents” Post #22: QHQ Room

The librarian will visit our class to do a presentation on using the library to look for resources pertinent to Essay #3. Please make an effort to attend as the librarian does a significant amount of work to prepare.

Please bring a laptop or other device if you have one available. The librarian will have a few to loan to students for the class period.