Separation motiff in Night essays

Separation motiff in Night essays Separation is the simple act isolating someone from someone else. But yet this simple act can have a terrible result, especially if the two people need each other. This horrendous act of seizing a loved one from another occurs multiple times in Elie Wiesels Night. Millions of Jews had to suffer this separation under the hands of Hitler and the Nazis. This unbearable separation for many is a recurring motif in Night and in Elies time as a prisoner. The first example of separation is in Madame Schachter. She was separated from her husband and two eldest sons and the separation had completely broken her. This separation had such power over Madam Schachter that she became crazy and hysterical, which greatly disturbed Elie. It had an unconscious effect on Elie which gave him the urge to stay with his family. To be separated from ones family at this time was to be separated from the reminders of ones life. After separation, there was no longer any reason to live. Madame Schachter had already died on the inside even before reaching the camp because the separation was just too much for her to handle. Separation broke up families and lives. Upon their arrival to Birkenau, Elie was separated from his mother and sisters; Men to the left! Women to the right! This left Elie with the thought not to be separated from his father. Elie knew that to be separated from his father was to die. His father was the only person who loved him at these death camps. To take away his love was to take away Elies last strands of hope and of perseverance. To separate Elie and his father would be to take away Elies reason for living. At the march to Glewitz, Elie said, My fathers presence was the only thing that stopped me...I had no right to let myself die. What would he do without me? Elies only will to survive came from the knowledge he ...