The Odyssey/Night Elie Wiesel is a famous writer, the author of 57 books, the best known of which is “ Night”, a memoir that describes his experiences during the Holocaust and his imprisonment in several concentration camps.
The events took place in 1941 in Germany. In 1944 German and Hungarian police set up ghettos where all the Jews and other religious and ethnic people were kept, and Elie and his family were kept captive in this area by the Gestapo. When Elie and his family arrived at the concentration camp in Birkenau, he was separated from his mother and sister, whom he later found out, had been killed.
It was hard for him to deal with the fact that he would never see them again, and he wanted to give up. Elie’s father kept him going, constantly saying that they would make it, and that he should never lose his faith. They were sent off to Auschwitz where they were put to work. Elie worked in a factory, where he met a lot of people, including a girl from France. He was separated from his father at that time. He was then sent from Auschwitz to Buna with his father.
He injured his foot, which caused him to have an operation. After that he went out with his weak father and barely healed foot to march. It was the middle of the winter, and all prisoners were dressed badly. Elie’s father passed away at the camp from dysentery. Elie had to continue going on without his father. They were later rescued at Buchenwald, and Elie was one of the very few to survive.
Homer is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet. He is the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Odyssey mainly centers on the Greek hero Odysseus and his long journey home following the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed he has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors, the Mnesteres or Proci, competing for Penelope’s hand in marriage. On his way he came across many dangerous situations but finally he came back home and became a king of Ithaca.
We can say that Odysseus had to face many challenges during his travels; a few of these difficulties were a cannibalistic Cyclops, huge whirlpools, determined suitors, along with many hardships. Odysseus fought constantly to return to his homeland of Ithaca, but to accomplish this Odysseus had to be clever, resourceful, and have great leadership qualities. During his adventure Odysseus proved that he was smart, and able to deal with adversity skillfully. He proved an able leader despite all the troubles that he encountered on his adventure. In the end, Odysseus proved he could get over the challenges which might have prevented him from getting home. We can see that Elie also did everything to stay alive. At first, when he found out that his mother and sister had been killed, he did not want to live, he wanted to give up.
He told that there was no God and he wanted to refuse from the Lord. And his father told him to never lose his faith of his religion because it would help him to go through everything, and keep him strong. At first he did not believe to his father, he said that God would not create the situation like that. But later he changed his mind.
These two stories were written in different historic periods, even in different eras. The Odyssey was written in 800 BC and Night was written in XX century. But our heroes are alike. Both heroes faced hardships, challenges and owing to their faith, intellect and courage they overcame all difficulties on their way.
Nobody gave up. Faith in future gave them an opportunity to survive and to stay alive in spite of all difficulties. They had true thirst for life.
And these heroes are worthy to be remembered. All people will remember their deeds. And many future generations will be bring up on their examples.
References Wiesel Elie, “ Night”, United States of America: Hill & Wang, 1960. Homer, “ The Odyssey”, “ Elie Wiesel. ” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 30 Oct. 2009 “ Homer.
” Encyclopedia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopedia [pic]Britannica Online. 30 Oct. 2009