Crises of Language and Identity

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Language and Identity
Language is a crucial component of our identity and ability to communicate with others. It shapes the way we perceive and experience the world, and provides a means for us to express ourselves and connect with others. However, when language is disrupted or lost, it can have profound consequences for our sense of self and belonging. This theme of crises of language and identity is explored in the powerful autobiographical works of Ellie Wiesel's Night and Eva Hoffman's Lost in Translation: A Life in a New Language. Both authors struggle to communicate their life stories, as their experiences were so profound that they feel they cannot be fully expressed through language. Furthermore, they both experienced a loss of identity due to the traumatic events they endured, which adds to their struggle of conveying their experiences. Passage 1: Night by Ellie Wiesel
"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never" (p.34).
In the passage from Night, Wiesel's language is emotional and evocative, and conveys a sense of profound despair and loss. Wiesel's use of repetition with the phrase "Never shall I forget" conveys the depth of his trauma and how it has affected him for the rest of his life. The repetition also emphasizes the magnitude of the atrocities he witnessed, such as the children's bodies turning into smoke and the flames consuming his faith. Wiesel uses repetition to ensure that the atrocities he witnessed are not forgotten. The use of sensory details such as "smoke," "flames," and "silent blue sky" creates a haunting and vivid atmosphere. The use of metaphor, such as the transformation of children's bodies into smoke, adds a layer of symbolism to the passage, heightening its impact. The use of vivid imagery creates a haunting picture in the reader's mind and makes it easier to empathize with Wiesel's experiences.
This passage is related to other episodes in Night where Wiesel struggles to communicate about his loss of identity. In one passage, Wiesel highlights his detachment and alienation from his former self and his surroundings. He says, “I was nothing but ashes now, but I felt myself to be stronger than this Almighty to whom my life had been bound for so long. In the midst of these men assembled for prayer, I felt like an observer, a stranger” (Wiesel 68). Wiesel’s sense of isolation is reinforced by the imagery of the speaker as "nothing but ashes," which suggests a loss of identity and a profound sense of disintegration.
Furthermore, his shift from pleading and lamenting to becoming the accuser o...