Comparison Of Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken And Elie Wiesel’s Night
Within the memoir, Night by Elie Wiesel and the biography Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, the different perspectives, ideas and beliefs of the protagonists are presented through the author’s use of language techniques. The major theme of survival in both texts is interwoven with the sub-themes; religion, relationships and forgiveness. Both texts portray the importance of the main characters religious beliefs of Judaism and Christianity, these are shown to correlate and support the main characters faith in surviving. The connection and later segregation of family and friendship are also demonstrated to be an important factor in maintaining hope and a belief in God. Contrastingly, forgiveness is shown differently in both texts, Elie demonstrates his unforgiving thoughts on the Nazi’s while Hillenbrand shows Louis Zamperini’s merciful demeanour.
Religious belief is an important factor in the survival of the protagonists in the two texts Night and Unbroken. The values and beliefs of Judaism are effectively depicted within the text Night to demonstrate Elie’s underlying faith in God. Elie’s faith remains and dissipates from the beginning when Elie is forced to leave his home to be transported to a concentration camp. He leaves behind his religious exertions, home and sincerity, “I looked at my house in which I had spent years seeking my God, fasting to hasten the coming of the Messiah, imagining what my life would be like later. Yet I felt little sadness. My mind was empty”. Elie’s reference to his ‘Messiah’, a Jewish king from Judaism eschatology that is considered a saviour of the Jewish nation also foreshadows death and the destiny of the Jews. Elie’s concealed foreshadowing of death to non-religious readers is ingenious. Although Elie hasn’t lost faith in surviving, he realises that his religious strength is going to slowly deteriorate making him feel demoralised. Later in the text, Elie’s belief in God is challenged when he sees “men, women, and children… being burned”, within Judaism and the text, human life is correlated to Elie’s faith in God. “Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever”, the powerful use of anaphora and symbolism indirectly depicts the flames being the demon that consumes Elie’s belief in God. Furthermore, Elie states “A prayer formed inside me, a prayer to this God in whom I no longer believed”, the repetition of ‘a prayer’ demonstrates the importance of praying, Elie still prays in order to maintain strength and to remain supportive of his sick father. The reader is shown that the flames and segregation of his house and family have caused Elie’s belief in God to burn. Contrastingly, as a youngster Louie’s beliefs and commitment to religion were antagonistic in comparison to Elie, Louie’s parents Louise and Anthony forced Louie to attend church and follow Christianity. Louie’s behaviour as a youngster was rebellious where on multiple occasions, he created havoc, “Louie climbed the steeple of a Baptist church, rigged the bell with piano wire, strung the wire into a nearby tree, and roused the police… The more credulous townsfolk called it a sign from God”. The bell and steeple are traditional symbols of Christianity, Hillenbrand effectively demonstrates to the reader Louie’s contempt for Christianity and the church in his youth. However, later in the book Louie matures and reframes back to a religious eulogy in order to remain strong after his crew member has died, Louie “recited disjointed passages… ending with a few words about committing the body to the sea… vowing that if God would save them, he would serve heaven forever”. Ironically, Louie’s previous profane behaviour towards Christianity later sees himself relying upon his faith for mental strength. Louie’s crew member Russel Phillips deeply follows religion spending most of his time on the raft singing hymns. It is said to believe that Louie absorbs Phil’s spirituality demonstrating to the reader the importance of their friendship. The later imprisonment and torture by the Japanese causes estrangement and separation, it challenges both of their ability to stay faithful to their religion and remain mentally persistent.
The effects of family and friendship are proven to be essential in both texts but are both portrayed contrastingly. Elie selectively focuses on staying connected to his father with the apprehension of his mother and sisters, while Louie seemingly devotes his friendship to his crew member Russel. Louie follows and absorbs not just Russel’s spirituality but his fortitude and perseverance, therefore, strengthening himself. What also supports Louie and Russel is the thought and discussion of Louie’s mothers cooking. Elie’s concern for his family begins when they are unwillingly forced out of their house, “My father was crying… my mother, she was walking, her face a mask, without a word, deep in thought… my little sister, Tzipora… a little girl of seven… the police were lashing out with their clubs. ‘Faster!’ I had no strength left. The journey had just begun and I already felt so weak.” Elie powerfully describes the emotion of his mother by using a metaphor to describe ‘her face [as] a mask’, this portrays to the reader the distressing emotions in which the Jews are suffering. Elie and his family set off to a new life where his vitality is consumed from the anxious anticipation of his family’s safety. To further challenge Elie and his family, they are divided by gender, “that was the moment when I left my mother... we were alone… I didn't know that this was the moment in time and the place where I was leaving my mother and Tzipora forever”. The alliteration of ‘we’ and ‘were’ highlights the word ‘alone’ that foreshadows the loss of companionship of his father later in the book. Also, Elie’s pessimistic thoughts about his mother and sisters negatively impacts his belief in God and surviving. The later death of Elie’s father is demonstrated to be a crucial part of the text but is portrayed as less poignant towards Elie than anticipated. Elie indicates a somewhat narcissistic behaviour after the death of his father, “since my father's death, nothing mattered to me anymore… I spent my days in total idleness. With only one desire: to eat. I no longer thought of my father, or my mother. From time to time, I would dream. But only about soup, an extra ration of soup”. The use of repetition shifts Elie’s focus from the importance of his family and religion to the survival of himself. It is to be believed that the loss of his father has caused this behaviour and the unwillingly mentality to reunite with his family. Contrastingly, Louie’s family does not endure the same inflictions that Louie encounters. Louie’s troublesome nature as an adolescent is inherited from his mother, their comparable thoughts and decision create a puissant bond, but confliction is still present. Later in the text, Louie matures, and his brother Pete alters his disobedient attitude to where he gave up on his delinquent exploits and gained significant values. From here his relations with his relatives became prudent and jubilant, “Louie was a copy of [his mother], right down to the vivid blue eyes”. Hillebrand effectively uses colour imagery to describe their eyes as a ‘vivid blue’ representing the sea and the sky. In Christianity, the sky is referred to as heaven and the colour blue is believed to result in qualities of faith and integrity. Although, too little or too much blue causes misery, therefore, the importance of maintaining faith in God and the connection of family is shown. However, in Louie’s situation, too little can conceivably cause death. Likewise, blue representing the sea foreshadows the inevitable crash and tedious time in a raft. “Louie had often boasted to Phil about his mother’s cooking… Louie began describing a dish, and all three men found it satisfying… Soon, Louise’s kitchen floated there with them: Sauces simmered, spices were pinched and scattered, butter melted on tongues. So began a thrice-daily ritual on the raft, with pumpkin pie and spaghetti being the favourite subjects”. The sibilance of ‘sauces’ and ‘simmered’ effectively demonstrates how Louie eloquently describes his mother’s cooking towards the crew members. The conversation of food when in starvation would usually be tormenting but ironically Louise’s cooking is potent that practically nourishes the men. The thought of food and family becomes more and more significant when Russel and Louie are taken captive by the Japanese. Both men are enslaved and tortured but individually Louie is distinctively mentally and physically tormented by a Japanese commander Mutsuhiro Watanabe.
When comparing the two texts, forgiveness is portrayed diversely with Elie undoubtedly presenting his merciless disposition on the Nazi’s while Louie surprisingly shows remission towards the Japanese. Elie’s hatred and unrelenting thoughts of the Nazi’s is depicted from the demon that consumes his values of family, “my father had just been struck… I had watched and kept silent. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminal's flesh. Had I changed that much?... Remorse began to gnaw at me. All I could think was: I shall never forgive them for this”. The use of a rhetorical question effectively portrays to the reader that not even Elie can believe how his values have been burned and consumed. Also, the personification of ‘gnaw’ to describe Elie’s remorse further reinforces and implies that Elie will never forgive the Nazi’s. “Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes”, Elie’s most powerful quote in the text uses repetition to depict how through all his loses he will never forgive the Nazi’s. Surprisingly, Louie behaves adversely in comparison to Elie feeling empathetic for the Japanese. After the war had finished Louie felt “at that moment, something shifted sweetly inside him. It was forgiveness, beautiful and effortless... For Louie Zamperini, the war was over”. The sibilance of ‘something’, ‘shifted’ and ‘sweetly’ effectively highlights how Louie’s merciful demeanour was instinctive. It also meant the silence of the prisoners had ceased and freedom allowed the truth of the captive to be released. Also, the use of ‘forgiveness’, ‘beautiful’ and ‘effortless’ to create a power of three perfectly portrays Louie’s emotions and feelings for the Japanese. “The post-war nightmares caused my life to crumble, but thanks to a confrontation with God… I committed my life to Christ. Love replaced the hate I had for you. Christ said, ‘forgive your enemies and pray for them.’”, Louie’s post-war confrontation with God further develops his belief for the forgiveness of enemies. This letter to Watanabe is ironic as the reader is demonstrated an uncaring rebellious boy in the beginning but now he sees the importance and benefits of Christianity.
