Question

what is the primary lesson that wiesel teaches us in night? choose specific characters and scenes which convey this lesson

Answer 1

Wiesel's primary purpose for teaching Night is to show the horrors of the Holocaust so that the world will never forget and make the same mistake again. In chapter one of the novel, Wiesel repeatedly shows how the citizens of Sighet ignored signs of the Nazi occupation. He explains how they downplayed what was happening to them when they were forced to wear the star and officers were quartered in their homes. He wants the world to remember how easily it is for atrocities to occur when people do nothing. When remembering his first night in camp, Wiesel writes, "Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky...Never shall I forget those things, even were I condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never." The repetition of "Never shall I forget" pleads with the reader to remember as well as emphasizes the horrors. Remember the horrors of the Holocaust and never repeat them.