Night

In the Holocaust memoir 'Night' by Elie Wiesel, three events that impacted me the greatest emotionally were Elie seeing young children thrown into flames, people suffocating in cattle cars and the death march.

He uses a range of language features including repetition , listing and direct speech to describe his experiences in the concentration camps.

The first event that impacted me emotionally was children being thrown into flames. The author's clever use of words (sibilance) made this sentence really stand out to me.

"Never shall I forget the small faces of children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under the silent sky"

How the Nazis effortlessly tossed those deemed

– too young, unfit, ill – into bottomless pits of conflagration; and watched carelessly as innocent faces drowned within a sea of flames.

This made me think to myself, were they even human?

What went through their sick minds?

How were people capable of such torture?  

The second event that impacted me emotionally was the Jews suffocating in the cattle cars.

Fighting to death for a single crust of bread? That was the reality for those poor souls. Suffocating beneath bodies, not knowing if those next to them were lifeless.

"The heat, the thirst, the stench, the lack of air, were suffocating us"

Listing was the language feature used; The author's clever use of words created an image within my mind, an image so clear I can not get out of my mind.

I find it hard to fathom things like this actually happened, it makes me feel so appreciative for the life we live now.

The final event that impacted me emotionally was the death march.

One trip, one falter and that was the end for them. Trampled beneath a herd of human feet, left to wither away beneath the fallen snow.

"We marched without faltering. The SS made us increase our pace."

"faster you flea ridden dogs!"

Direct speech allows the reader to feel engaged and understand to a deeper level, The direct speech as of above proves how harsh the SS officers truly were, not an ounce of pity felt. This makes me feel ill thinking humans are capable of such cruelty.

Prior to reading 'Night' by Elie Wiesel I did not have much knowledge around the Holocaust; I now am aware truly how devastating it was, completely inhumane, utter cruelty.

Elie used a range of language features including repetition , listing and direct speech to describe his experiences in the concentration camps.

My heart goes out to the millions of Jewish families who lost their lives, I can not even begin to comprehend the sheer terror Elie along with all the other victims endured.

'Night' was written in a way that lets the readers truly feel the Jews pain through the in depth words. He uses a range of language features such as repetition, listing and direct speech, to name a few.

Reading about his experiences made me feel sick to my stomach, I can not fathom such inhumane, pitiless behaviour; deep down I will not let myself except that the Holocaust happened, it seems like something that would not happen on our planet.