In “Excerpt from Night” Elie Wiesel describes the first day he arrives on a concentration camp during World War II. When you read anything about concentration camps, you can’t help feeling shocked to the bone, when you experience such traumatic events it’s life changing. The happenings that Elie was forced to be subjected to when he arrived are so horrific that I kind of get a numb feeling inside, a feeling of not really being sure how to feel or react, a void. Any experience that I’ve had pales in comparison to the bloodshed he endured. Another element that touches me to the story is the fact that his father is by his side throughout the narrative. This adds another dimension and you get a feel for how important they are to each other. The father is so distraught that he starts to pray for his son, praying that his son gets blessed. I’ve watched documentaries on the concentrations camps but this narrative is a personal account of what it was like which makes it more heart felt. In the documentaries, you don’t get a true feeling of the scale of brutality and sheer evil. I still have the same feelings I had prior to reading the narrative, I still have a feeling of great sorrow for anyone who had to go to a concentration camp, and great anger for what the Nazis did to the Jewish community.
I’m right there with you my friend. I absolutely hate reading about this kind of stuff in dealing with the Nazis and what they did. I am sure there is a special place for Hitler down below if you know what I am saying. Just the emotions felt by the boy and his father are of pure fear and show the mercy of Hitler and how it was definitely not present. The images that are put into your mind when you read this and look at other material is just horrifying and just makes you, like what you said, feel a complete void in the pit of your stomach.
ReplyDeleteThis was very well written! Great job Francis! I love how you said that you almost felt a void as you were reading this narrative, because that is so true. At least for me, I became numb. I felt so helpless! I’m sure that was part of the feeling the author wanted us to get. I hope that I will be able to clearly put across feelings and emotions with my personal narrative like Elie did in this narrative.
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