Isolation In Night By Elie Wiesel

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Isolation
Sukarno once said, “The worst cruelty that can be inflicted on a human being is isolation.” In Night by Elie Wiesel, Anna Karenina directed by Joe Wright, and The Old Guitarist by Pablo Picasso, the protagonists all struggle with isolation. Social isolation, along with all of its consequences, begins with society’s rejection of a cultural, moral, or physical difference in one person.
Elie Wiesel, a Jew removed from his home and relocated to Auschwitz, is an outcast and is isolated from the rest of society because of his religion. When Elie first arrives to the death camp, he describes his surroundings as “empty and dead” (Wiesel 47). Elie’s first impression of the camps foreshadows the way he will feel during his times in the camp. …show more content…
He expresses no pain or suffering because there is no reason to live. The Nazis break the Jews’ spirits by constantly degrading them and reiterating their worthlessness and inferiority. Because nobody cares about Elie’s well-being, he begins to develop a mental indifference which causes depression. Elie would rather have his life end than go on suffering in the camps. After the constant beatings and verbal abuse from the Nazis, Elie says, “I had neither the desire nor the resolve to get up” (Wiesel 88). The brutality the Nazis show toward the Jews is unimaginable. The infinite torture and malnourishment is good reason for Elie to not ever get up again. Elie believes that it is impractical to get up only to receive countless blows by the Nazis. The Nazis do not believe Elie and his people are human beings because he has a different culture and God. The Nazis’ goal is to create a sense of fear and hopelessness in Elie and his fellow Jews. The Nazis desire for the Jews to feel unwanted and isolated from society. They create this sense by forcing Elie and all the other Jews to wear a yellow star to signify he is a Jew and [move] all the Jews into ghettos (Wiesel). By forcing the Jews into ghettos, the Nazis shut-out all the Jews’ communication with the outside …show more content…
When Count Vronsky, the soldier who Anna has an affair with speaks with Anna about their relationship, he says, “There can be no peace for us, only misery” (Anna Karenina). Because Anna leaves her husband to be with Count Vronsky, society derides her with gossip and excludes her. During her marriage with Karenin, Anna freely speaks with whoever she wants to, but once she leaves Karenin, Anna loses her position in society and is unable to converse with her family or friends. There can be no peace for Anna due to the fact that her community gossips about her constantly and ostracize her from social events and everyday life. After they begin their affair, Anna tells Vronsky, “I’ve got nothing left now except you, remember that.” Everyone shuts Anna out and isolates her because she has an affair, which adds pressure to her relationship with Vronsky because he is now expected to satisfy her needs. By publicly leaving her husband, Anna signifies that she is leaving the man who protects her and is facing the world on her own, completely separate from her previous life, with nobody left to support her. Count Vronsky is the only person left in Anna’s life who supports her, so it is vital for Anna to never lose him. Anna tells Vronsky that he has “murdered [her] happiness.” Anna’s need to socialize becomes stronger and harder to contain as she sits
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