elie’s motivation in achieving freedom revealed in …

ELIE’S MOTIVATION IN ACHIEVING FREEDOMREVEALED IN THE MAIN CHARACTER’S CONFLICTS

AS SEEN IN ELIE WIESEL’S NIGHT

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirementsfor the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

MARCHELYNOW ALFA CHRISTIAN

Student Number: 024214097

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMMEDEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERSSANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA2009

i



AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirementsfor the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By



ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMMEDEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERSSANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA2009

ii

A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis



By



Approved by

Modesta Luluk Artika W., S.S. 14 November 2009Advisor

Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum 14 November 2009Co-advisor

iii

A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis



By



Defended before the Board of ExaminersOn 26 November 2009

and Declared Acceptable

Name Signature

Chairman : Drs. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A. ________

Secretary : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum ________

Member : Maria Ananta Tri S., S.S., M.Ed. ________

Member : Modesta Luluk Artika W., S.S. ________

Member : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum ________

Yogyakarta, 30 November 2009Faculty of Letters

Sanata Dharma UniversityDean,

Dr. I. Pratomo Baryadi, M.Hum

iv

MOTTO PAGE

When there is a will, there is a way(unknown)

“You got a dream, you gotta protect it.People can’t do something themselves,

they wanna tell you that you can’t do it.You want something? Go get it”

~Chris Gardner~

Just do the best,GOD will do the rest…

v

I dedicate this thesisto

My Almighty Creator, JesusChrist

My beloved Father andMother

My Princess Lem0ntea

My GrandPa & GRANDMa

My Twin Sister

The big PRUE Family

~Marchelynow Alfa Christian~

vi

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUANPUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang bertanda tangan dibawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:

Nama : Marchelynow Alfa Christian

Nomor Mahasiswa : 024214097

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada PerpustakaanUniversitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul :

ELIE’S MOTIVATION IN ACHIEVING FREEDOM REVEALED IN THEMAIN CHARACTER’S CONFLICTS AS SEEN IN ELIE WIESEL’SNIGHT

Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikankepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan,mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data,mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau medialain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupunmemberikan royalty kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagaipenulis.

Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Dibuat di Yogyakarta

Pada tanggal : 14 November 2009

Yang menyatakan

Marchelynow Alfa Christian Mengko

vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, my deepest gratitude goes to my Almighty Creator, Jesus Christ

for always being there for me. I thank Him for being my Savior coz’ I’m nothing

without Him.

The writing process of this thesis involved many generous contributions of

wonderful people. My enormous thank and award is dedicated for my advisor,

Modesta Luluk Artika W., S.S. I thank her for all her help, suggestions, and guidance

during my undergraduate thesis up to the end. I also would like to thank Drs.

Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum for the suggestions and inputs as the co-advisor of my

undergraduate thesis and as my academic counselor. My acknowledgement also goes

to all of the lecturers and the staff of Department of English Letters. I thank them for

their unforgettable great role during my study in this university.

With lots of love, I would like to express my extraordinary gratefulness to my

amazing father and mother for their unconditional love. They are tha Inspirator,

S.F.L. Mengko for his inspirational words, and my wonderful tha Motivator, Deetje

Sampe who always care of me and taught me to be optimistic in finishing this thesis

as soon as possible.

I would like to express my special gratitude to my precious ‘Princess

Lem0ntea’, Danita Irianti Malute S.S., for her love, forgiveness, patience, help and

support. I thank her for always there by my side every time I need her and always

viii

help me in solving every problem during the process of writing this undergraduate

thesis.

My biggest appreciation goes to the Pengew-Sampe Family, the Paath-Sampe

Family, and Big Mengko’s Family. I would like to thank my aunt Ike and Mr. Moses.

Thank you for your support.

The expression of thankfulness also goes to big PRUE family (Jeff Reinhard,

Nicholas Maynard, Yeremias Nardi, Gerardus Ferdinand, Gatot Hendy, Fitra Sony,

Sri Harjanto, Suryo Pramono, Rudi Prasojo, Debora Wienda, Kartika Kusumaningsih,

Faida Indana, Dian Patricia) who have shared an unforgettable and craziness

friendship in all lovely days during my study at Sanata Dharma University, and

special warm thanks to Dhina Mayasari, Agusta Rosariana, my KKN team (Githa,

Ria, Tyas, Abu, Yosep), Yosua’06 English Letters Department, the Karang nangka’s

and the Djiman’s.

Last but not least, thanks for everyone who helps me in hand and those who

filled my life with joy and laughter that I cannot mention here. You are all the best

things I have ever had.

Marchelynow Alfa Christian

ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE………………………………………………………………….. iAPPROVAL PAGE…………………………………………………………… iiACCEPTANCE PAGE……………………………………………………….. iiiMOTTO PAGE……………………………………………………………….. ivDEDICATION PAGE………………………………………………………… vPUBLICATION PAGE……………………………………………………….. viACKNOWLEGDEMENTS…………………………………………………... viiTABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………………... ixABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………. xiABSTRAK……………………………………………………………………... xii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION....................................................................... 1A. Background of the Study……………...............……………….…….. 1B. Problem Formulation………………………………………………... 4C. Objectives of the Study……………………………………………… 5D. Definition of Terms…………………………………………….……. 5

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW………………………………….. 7A. Review of Related Studies…………………………………………... 7B. Review of Related Theories……………………………………….… 9

1. Character and Characterization….…………………….…….. 92. The Relation between Literature and Psychology……….….. 123. Theory of Motive and Motivation…………………………... 134. Theory of Conflict…………………………………………… 145. Review on Freedom and Survival…………………………… 17

C. Theoretical Framework……………………………………………... 19

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY……………………………………….….. 20A. Object of the Study…………………………………………….……. 20B. Approach of the Study………………………………………….…… 21C. Method of the Study…………………………………………….…... 22

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS…………………………………………………... 24A. The Characterization of the Characters…………………………….. 24

1. Elie Wiesel……………………...………………………...… 252. Chlomo Wiesel…………………..…………………………. 29

B. The Internal and External Conflicts of Elie Wiesel….…………..…. 311. Internal Conflicts…………...……………………….….…... 322. External Conflicts………..…………………………..……... 41

C. Elie’s Motivation as seen through the Internal and External Conflicts 46

x

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION……………………………………….…..…… 58

BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………….……..……. 62

APPENDIX : The Summary of Elie Wiesel’s Night……………….…………... 65

xi

ABSTRACT

MARCHELYNOW ALFA CHRISTIAN (2009). Elie’s Motivation in AchievingFreedom Revealed in the Main Character’s Conflicts as Seen in Elie Wiesel’sNight. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata DharmaUniversity.

This thesis discusses the novel by Elie Wiesel entitled Night, published byBantam Books in 1982. Elie Wiesel’s Night tells about the life of a Jewish boy whostruggled for his life in the concentration camp during the Second World War. Thisthesis discusses Elie’s Motivation in Achieving Freedom Revealed in The MainCharacter’s Conflicts as seen in Elie Wiesel’s Night.

To see Elie’s motivation of survival that revealed in the main character’sconflicts in the novel, three questions are formulated to guide the analysis. They are(1) How are the characters described in the Elie Wiesel’s Night? (2) What are ElieWiesel’s internal and external conflicts that revealed in the story? (3) In what way theinternal and external conflicts reveal Elie’s motivation of survival?

The method applied in this study is library research. The approach used in thisstudy is psychological approach. The sources that are needed to support this study aretaken from the novel Night and sources that contain the theories of literature andtheories of psychology in terms of books and internet.

Based on the analysis, the results of the study are as follows. Firstly, ElieWiesel’s characteristics are religious, loving and brave. Chlomo Wiesel’scharacteristics are wise and loving. Secondly is the Elie’s internal and externalconflicts. His internal conflicts are conflicts that happen inside of him or conflicts ofElie Wiesel against himself. The conflicts involved his religiosity or his God’sexistence and his loving characteristic related to his father’s existence. His externalconflicts are his conflicts against other persons and nature. He had conflicts with hisfather, Idek Kapo, Franek, the dentist, other prisoners, and the fury of the coldtemperature of winter. Thirdly, Elie’s motivation of survival can be seen in everyconflict as Elie’s motivation influenced his mind, action, and behavior. Thismotivation derived from a goal. His goal is freedom. Freedom becomes a goal of ElieWiesel because by becoming the oppressed, freedom is something that the oppressedwanted most to achieve in order to once again live normal which is free from thecamp, free from oppression and free from slavery.

xii

ABSTRAK

MARCHELYNOW ALFA CHRISTIAN (2009). Elie’s Motivation in AchievingFreedom Revealed in the Main Character’s Conflicts as Seen in Elie Wiesel’sNight. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas SanataDharma.

Skripsi ini membahas sebuah novel yang berjudul Night karya Elie Wieselyang diterbitkan pada tahun 1982 oleh Bantam Books. Novel Night bercerita tentangpengalaman hidup seorang anak laki-laki keturunan Yahudi yang berjuang untukbertahan hidup selama berada di kemah konsentrasi pada saat Perang Dunia II.Skripsi ini membahas tentang pentingnya arti bertahan hidup dalam upaya meraihkebebasan yang merupakan sebuah tujuan dari seorang Elie Wiesel dalam novelNight. Pentingnya arti bertahan hidup tersebut tersirat pada tiap-tiap konflik yangdihadapi Elie Wiesel selama berada di kemah konsentrasi.

Untuk melihat arti pentingnya bertahan hidup yang tersirat didalam setiapkonflik yang dialami Elie Wiesel, diformulasikanlah tiga pertanyaan guna memanduproses analisa, yaitu: (1) Bagaimanakah penokohan dari tokoh-tokoh dalam novelNight karya Elie Wiesel? (2) Konflik internal dan eksternal apa sajakah yang dihadapioleh Elie Wiesel? (3) Bagaimana konflik-konflik tersebut menunjukan motivasi Elieuntuk bertahan hidup?

Metode yang digunakan dalam studi ini adalah studi pustaka. Pendekatanyang digunakan adalah pendekatan psikologi. Data-data yang diperlukan untukmendukung studi ini diambil dari novel Night dan sumber-sumber yang memuat teorisastra dan teori psikologi dalam bentuk buku-buku maupun data-data dari internet.

Berdasarkan analisis yang dilakukan, hasil temuan studi ini adalah sebagaiberikut. Pertama, Elie Wiesel digambarkan sebagai seorang anak yang religius,penyayang dan pemberani. Chlomo Wiesel digambarkan sebagai seorang ayah yangbijaksana dan penyayang. Kedua, Elie menghadapi konflik-konflik baik itu yangbersifat internal maupun eksternal. Konflik yang bersifat internal adalah konflik-konflik yang terjadi di dalam diri Elie sendiri. Konflik-konflik yang bersifat internalmeliputi konflik-konflik yang melibatkan religiositasnya berkaitan dengankeberadaan Tuhan dan konflik-konflik yang berkaitan dengan keberadaan ayahnya.Konflik yang bersifat eksternal adalah konflik-konflik antara Elie dan tokoh-tokohlainnya ataupun antara Elie dan kekuatan alam. Tokoh-tokoh yang terlibat konflikdengan Elie adalah: ayahnya, Idek Kapo, Franek, seorang dokter gigi, serta tahananlainnya. Elie juga sempat bergelut dengan dinginnya suhu di musim dingin. Ketiga,motivasi Elie yang adalah bertahan hidup dapat dilihat pada setiap konflik yangdihadapi Elie Wiesel dimana motivasinya mempengaruhi pola pikir, tindakan, danperilaku Elie. Motivasi ini muncul dari sebuah tujuan yaitu kebebasan. Kebebasantelah menjadi sebuah tujuan yang ingin dicapai oleh mereka-mereka yang terkekangdan tertindas demi sekali lagi merasakan hidup normal bebas dari pengekangan,penindasan dan perbudakan.

1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter consists of four sections. The first is the background of the

study, which covers reason of choosing the novel and the topic. The second

concerns with problem formulation, which gives general description of the

problem that will be analyzed in this study. The third talks about the objectives of

the study to answer the problems stated in the problem formulations. The last part

describes about the terms that are used in this study.

A. Background of the Study

Literary work is a portrait of human’s life. What is pictured there is

generally based on the fact and experience which happened in the past or the

dreams about future which is expressed through the medium of written language.

As Hudson says in An Introduction to Study of Literature,

Literary is the expression of life through the medium of Language. It canbe regarded as something essential since it contains about real life, people,thought, and their feeling about life (1958: 10)

The writer sees that literature is a creation of art, an object that an artist

makes. Literature is not only an idea or theory that an artist makes, but also a

creative work to express an experience of an artist, which is related to the human

life. A novel as an example of literary works can be used by the author to express

his or her feeling, point of view, protest or even everything that he or she wants

toward his society or environment where he or she lives in. Murphy in his book

says that the greatest novels reflects life and are compounded similarly of many

2

elements, just as life is a mixture of joy, disappointment, hope, sorrow, humor,

suffering, and success (1972: 33).

Night is a novel by Elie Wiesel published by the Bantam Books in 1982.

This novel is a true story where the author of this novel was the main character in

the story; as Stanton stated that an author can also become the storyteller who told

us about a story where he or she wants us to see the meaning of something, to feel

a living experience, not just a gray abstraction (Stanton 1965: 19). Night is a story

which tells us about the author’s experiences living in the concentration camp

during the Second World War. He has experienced a horrible journey of pain and

sorrow during the Nazi’s regime. During his journey of life, he has faced so many

conflicts both internal and external conflicts. Conflict is a natural and inescapable

phenomenon in human condition (Burgoon & Ruffner, 1977: 503). In other

words, every human will face conflicts during his life. All conflicts in human life

will have something to do with what we called motive and goals. Cofer and

Appley stated that conflict is often conceived as occurring not only between

action tendencies, but also between motives or drives and between goals or end

states of action (1968: 413).

Since every human has his/her own goals and motives in life, it becomes

easy to have conflicts in every day life. These motives and goals will also

influence his or her motivation and behavior. According to Frank J. Burno in

Dictionary of Keywords in Psychology (1986: 140) the definition of motive is

hypothetical state in an organism used to explain its choices and goal-oriented

behavior. Similar to what Gerring and Zimbardo suggested in Psychology and

3

Life, the definition of motivation is the process of starting, directing and

maintaining physical and psychological activities toward a certain goal (2002:

364). For the writer, the close relation between motive, motivation, conflict, and

goal appears to be an interesting subject to be analyzed, in this case, the relation of

Elie Wiesel’s goal, motivation and conflicts especially during his life as a prisoner

in concentration camp. As a prisoner, freedom has become something that Elie

wanted to achieve. Freedom is something important for every human being. As

Sartre mentioned that human beings are free and this is what separates human

from animals. He also argued that we have the freedom to choose our own path

and to decide upon our own essence and our own nature. Furthermore, he explains

that the only necessity that a man needs is being free. Man is condemned to

freedom: he cannot not to be free. (1956:560). Another writer, Paulo Freire in The

Pedagogy of the Oppressed suggested that by being the oppressed side, freedom is

something which the oppressed struggles for in order to strive to get back their

stolen humanity (1973:44). Enrich Fromm in The Fear of Freedom defined that

the longing for freedom is rooted in all who are oppressed (1960: 1). Freedom has

become something that the oppressed wanted so much. Freedom has become a

desire for every oppressed person. In this case, freedom has become a goal for

Elie. He wants to see the day where he will be liberate from the concentration

camp and from the slavery. Freedom for Elie who has become the oppressed is

something valuable. But in order to achieve this valuable thing he must struggle

for it. His struggles can be seen in his conflicts. Elie knows that he must struggle

to survive living in the concentration camp just in order to be able to see the

4

liberation day. His goal of freedom has motivated him to keep on fighting. In

other words, his goal has created his motivation. Survival has become Elie’s

motivation. His motivation directs and maintains his physical and psychological

activities toward his goal. Elie’s motivation which is to survive influenced his

mind, actions, and his behavior.

In Night, the setting, the flow, the dynamical emotion of getting involved

in this novel, the sense, and the scope of understanding the novel are the things

that can be reached more in this novel. During Elie Wiesel’s struggle to live in the

concentration camp, he has gone through so many conflicts even a conflict with

nature. In Night, Elie’s goal of freedom has created Elie’s motivation which is to

survive. This motivation influenced his mind, actions, and behaviors. The

importance of Elie’s motivation of survival is depicted through the Elie’s both

internal and external conflicts. That is why “ELIE’S MOTIVATION IN

ACHIEVING FREEDOM REVEALED IN THE MAIN CHARACTER’S

CONFLICTS AS SEEN IN ELIE WIESEL’S NIGHT” is chosen as the title of this

thesis.

B. Problem Formulation

As a guide for the writer in referring to the particular elements to discuss,

these questions below will direct the writer’s writing on the certain scope of the

analysis. They are stated to be the problems, as well as the basic construction of

the thesis.

5

1. How are the characters described in the Elie Wiesel’s Night?

2. What are Elie Wiesel’s internal and external conflicts revealed in the story?

3. How do the internal and external conflicts reveal Elie’s motivation of

survival in achieving freedom?

C. Objectives of the Study

The aim of the study is to answer the three formulated problems above as

clearly as possible. The first thing to do is to find how Elie Wiesel describes the

main characters in the novel. The second thing to do is to find Elie Wiesel’s

internal and external conflicts. And the last thing to do is to explain how internal

and external conflicts reveal Elie’s motivation in achieving freedom as seen in

Elie Wiesel’s Night.

D. Definition of Terms

To avoid any misinterpretations in the title, this thesis will provide some

explanation on several important terms mainly used and closely related to the

topic. The writer tries to explain them by borrowing mainly from the media,

particularly from books and dictionaries.

1. Character

One of the important elements of a play or a novel is the Character.

Abrams’ theory about character in A Glossary of Literary Terms mentioned that

character is the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work who naturally

possesses moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that all reflected in the

dialogue and action among the person (1981: 20).

6

2. Motive and Motivation

According to Frank J. Burno in Dictionary of Keywords in Psychology

(1986: 140) the definition of motive is hypothetical state in an organism used to

explain its choices and goal-oriented behavior. Furthermore, in Psychology and

Life the definition of motivation is the process of starting, directing and

maintaining physical and psychological activities toward a certain goal (Gerring

and Zimbardo, 2002: 364).

3. Conflict

The term is conflict which is taken from Literature: Structure, Sound, and

Sense second edition by Laurence Perrine. He defines conflict as a clash of action,

ideas, and desires or wills between two individuals or among people in the

society. The conflict can include physical, mental, emotional, or moral. In the real

life people try to solve conflict but they will soon get a conflict (1974:44). In other

words conflict is a state of discomfort cause by someone’s ideas, desires, wishes,

or will that are incompatible between individuals, society, or someone’s internal

and external demands.

4. Freedom

The word freedom according to Webster’s Encyclopaedic Unabridged

Dictionary means a state of being at liberty rather than in confinement or under

physical restraint. “Freedom” is also understood as the power to make one’s own

choices or decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-

determination (1975:565).

7

CHAPTER II

THEORETICAL REVIEW

This chapter will be focused on the analyzing of theories that are used in

this study. It is divided into three parts. The first part, the writer tries to review on

some related studies that contain some information, comments, or criticisms

related to Elie Wiesel’s Night. The second part is the writer tries to review on

some theories that will be used in the analysis. The third or the last part is the

writer discusses the theoretical framework. In this part, the writer tries to explain

how the theories are used to support the analysis.

A. Review of Related Studies

The existence of a literary work always invites comments or criticism from

some critics. The criticism can be an agreement or disagreement toward the story.

There are some criticisms directed to Night and those criticisms are needed to

support the analysis of this study.

One of the comments is in a website -www.powells.com- which is written

by the publisher of Night, which said that Night is a terrifying account of the Nazi

death camp horror that turns a young Jewish boy into an agonized witness to the

death of his family, the death of his innocence, and the death of his God.

Furthermore, Francios Mauriac in the same website says that

“What I maintain is that this personal record, coming after so many othersand describing an outrage about which we might imagine we already knowall that it is possible to know, is nevertheless different, distinct,unique....Have we ever thought about the consequence of a horror that,though less apparent, less striking than the other outrages, is yet the worst

7

8

of all to those of us who have faith: the death of God in the soul of a childwho suddenly discovers absolute evil?”.

Another critic, Alan M. Dershowitz in the Washington Post Book World

writes that "The book that always makes me weep is 'Night' by Elie Wiesel,

because it brings up emotions of sorrow, horror and anger. And the book that

unfailingly cheers me up is also 'Night' by Elie Wiesel, because it shows me that

there is never an excuse for not trying to overcome evil, and that there is no

situation from which we cannot emerge with a determination to be productive”

(www.powells.com). The same idea also rises on A. Alvarez’s opinion that is

written in the same website which conclude that 'Night' is almost unbearably

painful, and certainly beyond criticism.

According to Lawrence L. Langer, an eminent scholar of Holocaust

literature and a friend of Wiesel’s, in Rachel Donadio’s article The Story of Night,

“What sets Night apart is a moral honesty that helps undermine thesentimental responses to the Holocaust. Night remains an essentialcompanion or antidote to The Diary of Anne Frank.(http://www.nytimes.com)

Another study on Elie Wiesel’s Night was done by Theo Donum. Donum in his

thesis “Problems of Faith, Hope, and Suffering as Revealed in Eliezer’s Character

Development as Seen in Elie Wiesel’s Night” concluded that the life in

concentration camps has made Eliezer think about staying alive until the day of

liberation. After his father’s death, nothing matters to Eliezer anymore as if he has

already obtained his freedom. Eliezer eventually succeeds in managing himself to

stay alive. His survival is not simply a matter of luck but there is no doubt that

9

hope, to some extent, has taken serious part in providing Eliezer the strength to

stay away from death (2008:88).

Those opinions, criticisms, and comments give deeper information for the

writer in analyzing the story of the novel. Most of them share the same view about

the issues appearing in the time when the novel was written and generally focus

on a terrifying account of the Nazi death camp especially to the Jewish. Donum’s

point of view about Elie Wiesel’s Night, provoke the writer to analyze deeply on

the influence of freedom and survival. That is why, in this undergraduate thesis,

the writer will emphasize more on Elie’s motivation of survival in achieving his

goal of freedom revealed in the main character’s conflicts as seen in the Elie

Wiesel’s Night. The writer hopes that this study will give something new in

understanding the story of the novel.

B. Review of Related Theories

Some theories will be used in the study as the guidance in answering the

problems formulation that becomes the focus of the analysis.

1. Theory of Character and Characterization

Since this study tries to deal with the main character’s conflict, the writer

thinks that the understanding of the theories of character and characterization are

needed to do the analysis. Character is one of the elements of play or novel that

has significant role to show the qualities of the novel or play. According to

Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms, character is the person presented in a

dramatic or narrative work who naturally possesses moral, dispositional, and

10

emotional qualities that all reflected in the dialogue and action among the person

(1981: 20).

Abrams also stated that characters in novel are divided into “major” and

“minor” character based on their importance in the novel. He mentioned that

major characters are substantially involved in main action as well as becoming the

central and the most important in a story, while minor characters are characters

that appear in certain setting and they are necessary to become the background for

the major character (Abrams, 1981:20). According to Stanton in An Introduction

to Fiction, the term “character” is commonly used in two ways; first, it designates

the individual who appears in the story. Second, it refers to the mixture of interest,

desires, emotions, and moral principles that makes up each of these individuals

(1965:17).

The process by which an author creates a character is called

characterization. Murphy in Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English

Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students (1972: 161-173) describes

characterization as the way in which an author attempts to make his characters

understandable and come alive for his readers. He also proposes some methods of

characterization to discern how an author conveys the characters and the

personalities of the people he writes about.

The first method is personal description. By using this method the author

can describe a person’s appearance in terms of build, face, hands, skin-color, hair,

and clothes in order to help the reader both to visualize the character and to

understand his characteristics.

11

The second method is character as seen by another. Instead of describing

a character directly the author can describe him through the eyes and opinions of

another. The reader gets, as it were, a reflected image. This method can give the

impressions of shape, cleanliness, firmness, smoothness, color, etc. Another

character will give explanation about what the character is like.

The third method is speech. The author can give the readers an insight into

the character of one of the persons in the book through what the person says. The

characters of a person can be seen from whenever he/she speaks, having

conversation with others, and stated his/her opinion.

The fourth method is past life. By letting the reader learn something about

a person’s past life the author can give the readers a clue to events that have

helped to shape a person’s character. This can be done by direct comment by the

author, though the person’s thoughts, through his conversation or through the

medium of another person.

The fifth method is conversation of others. By using this technique, the

author can also give the readers clues to a person’s character through the

conversations of other people and the things they say about him. People talk about

other people and the things they say often give as a clue to the character of the

person spoken about.

The sixth method is reactions. By using this method, the author can also

give the readers a clue to a person’s character by letting us know how that person

reacts to various situations and events. The actions are related to his/her motives

and thought.

12

The seventh method is direct comment. In this way, the author can

describe or comment on a person’s character directly. Usually the author gives

comments based on his point of view.

The eighth method is thoughts. In this method, the author can give us

direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In this respect, he is able to

do what we cannot do in real life. He can tell the readers what different people are

thinking. The readers then are in a privileged position; they have, as it were, a

secret listening device plugged in to the inmost thoughts of a person in a novel.

The last method is mannerisms. Through this method, the author can

describe a person’s mannerisms, habits, or idiosyncrasies which may also tell the

readers something about his character.

Some of the theories above will be useful to help the writer to identify and

understanding character’s attitudes in the novel and to do the analysis.

2. Review on the Relation between Literature and Psychology

It is almost impossible to separate psychology and literature because both

of them have a close relation in which some literary works take the issue of

psychology as the basic idea as Wellek and Waren in Theory of Literature (1956:

81) purposed. The term psychology of literature has four possible meanings. The

first is the psychological study of the author as a type or as an individual. The

second is the study of creative process. The third is the study of psychological

types and laws presented within works of literature, and the last is the effect of

literature upon readers (1956: 81). They state that people can learn theory of

psychology that may be revealed in works of literature by analyzing the works.

13

Cohen in Humanistic Psychology also states that literature and psychology has a

relation in exploring human’s life, “in a variety of ways, a psychological approach

has opened new avenues to the study of literature” (Cohen, 1958: 189). Those

theories have shown the relation between psychology and literature. Analyzing

literary works may reflect certain psychological factors. This study will explore

parts of the psychological subjects. That is Elie’s motivation of survival in

achieving his goal of freedom.

3. Theories of Motive and Motivation

Frank J. Burno in Dictionary of Keywords in Psychology proposed the

definition of motive as a hypothetical state in an organism used to explain its

choices and goal-oriented behavior (1986: 140). It is supported by Charles G.

Morris’ theory which stated that motive is an inner directing force –a need or

want- that arouses the organism and directs behavior toward a goal (1990: 408).

Furthermore, in Psychology and Life the definition of motivation is the

process of starting, directing and maintaining physical and psychological activities

toward a certain goal (Gerring and Zimbardo, 2002: 364). It is similar to Miller’s

theory of motivation in Robert C. Beck’s Motivation Theories and Principles

which stated that the closer an organism is to a positive goal, the stronger the

motivation to approach that goal and the closer an organism to an aversive goal,

the stronger the motivation to escape or avoid the goal (1978:256). Petri, in the

Motivation: Theory and Research, states that motivation is the forces acting on or

within an organism to initiate and direct behavior (1981: 12).

14

Furthermore, Abraham Maslow in Introduction of Psychology stated that

there are psychological motives and physiological motive. Psychological motives

are motives which are in form of desire such as safety needs, belongingness and

love needs, esteem needs, cognitive needs, and aesthetic needs (in Atkinson,

Atkinson, and Hilgard, 1983: 317). From those theories of motivation and motive,

it can be concluded that all people usually have certain motive when they do

something in their life because motive is the foundation of every action human

beings do. All the theories of motive above will be used in determining Elie’s

motivation of survival in achieving his goal of freedom.

4. Theory of Conflict

Conflict in its broadest sense means “struggle or fight”, furthermore, it

means “opposition, differences, or clash of opinions, desire, etc., for examples are

the conflict between one’s duty and one’s desire, a conflict of interest between the

achievement of one aim and of another” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary,

1989: 245). In analyzing Elie Wiesel’s Night the writer uses many theories of

conflict. Laurence Perrine’s in her book Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense

assert, “Conflict itself is a clash of action, ideas, desires, or will between two

individual, or among people in the story” (1974: 44). In a journal of psychology

by Malloy and McMurray, Conflict Strategies and Resolutions, Conflict can be

defined as a relationship where two people have incompatible goals and use a

variety of prosocial and antisocial strategies to influence each other’s behavior

(1996: 186).

15

Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms proposed the meaning of conflict

as the disagreement between the protagonist and the antagonist that may create

conflict but “there may be the conflict of the protagonist against fate, or against

the circumstances that stand between him and a goal he has set himself; and in

some works, the chief conflict is between opposing desires or values in the

protagonist’s own temperament” (1981: 159). Conflict does not only show the

struggle of protagonist against someone or something, but also shows some

“motivation” and aim that wants to be achieved (Holman and Harmon, 1986:108).

Perrine states in his book, Story and Structure, that there are two kinds of

conflict; they are internal and external conflict. The internal conflict or

psychological conflict is a struggle within a person, or a struggle of a person

against himself. The individual of himself is facing a kind of complicated situation

in which he or she should choose the best alternative according to his or her

consideration (1970: 54). It is similar to what Rodman suggested; inner conflict

refers to a struggle that happens inside the heart and mind of the protagonist

(Rodman, 1964: 363). In psychology, this internal conflict or inner conflict called

intrapersonal conflict. Intrapersonal conflict is the first level of conflict.

Intrapersonal conflict results when an individual, on the basis of his or her own

behavior or other related experiences, perceives himself or herself in a manner

inconsistent with previous held notions of self-concept (Burgon & Ruffner, 1977:

484). In other words, intrapersonal conflict is a condition where we experience an

internal struggle between what we think we are and what others think us to be.

16

In psychological parlance such a situation is considered Self-estrangement.

The term self-estrangement presumes that each of us has within us an inner self

that consists of what we really are, what we really believe, and what we really

think. Rossiter and Pearce suggested that the internal struggle that accompanies

self-estrangement forces us to choose between behaviors consistent with our own

self-image and behaviors consistent with another’s opinion of how we should act

or think (Rossiter and Pearce, 1975: 154). Some choices however, involve serious

internal conflicts, especially those choices that involved something important such

as life goals. This idea supports the statement from Cofer and Appley in which

they suggested that conflicts may arise between motives, goals, or responses but is

meaningfully conceived only in terms of incompatible action tendencies. One may

speak, for example, of a conflict between desire and fear, on the motivational side,

or between anticipated pleasure and pain, on the side of the end state resulting

from action (1968:413).

Perrine defined External conflict as a struggle which involves a character

and other things outside the character himself. There are three categories of

external conflict, which are struggle against nature, a struggle against another

person, and a struggle against society. A struggle against nature represents man

versus forces of nature, the difficulties and the danger; a struggle against another

person concerns with a kind of a struggle between one person and another, many

popular fictions are based in this conflict; a struggle against society is a struggle

about a man values in his society (Perrine, 1970: 59). A struggle of one person

against another person also called interpersonal conflict. Interpersonal conflict

17

may be arisen when the goals of two individuals are incompatible or whenever

one strongly motivated individual feels threatened or frustrated by another or

when individuals fail to share perceptions of others. Interpersonal conflict, then,

signifies a mutual opposition or aggression, always with reference to an

indivisible goal or material reward (Burgoon and Ruffner, 1977:485-486).

In Cofer and Appley’s Motivation: Theory and Research, types of conflict

which is divided based on the basis of the movement in space in relation to goals,

response tendencies can be divided into two groups: those involving approach to

and those involving avoidance of a goal or goal region. By these two basic

response patters, four types of conflict can be derived: approach-approach,

avoidance-avoidance, approach-avoidance, and double approach-avoidance.

Most common type of conflict is the approach-avoidance. It is a conflict between

desire and fear (1968:433).

Conflict in a literary work may consist of one conflict that is stated clearly

and the reader can easily identify the conflict. It may also consist of multi

conflicts or more than one conflict that is difficult to be understood by the reader

(Perrine, 1974:44). To understand multi conflicts the reader should analyze the

internal and external conflicts one by one.

5. Review on Freedom and Survival

In Webster’s Encyclopaedic Unabridged Dictionary the word “freedom”

means as a state of being at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical

restraint. “Freedom” is also understood as the power to make one’s own choices

or decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-

18

determination (1975:565). In The New Oxford American Dictionary, the word

“freedom” means the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without

hindrance or restraint. It also means the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved

(2005:670).

As Sartre mentioned that human beings are free and it is what separates

human from animals. Sartre argued that we have the freedom to choose our own

path and to decide upon our own essence and our own nature. In effect, human

gets to pick what he will become. Sartre wants men to accept their own absolute

responsibility for their lives. Man is free, completely free. Furthermore, Sartre

explains that the only necessity that a man needs is being free. Man is condemned

to freedom: he cannot not to be free. (1956:560). Paulo Freire in The Pedagogy of

the Oppressed suggested that by being the oppressed side, freedom is something

which the oppressed struggles for in order to strive to get back their stolen

humanity (1973:44). Freire’s opinion is also related to what Enrich Fromm

suggested in The Fear of Freedom, he defined that the longing for freedom is

rooted in all who are oppressed (1960: 1).

In the The New Oxford American Dictionary, the meaning of “survival” is

the state or fact of continuing to live or exist, typically in spite of an accident, or

deal, or difficult circumstances (2005:1702). In the Webster’s Encyclopaedic

Unabridged Dictionary, survival means surviving of pertaining to the food,

clothing, equipment, etc., necessary to or aiding a person’s survival in adverse or

unusual circumstances (1975:1432).

19

a. Theoretical Framework

Some theories are employed by the writer to be the basic understanding in

doing the analysis of the study. The theory of character and characterization is

used because in the first part of the analysis the writer deals with the characters

and characteristics of the characters in the play. In here, writer needs those

theories to understand the basic concept of characters and to describe the

characteristics of the characters in the novel.

The writer uses the theory of conflict to find out and analyze the internal

and external conflicts the main characters involved. All conflicts were analyzed

using theory of conflict both from Literature and Psychology point of view. It

enables the writer to analyze Elie’s conflicts, as the answer of the second problem.

To answer the third and final question, the writer uses theories of motive

and motivation in order to see the relation between Elie’s conflicts, goals, or

motives, and motivation. Those theories explain about the understanding of

human’s behavior in doing an action like action during conflicts. It enables the

writer to analyze Elie’s motivation of survival in achieving his goal of freedom

that become an important thing to the main character and how those things

influenced his mind, action and behaviors as seen through the Elie’s conflicts.

20

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

This chapter will be divided into three parts. In the first part, the writer

describes the object of the study. The description of the novel and the information

of its publication are clearly presented. In the second part, the writer explains the

application of the approaches used for the study. Finally, in the last part, the writer

describes the methods that are taken in analyzing the novel Night.

A. Object of the Study

As the object of the analysis, this thesis takes Elie Wiesel’s Night which is

firstly published by Hill & Wang, New York on September 1960. The novel that

the writer uses as the primary source of this study is taken from the book that

published by Bantam Books, New York in 1982. The novel is translated from the

French by Stella Rodway and it consists of 109 pages. In this edition, the book

contains the story of Night and some important information. The first one is a

preface for the twenty-fifth anniversary edition by Robert McAfee Brown and the

second one is a foreword by Francois Mauriac.

Elie Wiesel is a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps and the winner

of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize, Wiesel is one of the most acclaimed authors of

Holocaust literature and an eloquent spokesperson for contemporary Judaism.

Throughout his career he has delineated the horror of the concentration camps and

has explored the apparent indifference of God, ultimately reaffirming his life and

faith. His lyrical, impressionistic novels, written primarily in French, frequently

20

21

juxtapose past and present to examine the effect of the Holocaust on Jews, both as

individuals and as a people. Although Wiesel focuses strongly on the experience

of Jews, his work also speaks for all persecuted people, and, by extension, for

humanity itself. Night is generally about a story of Elie Wiesel’s own experiences

when He was taken from Sighet, a little town in Transylvania to Birkenau,

reception center for Auschwitz. This novel shows Elie Wiesel’s struggle to live in

the concentration camp just in order to see the liberation day come. This novel

also shows how he has gone through so many conflicts both internal and external

conflict and he tries to deal with those conflicts.

B. Approach of the Study

In order to analyze the novel Night, the writer uses the psychological

approach as the most suitable approach to be applied in this study because the

writer studies on the main character’s motivation of survival in achieving his goal

of freedom that reveal through the main character’s conflicts. Rohrberger and

Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature divided literary approaches to

literature into five basic sections. There are: formalist approach, biographical

approach, psychological approach, sociocultural-historical approach, and

mythopoeic approach (1971: xi).

Psychological approach is used to explore the main character’s motivation

of survival in achieving his goal of freedom that reveal through the main

character’s conflicts. As stated in Reading and Writing about Literature

(Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 81), psychological approach emphasizes on human

psychology and believes that human’s creativity, thought, behavior and other

22

psychological aspect that give influence to literary work. In this case the writer

tries to see the conflict from the behavior of the main character or from the

psychological aspect. The analysis of this novel deals with the motive of survival

and freedom which is part of psychological point of view. By using this approach,

the writer tries to find out how the internal and external conflicts reveal the main

character’s motivation of survival in achieving his goal of freedom.

C. Method of the Study

In analyzing the study, the writer used library research in collecting the

data. There were two kinds of sources used in this study. The primary source of

data was a book with a new preface by Robert McAfee Brown and a foreword by

Francois Mauriac which was published by, Bantam Books, New York in 1982.

The secondary sources were some books and criticisms on literature and

some books that concerned with the theory of conflict, motive and the ideas of

survival and freedom. Some of the books were A Glossary of Literary Terms from

Abrams, An Introduction to the Study of Literature from W.H. Hudson,

Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel

for Overseas Students by M. J. Murphy, Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and

Writing by Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs, Human Communication by

Michael Burgoo and Maichael Ruffner, Motivation: Theory and Research by C. N

Cofer and M. H. Appley, Critical Survey of Long Fiction by Frank Maggil, The

Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire, Interpersonal Conflict by Joyces

Hocker and William Wilmot, and Being and Nothingness by Jean Paul Satre.

23

To gather explanation of the novel, the writer used some online sources,

such as, “The Story of Night” by Donadio in the www.nytimes.com, “Synopses &

Reviews of Night” in the powells.com, “Critical Analysis of Elie Wiesel's Night”

in www.enotes.com.

In order to have a good understanding about the meaning of Conflict,

Motive and Motivation, and the ideas of Survival and Freedom the writer used

some dictionaries, such as Webster’s Encyclopedia Unabridged Dictionary,

Dictionary of Keywords in Psychology, The New Oxford American Dictionary,

and Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture .

Concerning with the library research, there were four steps that the writer

used in this thesis. First, the writer read the novel to find the topic. Second, the

writer tried to find some references, which could be used to support the topic in

revealing the main character’s motivation of survival in achieving his goal of

freedom that reveal through the main character’s conflicts. Third, the writer used

some theories to analyze the relation of the main character’s motivation of

survival with the main character’s conflicts. Finally, after having answered the

three problems, the writer drew the conclusions from what he had already

discussed in the analysis.

24

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

This chapter consists of the analysis of the literary work and the answer of

the problem formulations. The first analysis deals with the characterization of Elie

Wiesel as the main characters in the novel. The writer also believes that it is also

necessary to analyze another character in the novel. Another character that will be

analyzed is Chlomo Wiesel (Elie’s father). The second analysis is analyzing the

main character’s conflicts. The third analysis is to see the relation between the

main character’s motivation of survival in achieving freedom and the main

character’s conflicts. In other words, in the last part of the analysis, the writer tries

to show the main character’s motivation of survival in achieving freedom that

reveal through the main character’s conflicts. Theories that were presented in

chapter two will be used to answer the formulated problems.

A. The Characterization of the Main Characters

Character has various types. As Abrams (1981: 20-21) stated characters in

the novel are divided into major and minor character. The major character takes

the important role and becomes the focus from the beginning until the end of the

play, while the minor character is the character that appears in certain setting.

According to that theory, in Elie Wiesel’s Night, Elie is categorized as the major

or main character because he plays the most important role in the play and as the

focus of the story as well. Chlomo Wiesel is categorized as the minor character in

the novel. That character supported the main characters where that character

24

25

involves in conflicts with the main character. That is why it becomes necessary

for the writer to analyze that character in order to reveal the relation of Elie’s

motivation of survival in achieving freedom with Elie’s conflicts.

In order to find out the characteristics of the main characters, Murphy’s

(1972: 161-173) theories of characterizations are applied. They are personal

description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, reaction, conversation

of others, direct comment, thought, and mannerisms. However, from those nine

methods, the author only makes use some of them.

1. The Description of Elie Wiesel

a. Religious

According to Murphy (1972: 164) in Understanding Unseens, we can

understand the characters deeper through nine methods, two of them are through

their speech and mannerism. The author can give the readers an insight into the

character by seeing whenever the character speaks or having conversation with

others and stated his/her opinion. The author can also describe a person’s

mannerisms, habits, or idiosyncrasies which may tell us something about the

character (Murphy, 1972: 173). Elie in the beginning of the story is described as a

religious boy who fully believes the existence of God in life as the one who

brought peace, love, justice, help, and all the good things in life (Wiesel, 1982: 1-

26). Elie’s religiosity can be seen through his habits that show his interest in

learning things that are related to his religion. As stated in the following

statement,

26

“I was twelve. I believed profoundly. During the day I studied Talmud,and at night I ran to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of theTemple” (Wiesel, 1982: 1).

Although, he was a young boy, Elie Wiesel already interested in studying Talmud,

it is kind of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics,

customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism. Elie has a friend,

named Moshe the Beadle, who acts also as a master of Jewish’s mysticism

Cabbala who taught him so many things about Talmud and Cabbala. His relation

with Moshe the beadle and his religious activities like studying Talmud and

Cabbala have made him a religious boy.

Another part that also describes Elie’s religiosity can be seen through the

way Elie and his family always perform every Jewish religious ritual such as the

Passover. It is showed in the following quotation,

“The week of Passover. The weather was wonderful… There were nolonger any synagogues open. We gathered in private houses; the Germanwere not to be provoked. Practically ever rabbi’s flat became a house ofprayer… The bible bade us rejoice during the seven days of the feast, to behappy…” (Wiesel, 1982: 8).

Passover is a Jewish holy day and festival commemorating the Hebrews' escape

from enslavement in Egypt. During the previous Passovers, the Jewish always go

to synagogue to celebrate it. At that time, although the Jewish were prevented to

go to synagogue during the Passover, Elie and his family kept celebrating it even

they had to do it in home. It describes Elie and his family’s religious life, even

they face a condition where they do not have a chance to go to the synagogue, and

they are still celebrating it at home.

27

At the time of the deportation where Elie and his family have to leave their

house, Elie spent some of his time just to pray (Wiesel, 1982: 16). When he was

going to be deported, he wanted to see his house for the last time where the house

has become an eye witness for his religiosity development as can be seen in the

quotation below,

“I looked at our house, where I had spent so many years in my search forGod, in fasting, in order to hasten the coming of the Messiah…” (Wiesel,1982: 16).

It shows that he trusted on God’s help and mercy for everything happen in his life.

As we can see from Elie’s speech and mannerism, we can conclude that he is a

religious boy, but later on in the story, during his life in the concentration camp,

Elie begins to question about God’s existence.

b. Loving

In the camp, Elie also shows his characteristic as a loving person. He cares

and loves his father so much. He prevents his father from sleeping in the outside,

in the freezing temperature because he believes that to fall a sleep means to die.

He does not want to lose his father to death and because of that when he sees his

father starting to fall a sleep he wakes him up (Wiesel, 1982: 85). His love for his

father also can be seen when he was crying while preventing other Jewish in the

wagon trying to throw his father out because they thought his father was already

dead (Wiesel, 1982: 94). Elie’s love for his father can also be seen from how he

encourages his father. When his father thinks that he cannot continue, Elie

encourages him not only by yelling at him but also by seizing him in the hand and

walk together to a saver place (Wiesel, 1982: 100).

28

Elie is very concerned about his father condition. It can be seen in the

following statement, “Father! I’ve been looking for you for so long… Where were

you? Did you sleep? … How do you feel?” (Wiesel, 1982: 101). He found out that

his father was not in a good condition. Chlomo Wiesel has gone ill. He was

burning with fever. Elie took a good care of his father by bringing him a cup of

coffee although Elie has to struggle like a wild beast just to get it (Wiesel, 1982:

101). Elie also managed to exchange his ration of bread with beds for his father.

He did anything he can just to save his father but unfortunately dysentery took his

father away forever.

The author can give the readers a clue to a person’s character by letting the

reader know how that person reacts to various situation and events (Murphy,

1972: 164). By seeing Elie reaction of showing how much he cares and loves his

father shows that he is a loving person.

c. Brave

Elie Wiesel is also described as a brave boy. He shows his bravery during

his time in Buna. One of his bravery was when the assistant of the quarantine tent

asked for Elie’s shoes but he refused to give it away, “I refused to give him my

shoes. They were all I had left” (Wiesel, 1982: 46). Another case is when he

refused Franek’s demand on possessing his gold crowned tooth. Although Elie

was threatened by Franek, he still refused to give away his crown. Unfortunately,

at the end of the day, Elie has to lose his tooth for nothing (Wiesel, 1982: 52-53).

Elie’s bravery can also be seen in the following quotation,

“We were not afraid. And yet, if a bomb had fallen on the blocks, it alonewould have claimed hundreds of victims on the spot. But we were no

29

longer afraid of death, at any rate, not of that death. Every bomb thatexploded filled us with joy and gave us new confidence in life” (Wiesel,1982: 57).

Elie shows that he no longer fears death since living in a concentration camp is

scarier than death itself. For him, every bomb that exploded gave him joy and

hope for freedom.

2. The Description of Chlomo Wiesel

a. Wise

Chlomo Wiesel is the father of Elie Wiesel. He was described as a well

educated person and an unsentimental man as Elie Wiesel stated in “My father

was a cultured, rather unsentimental” (Wiesel, 1982: 2). He also considered as a

wise person. It can be seen from Elie’s statement below,

“The Jewish community in Sighet held him in the greatest esteem. Theyoften used to consult him about public matters and even about privateones” (Wiesel, 1982: 2).

From the quotation it can be seen how Chlomo Wiesel plays an important role in

the Jewish Community in Sighet. People often came to Chlomo and ask for his

opinions or advices about many things either public matters or private ones.

Another part that shows Chlomo’s influence in the society is when he was asked

for his opinion about the situation the Jewish had.

“Some of the prominent members of the community came to see myfather—who had highly placed connections in the Hungarian police—toask him what he thought of the situation” (Wiesel, 1982: 8).

The statement above also shows Chlomo’s important role in society. Chlomo has

good connection with the authorities. And that is why the Jewish community came

to him and asks his opinion about the new situation they have now. It was the

30

situation where all Jewish must wear yellow star. Instead of describing a character

directly the author can describe a person through the eyes and opinions of another.

This method can give the impression of shape, cleanliness, firmness, smoothness,

color, etc (Murphy, 1972: 164). By using that theory, others view of Chlomo

shows that he is a wise man and as a wise man, Chlomo’s opinion and advices are

always needed.

b. Loving

Chlomo is also pictured as a loving person. Although he is an

unsentimental person and rarely shows his emotion we still can see his care and

love toward family and others. During the time in the concentration camp,

Chlomo’s love toward Elie can be seen clearly. He tries to protect his son with all

the strength left. One day, Chlomo brought his son a present,

“My father had brought me a present—half a ration of bread obtained inexchange for a piece of rubber, found at the warehouse, which would do tosole a shoe” (Wiesel, 1982: 69).

From Elie’s statement above it can be seen how Chlomo loves his son so much.

He brought his son a half ration of bread that he got by exchanging a piece of

rubber that Chlomo found at the warehouse. Chlomo knows that food is important

for the body to gain strength. Instead of having the bread for himself, he gave it to

his son. Chlomo’s care and love for his son also seen in how he woke Elie up and

prevent him to fall a sleep in the snow.

“Don’t let yourself be overcome by sleep, Eliezer. It’s dangerous to fallasleep in the snow. You might sleep for good. Come on, come on. Get up”(Wiesel, 1982: 84).

31

Chlomo knows that if his son fall asleep in the snow, he might not be able to wake

up again or in other words he will die. That is why Chlomo keeps his son awake.

B. Elie Wiesel’s Internal and External Conflict

Conflict in its broadest sense means “struggle or fight”, furthermore, it

means “opposition, differences, or class of opinions, desire, etc., as the examples

are the conflict between one’s duty and one’s desire, a conflict of interest between

the achievement of the one aim and of another” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s

Dictionary, 1989: 245). It means that a conflict can be physical which involve

other persons or it can also in form of psychological conflict which only happens

inside someone’s mind. It is similar to what Cofer and Appley stated that conflicts

may arise between motives, goals, or responses but is meaningfully conceived

only in terms of incompatible actions tendencies as one may speak, for example,

of a conflict between desire and fear, on the motivational side, or between

anticipated pleasure and pain, on the side of the end state resulting from action

(1968: 413). Human is a complex person full with desires, fears, ideas, and goals.

That is why a conflict may easily happen in someone’s life and in this case is in

Elie Wiesel’s life.

Perrine stated in his book, Story and Structure, that there are two kinds of

conflict; they are internal and external conflict. The internal conflict or

psychological conflict is a struggle within a person, or a struggle of a person

against himself. The individual of himself is facing a kind of complicated situation

in which he or she should choose the best alternative according to his or her

32

consideration (1970: 54). Perrine defined External conflict as a struggle which

involves a character and other things outside the character himself. There are three

categories of external conflict, which are struggle against nature, a struggle

against another person, and a struggle against society. A struggle against nature

represents man versus forces of nature, the difficulties and the danger; a struggle

against another person concerns with a kind of a struggle between one person and

another, many popular fictions are based in this conflict; a struggle against society

is a struggle about a man values in his society (Perrine, 1970: 59). Elie Wiesel had

lived a horrible life in the concentration camp. During his life there, he had faced

not only the conflict that happens inside of him but also the conflict that took

place outside himself which involving other elements such as other persons or

even nature. In other words Elie Wiesel had faced many conflicts, both internal

and external during his life in the concentration camp. It is similar to Perrine’s

theory which stated that conflict in literary work may also consist of multi

conflicts or more than one conflict (1974: 44). Because of that, to make it easier to

analyze, the writer analyzes the conflict separately Internal and External.

1. Elie Wiesel’s Internal Conflicts

In psychology, Burgon and Ruffner placed the internal conflict or inner

conflict or intrapersonal conflict as the first level of conflict (1977: 484).

According to Rodman, this first level of conflict happens inside the heart and

mind of the protagonist (1964: 363). So, Elie’s internal conflicts must only

happen inside himself. Elie’s first internal conflict happens at the reception center

for Auschwitz, Birkenau. Birkenau is the place where the SS officers did the

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selection for the Jewish at that time. Dr. Mengele, a SS officer, leads the selection.

He uses a conductor’s baton to determine whether the Jewish live or die by

moving the baton to the left or to the right. Before the selection comes to his turn,

Elie and his father were forced by another prisoner to lie about their age in order

to pass the selection (Wiesel, 1982: 28). The internal conflict is started when Elie

was asked by Dr.Mengele.

“How Old are you?” he asked, in an attempt at a paternal tone of voice.“Eighteen.” My voice was shaking.“What’s your occupation?Should I say that I was a student?“Farmer,” I heard myself say (Wiesel, 1982: 29).

Elie was asked about his age and occupation. The conflict itself is closely related

to Elie’s answers toward the questions. Rodman suggested that inner conflict

refers to a struggle that happens inside the heart and mind of the protagonist

(1964: 363). The struggle that occurs inside Elie’s mind is a conflict on what

answers he should give to Dr. Mengele. It is a struggle of making a decision

whether he should answer the questions by telling the truth or should he lie about

his age and occupation just like what the prisoner has asked him to. He finally lied

about his age and occupation. Another internal conflict rises after he saw the

baton moved left. Once again, he has a struggle inside his mind about which

direction that actually means “good” and which direction that means “bad”. It is

similar to what Cofer and Appley stated that a conflict can be inform of struggle

inside someone’s mind about what he/she will get as the result of the action taken

before (1968:413). There is a struggle inside Elie’s mind about what he will get as

the result of the action of Dr. Mengele’s baton. Confused by his conflict, Elie

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thinks of another option that might become a better solution for him. If later he

finds that the “left” sign means to die in the crematory, than he will break from the

ranks and throw himself into the electric barbed wire (Wiesel, 1982: 31). Elie’s

wanted to avoid the slow and painful death and prefer to have a fast and less

painful death. Later on, he found out that the “left” sign means to live for another

day and his answers had saved him for awhile.

Elie faces another internal conflict during another selection that is held in

Buna. Similar to the previous selection, Dr. Mengele will decide who shall live

and who shall be sent to death. Before Elie gets his turn, a thought crosses his

mind. The conflict is started when the time finally comes to his turn to walk pass

Dr. Mengele.

“I ran without looking back. My head was spinning: you’re too thin,you’re too weak, you’re too thin, you’re good for the furnace….” (Wiesel,1982: 68).

From the quotation above, it can be seen what actually Elie’s internal conflict is.

The conflict is the struggle inside his mind about the result of the selection

process. It is similar to what Cofer and Appley suggested that conflict can be a

struggle between thoughts on the side of the end state resulting from the action

(1968: 413). It is a struggle of his thought about whether he will pass the selection

or not.

Another internal conflict of Elie Wiesel is the struggle between his

religious side and his logic mind. It is related to what Abrams mentioned in A

Glossary of Literary Terms that a conflict can be between opposing desires or

values in the protagonist’s own temperament (1981: 159). Elie’s conflict is a

35

conflict between his opposing desire from his religious side and his logic mind

toward his ideology of God. His religious side told him to believe in God while

his logic mind told him to deny his God’s existence. His logic mind is supported

by his past experience. He had faced moments which shows that God is no longer

existed. He had seen the moments where he found that there are no God’s help or

mercy given to the oppressed Jewish. One of the moments was when he saw the

Germans soldier burning babies and little children alive (Wiesel, 1982: 30). The

moment has started an internal struggle inside Elie’s mind.

“For the first time, I felt revolt rise up in me. Why should I bless Hisname? The Eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible,was silent. What had I to thank Him for” (Wiesel, 1982: 31).

Elie’s religious side forced him to keep on believing in God while his logic mind

forced him to stop believing in his God by giving him reasons of why he should

stop believing. From the quotation it can be seen how Elie’s logic mind tries to

show to Elie that there are no more reasons for Elie to keep on believe in God

because God Himself was not even there to help the babies and the little children.

The horrible moments that he saw has brought a great impact toward him.

“Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my souland turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if Iam condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never” (Wiesel, 1982: 32).

The horrible moments have influenced him so much. Elie then decided to stop

believing in God. He uses the word “murdered” to show how those moments had

made him lost his faith in God. Elie Wiesel has become a completely different

person after those moments that he saw. He is no longer the same child he was

(Wiesel, 1982: 34).

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Elie’s disbelief in God continues as he thinks that instead of helping the

oppressed Jewish, God troubled the Jewish mind and crippled bodies by having

them crowed together just to celebrate the ceremony of Rosh Hashanah (Wiesel,

1982: 63). Rosh Hashanah is a ceremony of Jewish New Year. During the

ceremony of Rosh Hashanah, Elie’s mind keep on questioning why he should

bless his God just to make sure that his decision not to believe in God is a right

decision.

“Why, but why should I bless Him? In every fiber I rebelled. Because Hehad thousands of children burned in His pits? Because He kept sixcrematories working night and day, on Sundays and feast days? Because inHis great might He had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so manyfactories of death? How could I say to him: “Blessed art Thou, Eternal,Master of the Universe, Who chose us from among the races to be torturedday and night, to see our fathers, our mothers, our brothers, end in thecrematory? Praised be Thy Holy Name, Thou Who hast chosen us to bebutchered on Thine altar?” (Wiesel, 1982: 64).

From the quotation above, we can see another attempt of Elie’s logic mind in

order to show Elie that there are no more reasons for him to praise, to worship, or

to bless God because what God had brought for the Jewish were all the terrible

things and even death itself.

Another Elie’s internal conflict was during the Day of Atonement or Yom

Kippur. During Yom Kippur, all the religious Jewish usually fast. The conflict is

on whether he should fast as what a religious Jewish do or should not fast. This

conflict related to Cofer and Appley’s suggestion which stated that a conflict may

arise between responses toward something (1968:413). Elie’s intrapersonal

conflict is between what response he should take toward the fasting tradition of

Yom Kippur. Elie chose not to fast not only because his father forbade him to do

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so but also because there is another more important reason. He found that there

was no more reason why he should fast since he is no longer accepted God

(Wiesel, 1982: 66).

One day, in the middle of January, Elie’s right foot began to swell because

of the cold. He was unable to put it on the ground and because of that; he went to

a doctor to be examined. He found that he needs an operation in order to be able

to walk again. He was staying at the hospital when he heard his neighbor said that

there will be a selection also in the hospital. His neighbor told him that it is better

for Elie to get out of the hospital before the next selection. This information and

suggestion creates an intrapersonal conflict. There is a struggle inside Elie’s mind

toward his neighbor statement and suggestion.

“But perhaps my faceless neighbor, fearing that he would be among thefirst victims, simply wanted to drive me away, to free my bed in order togive himself a chance to survive. Perhaps he just wanted to frighten me.Yet, what if he were telling the truth? I decided to await events” (Wiesel,1982: 75).

From the quotation we can see what the struggle was about. It was about whether

his neighbor’s opinion is true or false, whether he should believe it or not. Elie

decided to take an action of waiting because for now, he concerned more on his

foot. He wanted to be cured.

Other Elie’s internal conflicts involved his father’s existence. But before

looking to Elie’s internal conflicts that involved his father’s existence, there are

some moments that were important. Those moments become important because

those moments influenced Elie’s mind. The first moment is when Rabbi Eliahou

came to Elie and his father and asked whether they see his son or not. Elie

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remembered the moment when Rabbi Eliahou’s son had seen his father

grounding, limping, and staggering back to the rear of the column but instead of

helping his father, Rabbi’s son continued to run on in front. It seems to Elie that

Rabbi’s son is trying to make distance between him and his father (Wiesel, 1982:

87). After thinking back on what Rabbi’s son has done, a thought crossed Elie’s

mind.

“A terrible thought loomed up in my mind: he had wanted to get rid of hisfather! He had felt that his father was growing weak, he had believed thatthe end was near and had sought this separation in order to get rid of theburden, to free himself from an encumbrance which could lessen his ownchances of survival” (Wiesel, 1982: 87).

His thought has made him afraid that he might do the same thing like what

Rabbi’s son has done. He did not want to become like what Rabbi Eliahou’s son

had become. The second moment is when Elie saw a boy fighting his own father

just for some bread to eat (Wiesel, 1982: 96). These two moments had shown to

Elie how valuable a life is to someone and because of that, a person is willing to

do anything just in order to survive. It penetrates deep into his mind and

influenced his way of thinking. It can be seen in the conflict bellow.

“It was daytime when I awoke. And then I remembered that I had afather… I had known that he was at the end, on the brink of death, and yetI had abandoned him.I went to look for him.But at the same moment this thought came into my mind: “Don’t let mefind him! If only I could get rid of this dead weight, so that I could use allmy strength to struggle for my own survival, and only worry about myself”. Immediately I felt ashamed of my self, ashamed forever” (Wiesel,1982: 101).

On one morning, Elie realized that he has a father and had abandoned him, which

is why he decided to find his father. Elie’s first internal conflict that involved his

39

father existence is the conflict in his mind between two ideas. The first idea is to

find his father and the second idea is not to find his father. But because of the

feeling of ashamed that he feels to himself, he went to find his father (Wiesel,

1982: 101).

One day, the head of the block came and saw Elie’s father has become

very ill. He told Elie that there is nothing that Elie can do for his father. He told

Elie that he should not forget that in a concentration camp every man has to fight

for himself and not to think of anyone else. Even of his father. The head told Elie

that in the concentration camp there are no fathers, no brothers, and no friends

because everyone lives and dies for himself alone (Wiesel, 1982: 105). Elie

listened to the head of the block without interrupting. It turns out that the words

given by the Head of the block to Elie, have created a conflict in Elie’ mind.

“He was right, I thought in the most secret region of my heart, but I darednot admit it. It’s too late to save your old father. I said to myself. Youought to be having two rations of bread, two rations of soup….Only a fraction of a second, but I felt guilty. I ran to find a little soup togive my father” (Wiesel, 1982: 105).

The conflict was on whether he should listen to what the Head of the block has

said and let his father die or not to listen to it and try to save his father. This

conflict that Elie faced is related to a situation which according to Rossiter and

Pearce as a Self-estrangement. In psychology, there is such a situation which is

considered as Self-estrangement. The term Self-estrangement presumes that each

of us has within us an inner self that consist of what we really are, what we really

believe, and what we really think. Rossiter and Pearce suggested that internal

struggle that accompanies self-estrangement forces us to choose between

40

behaviors consistent with our own self-image and behaviors with another’s

opinion of how we should act or think (1975: 154). Elie Wiesel has to choose

whether to do what he thinks he should do or to do what others think he should do

which in this case is the opinion of the Head of the block.

Elie’s internal conflicts that involved his father’s existence were related to

what Burgon and Ruffner suggested. According to them, intrapersonal conflict

results when an individual, on the basis of his or her own behavior or other related

experiences, perceives himself or herself in a manner inconsistent with previous

held notions of self-concept (1977: 484). In the previous paragraphs, it is

mentioned that Elie Wiesel does not want to become like what Rabbi Eliahou’s

son has become, a boy who considered his father as his burden and may lessen his

chance to survive. Although all the resolutions of Elie’s conflict related to his

father existence shows that he loves his father and take a good care of him,

unfortunately, at the end of the story it can be seen how Elie’s abandoned his

father. As an example was when he saw his father beaten by the officer, he did not

move to help (Wiesel, 1982: 106). Another proof which shows that Elie has

abandoned his father is his own statement.

“His last word was my name. A summons, to which I did not respond(Wiesel, 1982: 106).

When he knows that his father has died, Elie did not cry and what worst is that he

felt free by his father death (Wiesel, 1982: 106). There is an inconsistency

between what he thinks he is, what he wanted to become and with what Elie had

become at the end of the story.

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2. Elie Wiesel’s External Conflicts

Perrine in Story and Structure defined External conflict as a struggle

which involves a character and other things outside the character himself. There

are three categories of external conflict, which are struggle against nature, a

struggle against another person, and a struggle against society. A struggle against

nature represents man versus forces of nature, the difficulties and the danger; a

struggle against another person concerns with a kind of a struggle between one

person and another, many popular fictions are based in this conflict; a struggle

against society is a struggle about a man values in his society (1970: 59).

In the concentration camp, Elie faces several external conflicts. Elie has

conflicts with several people in the camp and one of them was his own father.

Similar to Perrine’s theory of external conflict which stated that one form of

external conflict can be in form of a struggle between one person and another

(1970: 59). One of Elie’s conflicts with his father is when his father came to Elie

and gave him his knife and spoon.

“Look, take this knife,” he said to me. “I don’t need it any longer. It mightbe useful to you. And take this spoon as well. Don’t sell them. Quickly!Go on. Take what I’m giving you!” (Wiesel, 1982: 71).

Interpersonal conflict may arise when individuals fail to share perceptions of

others (Burgoon and Ruffner, 1977: 485-486). Elie’s father intention is to give his

spoon and knife. Chlomo Wiesel gives his son his precious belongings which

were a knife and a spoon because Chlomo thinks that he will not be able to see his

son anymore. It is because he must stay in the camp while Elie and other prisoners

must leave the camp. The conflict happens when Elie refused his father’s

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perceptions about what is going on at that time and about things that might happen

later.

“Don’t talk like that, father.” (I felt that I would break into sobs) “I don’twant you to say that. Keep the spoon and knife. You need them as much asI do. We shall see each other again this evening, after work.” (Wiesel,1982: 71).

By looking at Perrine’s suggestion, that a conflict itself is a clash of action, ideas,

desires, or will between two individual (1974: 44), there is a clash between

Chlomo and Elie on idea, desire and action. Elie refused his father action of

giving him the spoon and the knife that his father gives and Elie also refused to

accept his father thought or idea that they will not be able to see each other again

because Elie believes that they will see each other again soon (Wiesel, 1982: 71).

Another conflict between Elie and his father was during the evacuation to

Gleiwitz. It is started when they reached a deserted village and ordered to rest

where Elie decided to lay down and fell asleep. The conflict was when Elie’s

father forced Elie to not to fall a sleep in the snow.

“Don’t let yourself be overcome by sleep, Eliezer. It’s dangerous to fallasleep in the snow. You might sleep for good. Come on, come on. Get up.”(Wiesel, 1982: 84).

Elie’s father did not want Elie to fall asleep in the snow because it is very

dangerous. It was hard for Elie to get up because he was too exhausted to do that

and he also felt the snow so tempting. Elie felt the snow layer not only like a

warm gentle carpet but also like a fluffy bed. But Chlomo knows that to fall

asleep in the snow means to sleep for good or to die. By looking at the definition

offered by Perrine, that a conflict itself can be defined as a clash of desires or will

between two people (1974: 44). It can be seen that the struggle was between Elie’s

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desire to sleep and Chlomo’s desire not to let his son fall asleep. Elie came up

with a solution for their conflict. He tells his father that they can sleep one after

another where one will stay awake to watch while another sleeps and Chlomo

accepted his son’s offers (Wiesel, 1982: 85).

Other external conflicts were the conflicts between Elie and other

prisoners. One of them happened at Birkenau. It was when a prisoner asked about

Elie and his father’s age.

“Here, Kid, how old are you?”“I’m not quite fifteen yet”“No. Eighteen.”“Fool. Listen to what I say.”Then he questioned my father, who replied:“Fifty.”The other grew more furious than ever.“No, not fifty. Forty. Do you understand? Eighteen and forty” (Wiesel,1982: 28).

From the quotation above it can be seen how a prisoner forced his idea about Elie

and his father’s age. Related to the definition of conflict which stated that conflict

itself is a clash of action, ideas, desires, or will between two individual, or among

people in the story (Perrine, 1974: 44), the prisoner forced his idea about Elie and

his father’s age and wanted Elie and his father to accept it. From the quotation it

can be seen how Elie tried to refuse what the prisoner has offered. Elie repeated

his answer as the form of refusing the prisoner’s intention. The prisoner also

refuses Elie’s answer and keeps on insisting his idea by saying “Fool. Listen to

what I say” (Wiesel, 1982: 28).

There is a conflict between Elie and the Jew dentist from Czechoslovakia.

The conflict is when Elie refused the dentist desire to take Elie’s gold crown

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tooth. Elie refused to give it away because he believes that the gold tooth might be

useful to me one day to buy something—bread or life (Wiesel, 1982: 50).

Burgoon and Ruffner suggested that interpersonal conflict may arise when the

goals of two individuals are incompatible and interpersonal conflict always refers

to an indivisible goal or material reward (1977:485-486). In this case, the two

incompatible goals are Elie’s goal which is to keep his gold crown, and the

dentist’s goal which is to posses Elie’s gold crown. The gold tooth has become the

reference of the conflict between them as it plays the role as the material reward.

The conflict of Elie and Franek was similar to the conflict of Elie and the

dentist. Franek wanted Elie’s gold tooth but unfortunately Elie refused to give it

away. The conflict arose because of Elie and Franek has incompatible goals.

When a conflict occurs, the individual that are involved in the conflict will use

either prosocial strategies or antisocial strategies in order to influence each other’s

or to win the conflict (Malloy and McMurray, 1996: 186). Anti-social strategy is a

strategy of resolving a conflict by using behaviors which are not acceptable to

other people or society such as threatening, stealing, and taking by force and often

ended with a win-lose solution. Prosocial strategy is a strategy of resolving a

conflict by using behaviors such as negotiation or barter which ended in a “win-

win” condition (Malloy and McMurray, 1996: 203). In order to possess Elie’s

gold tooth, Franek uses an antisocial strategy. In this case, Franek anti-social

strategy was by threatening Elie. By threatening Elie, Franek assumed that Elie

will be scared and willing to give the gold crown tooth away.

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Another Elie’s external or interpersonal conflict is the conflict that he had

against Idek the Kapo. It was when Idek leapt on Elie and hitting him in the chest,

on the head, throwing him down, and blows violently until Elie was covered with

blood (Wiesel, 1982: 50). Instead of fighting back, Elie chose to bite his lips to

stop himself from screaming with pain and because of his silence; Idek stopped

his action of hitting Elie and sent Elie back to work.

Elie Wiesel had another conflict against a prisoner during the journey to

Gleiwitz. It was when someone was laying full length on top of Elie and made

Elie unable to breathe. A thought crossed his mind at that moment.

“This was the end—the end of the road. A silent death, suffocation…“I tried to get rid of my invisible assassin. My hole will to live wascentered in my nails. I scratched. I battled for a mouth of air. I tore atdecaying flesh which did not respond…” (Wiesel, 1982: 89).

The quotation shows how Elie struggled to breath; he struggled against the body

that was laying fully on top him. He was finally able to create a little hole through

which he could breathe (Wiesel, 1982: 90).

During their time both in camp and at evacuation journey, Elie and his

father actually had another type of conflict. It is a conflict between them and the

nature. Perrine defined External conflict into three categories which one of them is

struggle of man versus forces of (1970: 59). Looking at the theory proposed by

Perrine, it can be seen how Elie and his father faced the nature’s fury which in this

story is the cold winter. It was the struggle between them and the cold temperature

during the winter season. In the quotation bellow it can be seen how bad the

winter temperature had become.

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“Winter had come. The days were short, and the nights had become almostunbearable. In the first hours of down, the icy wind cut us like a whip(Wiesel, 1982: 73).

In the quotation Elie shows how hard it is, just to pass one night because it is very

cold. The cold temperature was described by Elie like a whip that cut their body.

Although they were given winter clothes, yet still they felt that they would not be

able to deal with the temperature. During the evacuation journey the cold

temperature of winter shows its fury. Elie mentioned how fury the winter’s fury

by saying “an icy wind blew in violent gusts” (Wiesel, 1982: 81). During the

evacuation journey, Elie and his father struggled against the cold temperature that

already killed many prisoners.

“The icy wind strung my face. I bit my lips continually to prevent themfrom freezing. Around me everything was dancing a dance of death. Itmade my head reel. I was walking in a cemetery, among stiffened corpses,logs of wood (Wiesel, 1982: 84).

In the quotation it can be seen how the icy wind strung Elie’s face and tried to

freeze his lips. It also shows how the winter has killed so many prisoners during

the journey. Elie and his father survived and manage to finish the journey even in

the fury of the cold winter (Wiesel, 1982: 101).

C. The Internal and External Conflicts that reveal Elie’s Motivation of

Survival in Achieving Freedom

Arrived at Birkenau, Elie has become the oppressed as the entire Jewish

have. Enrich Fromm in The Fear of Freedom defined that the longing for freedom

is rooted in all who are oppressed (1960: 1). It means that freedom has become

something that the oppressed people wanted to achieve. As in this story, Elie who

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has become a prisoner also wanted to achieve freedom. Freedom is something

important for every human being. Sartre mentioned that man is free, completely

free and the necessity of man himself is being free because man is condemned to

freedom which means man cannot not to be free or in other words a man must be

free (1956: 560). It means that every human being belongs to freedom. For the

oppressed, freedom has become something valuable and it has become a goal not

only for Elie Wiesel but also for all the oppressed Jewish. His goal of freedom

itself is derived from a motive. Frank J. Burno in Dictionary of Keywords in

Psychology proposed the definition of motive as a hypothetical state in an

organism used to explain its choices and goal-oriented behavior (1986: 140). In

this case, Elie’s hypotetical state is his normal life which is free from the

concentration camp, free from the slavery, free from the oppressor. Living in a

normal life like what Elie had before he was taken to the camp means he is able to

fulfill his psychological needs which are something impossible to do when living

in a concentration camp. The psychological needs are safety needs, belongingness

and love needs, esteem needs, cognitive needs, aesthetic needs, and self-

actualization. Those needs are the needs that every human being has and every

human being will try to fulfill. This desire of fulfilling the psychological needs is

called psychological motives. (Maslow’s theory in Atkinson, Atkinson, and

Hilgard, 1983: 317). Elie’s motive to live in a normal life has directs him toward

his goal. It is supported by Charles G. Morris’ theory which stated that motive is

an inner directing force –a need or want- that arouses the organism and directs

behavior toward a goal (1990: 408).

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Elie knows that freedom is not something that impossible to be attained.

His hope comes from his master’s story. Moshe de Beadle had survived and

managed to get free from the Germans and returned to Sighet to tell the people

about it and also warn them (Wiesel, 1982: 3-5).

But as Paulo Freire said in The Pedagogy of the Oppressed that by being

the oppressed side, freedom is something which the oppressed struggles for in

order to strive to get back their stolen humanity (1973:44). Elie must struggle for

freedom as his goal. An SS officer told the Jewish that being in a concentration

camp means to work. It is related to the inscription that Elie saw which stated

“Work is Liberty” (Wiesel, 1982: 38, 43). It means that in order to be free Elie

must work and in order to work Elie must live. It can be seen that there is a close

relation between freedom and survival. Elie must struggle to survive living in the

concentration camp just in order to be able to see the liberation day and be free at

once. Elie knows that the only chance for him to see the liberation day is to

survive living in the camp and to hope for the German to be defeated in War as

soon as possible. As Elie’s goal, freedom has created a motivation of survival.

Motivation is needed for someone in order to achieve the goal. It is supported by

Gerring and Zimbardo’s suggestion which defined motivation as the process of

starting, directing, and maintaining physical and psychological activities toward a

certain goal (Gerring and Zimbardo, 2002: 364). Elie’s motivation influenced his

mind, actions, and his behavior. His motivation directs and maintains his physical

and psychological activities toward his goal. His motivation grew stronger as he

knew that the German is losing the war to the Allies (Wiesel, 1982: 57-109). It is

49

similar to Petri’s idea that motivation is the forces acting on or within an organism

to initiate and direct behavior (1981: 12). Elie’s motivation can be seen in both

Elie’s internal and external conflicts.

1. Elie’s Motivation Revealed through Elie’s Internal Conflicts

In Elie’s first internal conflict that happened at the reception center for

Auschwitz, Birkenau. The internal conflict started when Elie was asked by

Dr.Mengele about his age and occupation. The conflict itself is closely related to

Elie’s answers toward the questions. The intrapersonal conflict that occurs inside

Elie’s mind was a conflict on what answers he should give to Dr. Mengele. It is a

struggle of making a decision whether he should answer the questions by telling

the truth or should he lie about his age and occupation just like what the prisoner

has asked him to. The conflict is between Elie’s response tendencies toward the

questions (Cofer and Appley, 1968: 413).

He finally lied about his age and occupation. The reason why he lied about

his age and occupation was because he sees an opportunity to live if he answers

“eighteen” and “farmer”. He might pass the selection if he is old enough and

strong enough and become useful to work for the Germans. He thinks that a

fifteen year old boy might no be useful for the Germans but an eighteen year old

boy might. A student might not useful because they are weak but a farmer might

be useful since a farmer is considered stronger than a student. All of those thought

were related to the information that Elie heard during just before entering

Birkenau (Wiesel, 1982: 24). The resolution of the conflict comes fast because it

was the most common type of conflict which according to Cofer and Appley is

50

categorized as the approach-avoidance type of conflict (1968: 433). In this type of

conflict, individual will choose the situation nearest to his goal in order to attain it

and avoid the situation that might fail his attempt in attaining the goal (Cofer and

Appley, 1968: 434). Elie has approached his desire to live. It shows how his

motivation of survival has influenced his decision in answering the question.

Elie’s another conflict is during the selection day in Buna. Similar to the

previous selection, this selection is also a selection between life and death. The

conflict was the struggle between two thoughts inside his mind. Looking to what

Abrams mentioned in Glossary of Literary Terms, that a conflict can be seen as

the conflict of the protagonist against fate, or against the circumstances that stand

between him and a goal he has set himself (1981: 159), it can be seen that in this

case, it was the conflict of Elie himself against his fate whether he shall live or

die. In this part, Elie’s motivation influences his mind and his action. There is

thought derived from his will to survive, his desire to keep on living. It was his

thought of an action to prevent Dr. Mengele see his number and write it down.

The possible action available is running when passing him. He finally managed to

pass the selection because, according to his friend Tibi and Yossi, he was running

too fast for Dr. Mengele to see and write his number (Wiesel, 1982: 69).

In another internal conflict of Elie Wiesel which is the struggle between

his religious side and his logic. His religious side told him to believe in God while

his logic told him to deny his God’s existence. Elie Wiesel is facing a complicated

situation where he has to choose between two things, to still believe in God’s

existence or to deny Him. It is hard for him to deny God’s existence because of

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his religiosity but on the other hand, it is also difficult to accept that God really

existed referring to all terrible things that he had seen before. He had seen the

moments where he found that there were no God’s help or mercy given to the

oppressed Jewish. His logic tries to show to Elie that there are no more reasons for

Elie to keep on believing because God Himself was not even there to help the

babies and the little children. If we relate this case to Perrine’s theory of conflict

as mentioned in his book, Story and Structure, where Perrine defines internal

conflict or psychological conflict as a struggle within a person where the

individual himself is facing a kind of complicated situation in which he or she

should choose the best alternative according to his or her consideration (1970: 54).

Elie’s motivation has influenced his mind and has made him decided not to

believe in God anymore. Elie’s motivation or his will to survive has made him see

that there is no God’s mercy shown in the camp and there is no God’s help offered

to the Jewish. His motivation of survival has shown him that in order to survive,

Elie must not rely on something that is not existed. Elie must rely on something

that existed and more reliable which is Elie’s own strength.

Elie’s motivation can also be seen in the conflict that happen during the

Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur. During the Yom Kippur, all religious Jewish

will fast. The conflict is on whether Elie should fast or not. Elie’s motivation

influenced his decision. Elie knows that in order to survive he needs strength, and

he knows that by fasting means a surer, swifter death (Wiesel, 1982: 66). His

desire toward his goal of freedom and his motivation of survival made him choose

not to fast in order to gain strength. Having strength means able to survive and by

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being able to survive just another day means being closer to his goal. It is similar

to Miller’s theory of motivation in Robert C. Beck’s Motivation Theories and

Principles which stated that the closer an organism is to a positive goal, the

stronger the motivation to approach that goal and the closer an organism to an

aversive goal, the stronger the motivation to escape or avoid the goal (1978:256).

This type of conflict is categorized as the approach-avoidance type of conflict

where in this type of conflict, individual will choose the situation nearest to his

goal in order to attain it and avoid the situation that might fail his attempt in

attaining the goal (Cofer and Appley, 1968: 434). His motivation has made Elie

approached his goal by choosing not to fast and avoided the thing that might fail

his attempt in achieving his goal such as the action of fasting.

In Elie’s conflict during his time in the hospital, Elie simply chose to have

his foot cured instead of believing his neighbor’s opinion and leave. Elie knows

that being cured means being able to work and survive. His will to survive has

made him stay and had an operation to cure his foot. In Elie’s internal conflicts

that involved his father’s existence, Elie’s motivation influences Elie’s mind. He

saw how important survival has become in two different moments. The first

moment is when Elie saw what Rabbi Eliahou’s son did. He leaves his father

behind in order to make distance between them. It seems that he wanted to get rid

of his own father, Rabbi Eliahou. He thinks that his father who turned weak has

become a burden to him which could lessen his own chances of survival (Wiesel,

1982: 87). Elie did not want to become like what Rabbi Eliahou’s son had

become. The second moment is when Elie saw a boy fight his own father just for

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some bread to eat (Wiesel, 1982: 96). These two moments had shown to Elie how

valuable a life is to someone and because of that, a person is willing to do

anything just in order to survive. The importance of survival has penetrated deep

into his mind and influenced his way of thinking. His mind tells him that he needs

all his strength to survive and what he needs is to start thinking about himself.

One day, the head of the block came and saw Elie’s father has become

very ill. He told Elie that there is nothing Elie can do for his father. He told Elie

that he should not forget that in a concentration camp every man has to fight for

himself and not to think of anyone else. Even of his father. The head told Elie that

in the concentration camp there are no fathers, no brothers, and no friends because

everyone lives and dies for himself alone. Elie listened to the head of the block

without interrupting. He faced another conflict in his mind. The conflict was on

whether he should listen to what the Head of the block has said and let his father

died or not to listen to it and try to save his father. Elie thinks that it is too late to

save his father. If he chooses not to save his father, he will have one extra soup

and bread which belong to his father. This conflict that Elie faced is related to a

situation which according to Rossiter and Pearce as a Self-estrangement. In

psychology, there is such a situation which considered as Self-estrangement. The

term Self-estrangement presumes that each of us has within us an inner self that

consist of what we really are, what we really believe, and what we really think.

Rossiter and Pearce suggested that internal struggle that accompanies self-

estrangement forces us to choose between behaviors consistent with our own self-

image and behaviors with another’s opinion of how we should act or think (1975:

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154). Elie Wiesel has to choose between his own self-image which is a loving boy

who cares for his father or another’s opinion which in this case is the opinion of

the Head of the block. Elie’s internal conflicts about his father were also related to

what Burgon and Ruffner suggested. According to them, intrapersonal conflict

results when an individual, on the basis of his or her own behavior or other related

experiences, perceives himself or herself in a manner inconsistent with previous

held notions of self-concept (1977: 484). In the previous lines, it is mentioned that

Elie Wiesel did not want to become like what Rabbi Eliahou’s son had become, a

boy who considered his father as his burden and may lessen his chance to survive.

Although all the resolutions of Elie’s conflict related to his father existence shows

that he loves his father and take a good care of him, unfortunately, at the end of

the story it can be seen how Elie’s motivation influenced his mind and action. His

motivation of survival forced his mind to stop thinking about his father. His will

to survive forced Elie to abandon his father. Dysentery has made Chlomo Wiesel

weak, and his weak condition has become a burden for Elie. In order to survive,

Elie must forget about his father. Finaly, Elie decided not to look after his father

anymore and focused on himself. It can be seen from how Elie did not react when

an officer beat his father violently (Wiesel, 1982: 105-106). Elie continue his

activities in the camp as if there is nothing happened and when his father

summons him, he did not response it (Wiesel, 1982: 106). There is an

inconsistency between what he thinks he is and what he wanted to become with

what Elie had become at the end of the story.

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2. Elie’s Motivation Revealed through Elie’s External Conflicts

In the concentration camp, Elie faced several external conflicts. The

conflicts were between him and his father. One of them was when his father came

to Elie and gives him his knife and spoon. Elie’s father knows that the knife and

spoon might be very useful for Elie. They might become something helpful for

Elie’s survival. That is why he insisted to give it to his son as for him self he

might not need it anymore. Chlomo thinks that he will not be able to see his son

anymore. It is because He must stay in the camp while Elie with other prisoners

must leave the camp. Another conflict that Elie faced that shows the importance

of survival is the conflict between Elie and his father was during the evacuation to

Gleiwitz. The conflict itself was when Elie’s father forced Elie not to fall a sleep

in the snow. Chlomo did not want Elie to fall asleep in the snow because it is very

dangerous. He knows that if Elie fall asleep in the snow, Elie will be dead. He

concerned his son’s survival. He tried to keep his son alive. It can be seen that the

struggle was between Elie’s desire to sleep and Chlomo’s desire not to let his son

fall asleep. Elie came up with a solution for their conflict. He tells his father that

they can sleep one after another where one will stay awake to watch while another

sleeps (Wiesel, 1982: 85). Elie offers this solution because he knows that they

need rest for a while in order to gain stranght to continue the journey. By having

strength to continue the journey means having a bigger chance to survive.

Elie’s motivation of survival also can be seen in Elie’s external conflict

with a prisoner in Birkenau. A prisoner forced his idea about Elie and his father’s

age. Elie accepted it because he sees an opportunity to stay alive if he lies about

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his age and his occupation. This thought related to some information that Elie

heard before reaching Birkenau (Wiesel, 1982:24). There were conflicts between

Elie and the Jew dentist from Czechoslovakia and Elie and Franek where both

Franek and the dentist wanted to take Elie’s gold tooth. Elie refused to give it

away because Elie believes that the tooth might be very useful for his survival. He

believes that the gold tooth might be useful to him one day such as to buy food or

perhaps it might safe his life (Wiesel, 1982: 50).

Elie’s another external or interpersonal conflict is the conflict that he had

against Idek the Kapo. It was when Idek leapt on Elie and hitting him in the chest,

on the head, throwing him down, and blows violently until Elie was covered with

blood (Wiesel, 1982: 50). Instead of fighting back, Elie chose to bite his lips to

stop himself from screaming with pain and because of his silence; Idek stopped

his action of hitting Elie and sent Elie back to work. It shows that Elie’s will to

survive has influenced his mind, action and behavior. He knows that if he fights

Idek back, he might die. But if he stay still and keep in silence, he might survive.

Elie Wiesel had another conflict against a prisoner during the journey to

Gleiwitz. It was when someone was laying full length on top of Elie and made

Elie unable to breathe. Elie struggled to breath; he struggled against the body that

was laying fully on top him in order to breathe. He refused to die. His motivation

forced him to act of creating a hole to breathe. He was finally able to create a little

hole through which he could breathe (Wiesel, 1982: 90). During their time both in

camp and at evacuation journey, Elie and his father actually had another type of

conflict. It is a conflict between them and the nature. Elie and his father faced the

57

nature’s fury which in this story is the cold winter. It was the struggle between

them and the cold temperature during the winter season. It was their will to live

that made them manage to survive. Elie and his father have avoided the thing that

might kill them such as to fall asleep in the snow. At the end of the story, Elie

managed to survive until the liberation day. He has gone through so many

conflicts and able to get through. He achieved his goal of freedom (Wiesel, 1982:

109).

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

In the last part of this thesis, the writer draws the conclusion of what is

discussed in Chapter IV of this study. After analyzing the novel Night, the writer

can conclude that the objective of the study is achieved as the writer gained the

answers for the problem formulations stated in chapter one. First is about

answering the description of Elie Wiesel and Chlomo Wiesel’s characterization.

Second is about answering Elie’s internal and external conflicts found in the story.

Third is about answering how Elie’s motivation revealed through his conflicts.

Elie is described as a religious boy. He fully believes the existence of God

in life as the one who brought peace, love, justice, help, and all the good things in

life (Wiesel, 1982: 1-26). In such a young age, Elie already learned things about

his religion such as Talmud. Elie and his family always perform every Jewish

religious ritual such as the Passover. Elie also described as a loving person. In the

camp, Elie also showed his characteristic as a loving person. He cares and loves

his father so much. He prevents his father from sleeping in the outside, in the

freezing temperature because he believes that to fall a sleep means to die. Elie’s

love for his father can also be seen from how he encourages his father and from

how he looked after his father when Chlomo Wiesel gone ill of dysentery. Elie

Wiesel is also described as a brave boy. He shows his bravery during his time in

the concentration camp by dare to refuse to give his shoes to the assistant of the

quarantine tent, refuses to give his gold tooth to the Dentist and Franek. Although

he is threatened by Franek, he still refuses to give away his crown. As we can see

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59

in the analysis, Chlomo Wiesel is described as a wise and loving person. As a

wise person, Chlomo Wiesel plays an important role in the society and often

asked by the Jewish society for his advices about many things either public

matters or private ones. Chlomo is also pictured as a loving person. During the

time in the concentration camp, Chlomo’s love toward Elie can be seen from how

he tries to protect his son with all the strength left.

As we move to the answer of the second and third problem formulation, it

can be seen that Elie has faced many internal and external conflicts during his

time in the concentration camp. Elie’s motivation of survival influenced every

conflict he has. Based on the things which are related to internal conflicts, the

internal conflicts can be divided into four categories. The first category is his

internal conflict related to the selection process. It happened in Birkenau and

Buna. The conflict was about making decision during the selection. His

motivation influenced his mind in making the decision. His mind forced Elie to

make decisions that can help him to achieve his goal of freedom. The second

category is his internal conflict related to God’s existence. It was a conflict

between his logic and his religiosity side. The conflict involved Elie’s religiosity

where he must decide whether to keep on believe in God or not and whether he

should rely on God’s help or should rely on his own strength in order to survive.

Elie’s motivation of survival influenced his mind in making the decision. Elie

choose to rely on his own strength because this action offers him a greater chance

to survive and achieve his goal. The third category is his internal conflict related

to his father’s existence. It was a struggle inside him about whether he should

60

keep on looking after his father or start to look after himself. Elie decided to stop

thinking and helping his father and start focusing on himself because his goal to

survive forced him to avoid things that might fail Elie’s attempt in achieving his

goal. The forth category is his internal conflict related to other person’s opinion or

idea. It was a conflict inside him between his own idea and other person’s idea. In

this case, his will to survive has made him chose things that might help him

achieve his goal and avoid things that might fail his attempt. Based on the things

which are related to his external conflicts, the external conflicts can be divided

into three categories. The first category is his external conflict related to his father

existence. The conflict was between the incompatible ideas of Elie and his father.

Elie’s motivation forced him to choose ideas that support his survival and help his

attempt to achieve his goal of freedom. The second category is his external

conflict related to other persons where his father is not included. The conflict was

between Elie and Franek, the dentist, the assistant of the camp, Idek the Capo and

other prisoners. It is also involved incompatible ideas, desires, and actions. In this

case, Elie’s motivation influenced his mind to choose ideas that support his

survival and help his attempt to achieve his goal of freedom. His motivation also

influenced his action as he only approaches things that can fulfill his goal. The

third category is his external conflict related to the nature. It was a conflict where

Elie and his father struggled against the fury of nature force which is the cold

temperature of the winter. Elie’s will to survive has motivated him not to give up

and keep on fighting although the weather is killing him.

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In conclusion, as being the oppressed, freedom has become a goal of Elie

Wiesel. Elie knows that in order to achieve his goal of freedom where he finally

see the liberation day and set free from the concentration camp, he needs a

motivation that directs and maintains his physical and psychological activities

toward his goal. This goal creates a motivation. His motivation is to survive living

in the concentration camp because Elie realizes that in order to achieve his goal he

must stay alive until the liberation day come. His motivation of survival which is

derived from his goal of freedom has influenced his mind, action, and his

behavior. The influences of his motivation are revealed through both his internal

and external conflicts.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abrams, M.H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. New York: Holt, Reinhart andWinston. 1981.

Atkinson, Rita L., Richard C. Atkinson, and Ernest R. Hilgard, Introduction toPsychology. 8th ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc., 1983.

Beck, Robert C., Motivation Theories and Principles. New Jersey: EnglewoodCliffs, Prentice-Hall Inc., 1978.

Burgoon, Michael and Michael Ruffner. Human Communication. New York:Holt, Reinhart and Winston, 1977.

Burno, Frank J. Dictionary of Keywords in Psychology. Worcester: Billing andSons Ltd., 1986.

Cofer, C.N. and M.H. Appley. Motivation: Theory and Reaserch. New York: JohnWilley & Sons, Inc., 1968.

Freire, Paulo. The Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books,1973.

Fromm, Enrich. The Fear of Freedom. London: Broadway House, Routledge andKegan Paul Ltd., 1960.

Gerring, Richard J. and Philip G. Zimbardo. Psychology and Life. 16th ed. Boston:Allyn & Bacon, 2002.

Guralnik, David B. Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary. New Delhi:Oxford & IBH, 1975.

Holman, C. High and William Harmon. A Handbook to Literature. New York:Macmilan Publishing Company, 1986.

Hudson, W.H. An Introduction to the Study of Literature. London: Morrison &Gibb, Ltd., 1958.

Maggil, Frank N. Critical Survey of Long Fiction. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs,Salem Press., 1983.

Malloy, Heidi L. and Paula McMurray, Conflict Strategies and Resolutions: PeerConflict in an Intergrated Early Childhood Classroom. Journal ofPsychology. Iowa: Iowa State University, 1996.

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McKean, Erin. The New Oxford American Dictionary. 2nd Edition. New York:Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005.

Morris, Charles G. Psychology: An Introduction. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.,1990.

Murphy, M. J. Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English Poetry and theEnglish Novel for Overseas Students. London: George Allen & Unwin,Ltd., 1972.

Perrine, Laurence. Literature, Structure, Sound, and Sense. New York: HarcourtBrace & World, Inc., 1974.

Perrine, Laurence. Story and Structure. 3rd Edition. New York: HarcourtBrace & World, Inc., 1970.

Petri, L. Herbert. Motivation: Theory and Research. Belmont: WadsworthPublishing Company, Inc., 1981.

Roberts, Edgar V. and Henry, E. Jacobs. Fiction: An Introduction to Reading andWriting. New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs Prentice Hall, Inc., 1987.

Rodman, Crosby, E. A Second Book of Plays. New York: The MacmilanCompany., 1964.

Rossiter, Charles, Jr. and Barnet Pearce. CommunicatingPersonally. Chicago: BobMerril, 1975.

Sartre, Jean Paul (translated by H.E. Barnes). Being and Nothingness. New York:Washington Square Press., 1956.

Summers, Della. Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture. Essex:Longman Group UK Limited., 1992.

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Bantam Books., 1982.

Online Sources:

“Critical Analysis of Elie Wiesel's Night”

http://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/103569.htmlaccessed on April, 06th 2009

“Contemporary-Literary-Criticism of Night”http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-literary-criticism/wiesel-elie-vol-165accessed on April, 06th 2009

64

Donadio, Rachel.‘The Story of Night”http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/books/review/Donadio-t.html.Accessed on May, 28th 2009,

Powell's City of Books , “Synopses & Reviews of Night”,http://www.powells.com/biblio?PID=27086&cgi=product&isbn=0553272535accessed on April, 06th 2009

65

APPENDIX

Summary of Elie Wiesel’s Night

The Nazis caused more destruction than just killing innocent Jews, they

destroyed their peace, God, and humanity. Elie Wiesel's Night, illustrates that by

telling his experience in the concentration camps. Elie begins to question his

strong feelings for God. He is left only with is memory of having privacy and

peace as he did in Sighet. Elie loses his respect of being treated as a human rather

than an animal. The experience of Night is fatal to Elie as it destroys his peace, his

God, and his humanity. Elie's faith for God weakens more and more. In the

beginning, Elie's love for the Lord is very powerful. “During the day, I studied

Talmud, and at night, I run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the

temple” (1982: 1). Elie practices Judaism every day by going to the synagogue

where he prays. Elie first sees the crematories and the ditches that were deaths to

so many Jews. “For the first time, I felt revolt rise up in me. Why should I bless

his name? The eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-powerful and Terrible was

silent. What had I to thank him for?” (1982: 31). Elie is unsure about God and

what he is doing to them. Elie is finally convinced that God has given up on him.

“I felt very strong. I was the accuser, God the accused. My eyes were open and

terribly alone in the world without God and without man. Without love or mercy”

(1982: 65). Elie no longer relies on God. He is on his own. By the end of the

book, Elie's faith for God has been so watered down, and it will take him a long

time to regain that faith. In the beginning of the book, Elie and his family lived

undisturbed and very peacefully. "A wind of calmness and reassurance blew

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66

through our houses" (1982: 7). Elie and his family had their own personal space

and just went with the flow. When Elie arrives at the camps, he soon realizes that

it won't be like at home at all. "Even if you were simply passing from one to the

other, several times a day, you still had to go through the baths every time" (1982:

38). Elie knew he would no longer have any privacy and peace as he is used to.

Near the end of the book, Elie witnesses a boy name Juliek who had brought his

violin with him because he loved playing so much. "When I awake, in the

daylight, I could see Juliek, opposite me, slumped over, dead, near him lay his

violin, smashed, trampled, a strange overwhelming little corpse" (1982: 47). Elie

is only left with the memory of happiness of his life in Sighet and his peace has

been completely destroyed. Elie's lifestyle has a very drastic change from when he

was living in Sighet to when he was at the death camps. Elie and his family

celebrate the Jewish holiday, Passover. "We drank, we ate, we sang. The bible

bade us rejoice during the seven days of the feast to be happy" (1982: 8). He is

able to honor this Jewish holiday like any other normal holiday as he always does

for Jewish tradition. When they arrive at the concentration camp, Elie begins to

realize that he will no longer be treated as he is at home. "Strip! Fast! Los! Keep

only your belts and shoes in your hand..." (1982: 32). When the Nazis tell him to

do something, then it'd to be done even if it violates his humanity. The Nazi's not

only handles the Jews dead bodies like animals, but also the other prisoners don't

think much of the dead bodies either. "’Throw out all the dead! All corpses

outside!’ The living rejoiced because there was more room". As the Jews die, they

are thrown out of the train like they are logs. Not only did the Nazis take Elie's

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humanity away, but also Elie take the humanity away from the other prisoners.

The concentration camps affected everybody in every way, not just death. The

Nazi's stripped all of the Jews of humanity. The experience of Night is fatal to

Elie as it destroys his peace, his God, and his humanity.

( http://www.essayexpress.com/essay/012040.html)

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