The value of life and death becomes meaningless to someone when they witness any catastrophic event that results in the demise of human life. This is a theme that was observed in at least one historical event: the Holocaust. In his book Night, Elie Wiesel told the story of his experience as a Jew in concentration camps. He tells how the perception of life and death changed amongst the Jews as they experienced life in the hands of the Nazis. In the beginning of his story, Wiesel implies how much life was valued by all Jews. He shows this by displaying the sheer dismay the Jews showed as they witnessed the destruction of their own. Wiesel himself could not believe the obliteration of human life. “No. All this could not be real. A nightmare perhaps.” (Wiesel 32) This is one account of Wiesel describing his thought process as he witnessed men, women and children being burned.
Then, as the story progresses, the focus of the theme shifts as the Jews no longer understand and appreciate the value of life, but the meaningless of death. Through their experience in concentration camps, they witness inhumane acts of murder and the gradual destruction of the Jewish race. Wiesel himself admitted how meaningless death had become. He even embraced it. He wrote “The idea of dying, of ceasing to be, began to fascinate me.” He was so used to seeing corpses, that life had no meaning. He wasn’t the only one to feel this way either. “Beneath our feet there lay men, crushed, trampled underfoot, dying. Nobody paid attention to them.” (Wiesel 89) The whole Jewish race officially denied any purpose of existence. As seen in accounts from Night, the holocaust is an example of how the theme, that life and death can become meaningless, is displayed.
Then, as the story progresses, the focus of the theme shifts as the Jews no longer understand and appreciate the value of life, but the meaningless of death. Through their experience in concentration camps, they witness inhumane acts of murder and the gradual destruction of the Jewish race. Wiesel himself admitted how meaningless death had become. He even embraced it. He wrote “The idea of dying, of ceasing to be, began to fascinate me.” He was so used to seeing corpses, that life had no meaning. He wasn’t the only one to feel this way either. “Beneath our feet there lay men, crushed, trampled underfoot, dying. Nobody paid attention to them.” (Wiesel 89) The whole Jewish race officially denied any purpose of existence. As seen in accounts from Night, the holocaust is an example of how the theme, that life and death can become meaningless, is displayed.