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Essay / Types of Dehumanization Depicted in Elie Wiesel's Night
Dehumanization can be a psychological method by which humans perceive each other as anything but human without thinking. Prolonged conflict strains relationships and prevents humans from recognizing and accepting that they are part of a shared human community. Such conditions typically result in feelings of intense emotion and alienation. Psychological feeling can often expand in humans and is generally considered inferior or bad. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay We generally assume that most people believe that we, as a whole, have basic human rights. Innocent people should not be killed or tortured because of different beliefs or the color of their skin. They need to have their basic wants and needs met and to have some freedom while creating autonomous choices. In times of war, such as during World War II, we as a society must protect innocent civilians. Even the guilty should receive humane punishment and should not be subjected to cruel or unusual social control. Common exclusion criteria include ideology, skin color and social origin. We tend to generally dehumanize those we do not understand and take away their basic values and rights as human beings. This can lead to the “fundamental rights” of individuals being infringed upon and exploited. Imagine this, you haven't eaten anything in days. Your destitution and your relentless running for miles to go in the freezing cold. You run so fast for so long that you start to feel nothing. This is a depiction of one of the horrific encounters the Jews had to witness during the Holocaust. This is what Elie Wiesel felt in Night by Elie Wiesel himself. Wiesel is a Jew during the Holocaust who is sent with his father to various death camps. He faces a ton of difficulties to the point of approaching his life regularly. Throughout the Night, much dehumanization occurs in the form of starvation, cruelty, and forced labor. Elie Wiesel regularly experienced famine as a form of dehumanization. Elijah begins to starve when Elijah and all the other inhumane imprisoned people are not offered anything to eat or drink. “We stayed three days in Gleiwitz. Three days without food or drink” (Wiesel 91). Elie is shocked when one of the death camps he is sent to for a short time gives him nothing to eat or drink, causing him to starve to death. After this painful experience, Elie's stomach dies day by day. “One day when we were stopped, a worker took a piece of bread out of his bag and threw it into a cart. There was a rush. Many hungry men fought their way to the crossing for a few morsels. The German workers took energetic enthusiasm for this exhibition” (Wiesel 97). This statement goes to show that, given the fact that the Jews were so hungry, they were happy to give their lives, just to have the opportunity to eat a little bread. Because of these encounters, Elijah and various Jews developed the habit of starving and made sure that when they were released, the main thing they would do was eat. Another type of dehumanization that Elie faces is ruthlessness. Elie encounters considerable ferocity while in the death camps. “At that time, I didn’t know.