Night

I finished reading Eli Wesel's first book, "Night." I am thankful I don't have anything in my life that could help me understand even a tiny bit of what he went through. I hope no one ever does - though there are people out there right now who can probably relate (Malala Yousafzai, for example).

If I could take a turn of phrase from Sir Terry Pratchett, the book is horrible. It inspires horror.

It's not the jump-scare type of horror, nor is it the gory or spooky stuff you see in the movies. It's real-life horror. It's when people start out with good intentions but it gets twisted. It's when the victims become participants in the torment. It's the horror of making numerous life-and-death decisions and missing out on the correct choice; and then living on solely by dint of luck, forever kept up at night by the regret. The horror of people giving up whatever they are because of hunger and pain.

I find myself rooting for them, these Jews trapped in concentration camps. I find myself chiding them when they save their rations instead of eating immediately - not eating when given the opportunity only starves them and causes their bodies to weaken. Once they are weak they won't be able to perform hard activities or make lucid decisions, and when that happens eating whatever they saved would not cure them.

The first few chapters have parallels with Mr. Taleb's own childhood, it's the Black Swan in action. They thought everything was going to be the same as always, ignoring the danger nearing their doorstep. I couldn't blame them for this; I think I myself might have been even more in denial. 

It's heartbreaking though, when instead of seeking a place in Palestine the father chooses to keep his family where it is because he feels he is too old to be starting over in a new land. They didn't know, and couldn't have known. And yet by one such decision the family is doomed.

But what truly haunts me was when they were being required to wear the Star of David, there were those who said that doing so wouldn't kill them. That's right, but it was a start; it makes me wonder for the world we live in. The discrimination we endure in this world - it might not kill us outright, but it may lead to it.; how can we know? Indifference is an atrocity that paves the way for other atrocities.