Literature admits conflicts between good and good, as well as good and evil. How do these conflicts appear in Wiesel's Night and why might both...

In Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night, Elie attempts to keep his humanity while trying to survive within a series of ghettos and concentration camps. Elie’s struggle reflects that of every other prisoner. For prisoners, the conflict of good and evil comes down to resisting evil in a way that will not endanger their lives. For example, the Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz continue openly practicing their religion. 10,000 prisoners praying during the Jewish New Year, Rosh...

In Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night, Elie attempts to keep his humanity while trying to survive within a series of ghettos and concentration camps. Elie’s struggle reflects that of every other prisoner. For prisoners, the conflict of good and evil comes down to resisting evil in a way that will not endanger their lives. For example, the Jewish prisoners at Auschwitz continue openly practicing their religion. 10,000 prisoners praying during the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, is a clear message to their Nazi guards that despite enduring inhumane treatment, they have not lost their humanity.

The conflicts between good and good in Night are subtler, but readily apparent to the observant reader. These conflicts arise due to the extreme conditions that camp prisoners live under. The most important example is the internal conflict that Elie has about his father. Elie is a good person, yet even his subconscious suggests that he cast his ailing father aside; supporting a dying man only lowers Elie’s chances of survival. Fortunately, Elie does not act on these urges.

Both types of conflicts are important because they show that the Holocaust was not a simple matter of good versus evil. In prisoner’s lives, conflicts were internal just as much as they were external.