Luke Blog Post #1

In Night, the first chapter is very emotionally moving. There is one passage I find very moving and explains what happens during and before the war.

TWO GHETTOS were created in Sighet. A large one in the center of town occupied four streets, and another smaller one extended over several alleyways on the outskirts of town. The street we lived on, Serpent Street, was in the first ghetto. We therefore could remain in our house. But, as it occupied a corner, the windows facing the street outside the ghetto had to be sealed. We gave some of our rooms to relatives who had been driven out of their homes. (Wiesel 11)

The line that stands out to me here is, “We gave some of our rooms to relatives who had been driven out of their homes.” This is because it tells me what happened to them, and they were packed into tight rooms with little to no room. I find this moving because I have watched some movies about the Holocaust, and though I was not there, I would like to think I know a thing or two about the living conditions such as here and knowing the deep details. Where it says “the windows facing the street outside the ghetto had to be sealed” that is foreshadowing to page 14 where it says something about if the window was open they could have escaped.

The author seems to be writing in detail, but not over doing it so it still seems realistic. Wiesel is using simple language, however this language that he is using is very powerful. Such as “Everything had to be handed over to the authorities”. This is very easy to read and understand, but Wiesel is making it sound like he didn’t understand what was happening. He is also writing in ways that sorta seem like two different people, himself as a child and himself while writing the book. The “handing over” was more like stealing and being brutally forced to give the authorities the gold, instead of handed over to the police.