“The only thing there is to fear, is fear itself” by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Through the holocaust many fear on topics of death, but if one always fears looking into the future we will never be able to enjoy the present. In the novel, Night by Elie Wiesel we know the holocaust is horrific, which showed the pain that many went through and from this we can interpret how fear can be caused by events in the future that the Jews are not able to predict. This shows why in the moment they could not live up to their full desires. In the novel, Night fear grows even more and more from each stage of the book impacting the way people think, see, and feel about different incidents they witness.
In the beginning of the book, Night fear is used to express deep emotion changing over time that plays on the beliefs of people. Elie Wiesel experiences a first-hand incident with fear but, stays strong to withhold weakness as he expresses “The barbed wire that encircled us like a wall did not fill us with real fear” (Wiesel 11). Through the beginning of the novel, it is known that Elie fears what may happen in the future, although, he ignores his emotions and forces his mind to believe in an unrealistic hope, so that he is not flustered with emotion early on. This demonstrates why Elie goes with a strong mind, to avoid confrontation and explains how his beliefs prove that mindset. He now starts to think about the advantages of the barbed wire like being together with the people he loves.
Towards the middle of the book, Elie Wiesel presents the idea that fear becomes something that consumes many and through this people change their behavior and actions when placed under a tense situation. For instance, Elie Wiesel witnesses an experience, where a man is starving. Through this, he tries to go to get one or two rations of soup and cannot because “Either out of weakness or out of fear, he remained there undoubtedly to muster his strength” (Wiesel 59). From the middle of the novel, one can interpret the kind of community Elie lives in now, where one must sacrifice their life to even survive, and why many would fear every day not knowing what could happen next. This meant fear symbolized what it is to have strong emotions which would eventually shape the actions and decisions of people and how they would scope for the future.
Towards the end of the book, Elie Wiesel conceptualizes the idea of how fear can take over your entire mind to the point where it affects your daily lifestyle. Elie experiences a traumatizing incident where his dad is about to die and feels devastated especially because to Elie, he was someone who kept darkness and loneliness away. Now, Elie experiences fear at its deepest level, and he feels obligated to take on the responsibility of his dad. He puts fear and anxiety on himself to make sure his dad is safe when he conveys “The old familiar fear, not to lose him” (Wiesel 104).
One can analyze how Elie’s emotions towards his father show he is compassionate and willingly could give up his life for the one person who sacrificed his life to make sure he was okay. Through this, we know too much fear can drift apart loved ones you care about such as, when placed under a life or death situation like Elie which soon his fear becomes a burden and obligation he carries inside and regrets later on.
In the novel Night, fear is always changing people and their perceptions at different stages of the book, one can see how the experiences they witness change the meaning of real fear. Fear is always bringing something new and always affects people in different ways. The ideas of fear bring new beliefs, attitudes or behaviors, outlooks etc. changing people’s mind and perception for the worse.
