Night: Week of 3/23

     Honestly, I've only read one other book about the Holocaust...years ago. That book was The Boy Who Dared, which, thinking back, was more about Nazis, Hitler, and WWII than the Holocaust. Quite honestly, I didn't really enjoy it. Maybe because I really had no background knowledge about the topic at the time or it simply wasn't my type of book, but it made me kind of worried that I wouldn't enjoy Night. **I don't even get why I didn't like it, I mean everyone likes The Boy Who Dared. Maybe I just have to read it again.

     Naturally, I'm very glad my worry has been for nothing. Night has proven itself to be very interesting, giving a unique perspective when Elie sort of reflects on the events he writes about. In The Boy Who Dared, there were moments where the author would switch from the main character's past to his future. I'm noticing that there's an obvious difference between a second source doing something like that compared to a prime source, like Elie, doing the same thing. Elie is able to provide much more details and give more insight because, of course, he was actually there. This is one of the things making Night just a really interesting read.

     When reading this book, it's strange for me to think about the fact that the things Elie is describing actually happened. The idea of babies being thrown and shot in the air or piled up in carts seems incredibly bizarre...surely such macabre couldn't have ever happened. But it did. It's very hard to deny the ghastliness of the Holocaust when you can find photos of bags filled with the corpses of the babies or the piles left out in the open. Elie's descriptions have left me with more knowledge on the Holocaust, making me wonder if ignorance is bliss in this situation. While now I know even more haunting information about the Holocaust, it's an interesting part of the world's history showing the things people can really do. I'm glad Elie has brought this to light.