One day I was able to get up, after gathering all my strength. I wanted to
see myself in the mirror hanging on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself
since the ghetto.
From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me.
The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me.
From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back at me.
The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me.
This is the final passage of Night. Seen from different perspectives, it might seem either deliberately limitted from the point of view of the perspective or rather incomplete from a more traditional point of view. A historian or biographer would not like the manner in which the book ends, they would want to know what happened afterwards.
Do you agree with Wiesel's choice?
If you were the author, would you have chosen a different ending?
In my opinion, this ending is perfectly written, because it expresses not only a physical change of the author but more important, a mental one. If I were the author, I wouldn't have chosen a different ending as I believe that all those monstrosities he endured are expressed in one word: "corpse". His life at the concentration camp turned him into a soulless person, just a dead body, and that's what he wanted us to know.
ReplyDeleteI think that Wiesel made the best choice because his soul disappeared anyway, and he was just living in his own world. If I were the author, I would have chosen the same and I consider that the story deserves to be continued.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Wiesel'election because he wanted to notice that all what has happened to him(which brought him sufferance and pain) remained alive in his soul and they will never be forgotten.
ReplyDeleteIf I were the author, I would have chosen the same end. It is important to have the strenght to stand up and continue to accept past. He is looking in a mirror (for the first time in years) and the traces that the problems have left on him can be easily observed on his face.
The sentence "One day I was able to get up", gives us motivation, no matter how much we suffer, we must be victorious!
I think that this ending is verry well writen, because it speaks out about how much the author sufferd in the ghetto.He didn't recognized himself as he was looking in the mirror("The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me.").He became another person.Even if he was skinnier than before, he was mentally stronger. If I were the author, I wouldn't have chosen a different ending as I think that living in that concentration camp turned him into a cold person.
ReplyDeleteI personally think that this ending completes perfectly Wiesel's book because it reveals a changed body, a changed mind, but more important a changed soul. Not only did the author lose his hope in that concentration camp but also his desire to live, describing his own body as a corpse.
ReplyDeleteIf I were the author, I would have chosen the same ending.
I consider that this ending was a good choice for Wiesel's book because he wanted to focus more on the story and the horrible things he went through and how this experience changed the way he saw himself. The author no longer identified his reflexion with his soul.
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