Introduction
The novel ‘Night’ covers the life of Weisel and his experience with his father Shlomo. The story is a personal experience and gives an insight of what Weisel went through with his father. He narrates how they suddered in the hands of the military personnel that even led to the death of his father. The setting of the story is in the Nazi German Concentration camps. This was towards the end of the Second World War. The writer is so much disgusted with humanity and believes that God is dead. He is left to take care of his aging father who dies in the hands of the harsh inhuman soldiers who beat him up thoroughly and leave him to die. Throughout the book, events are inverted and there is no one to take care of the other. Everybody struggles with his life alone and when death knocks, a person dies alone. After the painful experience of Weisel, he vowed not to speak to anyone about his experience for ten years. Literature for Today’s Young Adults
Chapter 8 of this book, ‘History and History Makers: Of People and Places’ cover several things that took place just before the end of the Second World War. The book is divided into 6 different sections which include: Historical fiction, Westerns, Books about war, Literature of the Holocaust, Books about Vietnam and Concluding comments. This chapter has most of the writings derived from fictional sources.
Historical fiction is about some historical events which took place but there is no evidence to support the same. Some of the events are just thought to have taken place. They are generally not factual. Westerns section shows the invasion of the western countries and their contribution towards the war. In books about war, there are stories about the authenticity of life story and autobiographical writings. Readers appreciate the drama and the pity that is portrayed by the fiction writers. The writers try the best they can to bring about the story in a manner that the readers can think that they are presenting first hand information. There are also articles about the literature of the Holocaust and books about Vietnam. All these revolve around war.
The two novels are war oriented. They have their theme revolving around war (the Second World War). They give an in depth encounter with the harsh forces during the war.
The Novel ‘Night’ by Elie Weisel is about personal experience and do not have any form of fiction in its representation. However, Chapter 8 of the textbook ‘Literature for Today’s Young adults’ by Nilson and Donelson is characterized by fiction. Most of the stories in this chapter are just narrated by the authors but not from a first person’s point of view.
Both novels have a moody background. This is as a result of the problems and torture which is brought about by war. The novel ‘night’ brings about the story how the author’s father died as a result of beatings that he got from the soldiers. On the other hand, chapter 8 of the novel ‘Literature for Today’s Young adults’ gives a coverage of the Vietnam war and how many people lost their lives. The books are a good source for studying history especially war related history.
Conclusion
The two books deal with war and they show us how several innocent souls suffered in the hands of military men. They are very good books for studying history about war. Elie Weisel’s book ‘Night’ is very emotional and bearing in mind that the story is a true encounter brings too much emotion. The other books discussed in Chapter 8 of textbook Literature for Today’s Young adults by Nilson and Donelson are fiction. The authors in these books try the much they can so as to make the fictional stories appear as real. Both books are very productive especially when one wants to study history of war and how they ended.
Work Cited List
Allen Nilsen & Kenneth Donelson. Literature for Today’s Young Adults (8th Edition)
Elie Weisel. Night
