Table of Contents
Loss Hope
Loss Of Innocence
Guilty for the loved ones
In conclusion,
Elie Wiesel is the author of Night. He tells his story through Eliezer. Wiesel wrote his memoirs to share with people the experiences he had in the concentration camps of the Holocaust. The book was written to show the world the terrible conditions that existed at the time, when news spread slower and most people did not know what happened to the Jews. It is more realistic to show the horrors of the Holocaust because Wiesel, who was a survivor of it, lived it.
Sarah’s Key is a historical novel written by Franco-British Tatiana de Rosnay. The Vel’ d’Hiv’ Roundup was a French police mass arrest on July 16, 1941. Sarah’s attempt to escape her past is unsuccessful. The author stresses the importance of remembering past horrors, both private and public. Loss HopeEliezer’s hope, based on his faith in God, is challenged by the hardships that he encounters at the concentration camps. Eliezer is convinced that he and his village will not be hurt, even though they have been stripped of everything and Germans control their entire lives. The villagers’ treatment when rounded up makes this belief unfounded. Eliezer begins to lose faith in God when he observes the horrific treatment of the villagers in the camps. Eliezer abandons the hope of his dying father and his belief in God. Sarah’s belief in Michel’s survivability and the possibility of a new start are destroyed when bitterness and regret consume her. Sarah’s hope of Michel’s survival and her desire to start a new life are destroyed when she finds out that her brother is dead. She feels bitterness and hatred for the Tezacs. Her hope to return to Michel is the driving force behind her escape, but she breaks down when she finds his dead body. She acted differently and felt bitter towards her family and the whole world for keeping silent. This does not change her feelings of guilt for the deaths of her family. Eliezer is stripped of his innocence as a result of his experiences in the concentration camp. Eliezer witnesses the shooting of people who are weak or unable to work when he first arrives in the camp. German soldiers insult and beat him and the people he represents. He asks God why he would allow this to happen. Eliezer will never forget the image of the dead children turned to ash, nor the silence that night. It further damages his relationship to God. The leader of the block tells him that there is no such thing as fathers or sons and no friends in this camp. Eliezer is relieved when his father succumbs from dysentery. He no longer has to worry about his father and his fate. Sarah’s journey to the concentration camp is what causes her innocence to be lost. Her innocence comes into question when she sees death and suffering in the stadium. She realizes also that her family is only being treated badly because they are Jews. Sarah’s parents are separated from Sarah when they reach the camp. Sarah then joins the other children. She begins to behave more like an older person, and is filled with hate because she does not understand why Germans have treated her in such a way. She is no longer smiling and she has changed. Eliezer begins to feel guilt for the loved ones he has left behind. His perspective on life also changes. Eliezer is unable to stop his father from being beaten constantly by the guards as well as fellow prisoners. He does not intervene because he doesn’t want to be hit himself. Inaction leads him to realize that the world can be a cold and cruel place, where sons are willing to turn against their fathers for their own survival. Eliezer realizes that he’s giving his father rations reluctantly, and he feels ashamed of his coldness. Eliezer is tempted to abandon his father for his own survival. However, he feels ashamed and guilty about his thought. He realizes that he has changed since entering the camp. Sarah is consumed with guilt over Michel’s murder, which leads her down a destructive road that ultimately ends in her death. Sarah is haunted by Michel’s death because she feels responsible and she will always be haunted by the image of the green body in the cabinet. Sarah doesn’t understand that this wasn’t her doing as she was just a girl. She keeps the cabinet key as a memory of the incident. Sarah’s bitterness is caused by her guilt toward Michel. She leaves France to begin a new life, and to forget all of the pain and suffering she has experienced. In America, Sarah doesn’t tell anyone anything about what happened in the past. Not even her own son knows. Sarah still feels guilty about Michel’s demise and so she kills herself. ConclusionAlthough Elie Wiesel’s Night’ and Tatiana de Rosnay’s Sarah’s Key are two very different novels, both protagonists experience similar character transformations. They lose their innocence, become more optimistic, and feel guilt over their loved ones.
