Ali Denman
AP Literature 3rd Hour
1/16/15
Compare/Contrast Paper
“Night” and “The Book Thief”
“Night” by Eliezer Wiesel and “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak are two novels that
portray each main character’s life during World War II. Their self-determination, the loss of
family, and the drive to keep moving forward despite obstacles that come their way are all
similar points among many others that the two books share. The story's main characters must
quickly face the harsh reality of their lives. They must learn to push through the curve ball that
life has thrown at them and learn how to overcome their hardships. However, the way the
characters act and the different storylines make them different. Each novel is also told from
different perspectives. One through the eyes of death, and the other through the eyes of the
person who actually experienced the horrors that he went through. “Night” and “The Book
Thief” are alike and different which stands them apart from one another and other novels alike.
Eliezer in the novel “Night” and Liesel in “The Book Thief” both experience the pain of
losing family members because of the way Hitler was controlling his people. Eliezer loses his
mother and sister in the blink of an eye when they are sent to different concentration camps. The
devastation that Eliezer felt during this moment was unlike any other. He also talks about how
much he missed his sister and he would do anything to see her once again. Similarly, Liesel loses
her father to communist sympathies, and she also loses her mother and her brother. Like Eliezer,
she too misses her sibling and mother so much. This prompts her to steals her first book called
“The Gravedigger’s Handbook” from the graveyard where her brother was just buried, as a
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remembrance of her mother and brother. Each main character in these stories have experienced
the tragic and heartbreaking feeling of losing family members due to Hitler's ruling.
Eliezer and Liesel show amazing forms of self-determination. Eliezer has to push through
his constant torture and heartbreak that he experiences throughout his life in the concentration
camps. He is ridiculed, and he must watch his father be beaten over and over again just for the
enjoyment of the concentration camp guards. The worst part is that he cannot do anything about
it, and that is the part he struggles with most. Despite these challenges, he overcomes and pushes
through, showing his determination to fight through the hard times. Liesel also must push
through her struggles and move on with her life. Her determination is shown when she steals
books, especially when she stole the book from the burning pile of books. This shows how
determined she was to get what she wanted, even if it meant losing her life.
Perhaps the most obvious similarity between “Night” and “The Book Thief,” is their
portrayal of the basis of humanity. “Night” portrays the worst of humanity but also uncovered
the preeminent of it as well”(“Book Drabbles”). Both novels show examples of helping others
and giving up moral feelings in order to save a loved one. For example, Eliezer gave up his
portion of soup multiple times to give to his sick father. “Although, Wiesel had abandoned his
father some other times as well, by giving his father his ration of soup it shows that Elie did truly
care for his father and desired for him to live” (“Book Drabbles”). At those moments, he gave up
his need for self preservation to save someone that he really cared about, his father. While at
many times in “The Book Thief” it seemed that Liesel only cared about herself, there were other
times when it showed that she cared for others and put their well being in front of her own,
similar to Eliezer. The biggest and most important “good” thing she did was help hide Max.
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Liesel and her family knew very well that they could have died doing so, and yet they still helped
him.
“The overall connection between these two texts is that both Night and The Book Thief
focus on survival during tough circumstances” ("Holocaust Literature Pairing for Young Adults
Pt. 2"). Elie Wiesel must survive the persecution of the Jews by the Germans. With him being a
Jew himself, it is a whole different viewpoint of what the life of a Jew during that time was like.
Liesel and her family must survive the horrific expectations that the Germans have for all of their
citizens.
Each of these texts share the same idea that at the end of a tragic event there can be hope.
“This is shown in Night by the fact that we know that Elie Wiesel's story is based on events that
occurred in his own life” ("Holocaust Literature Pairing for Young Adults Pt. 2"). Even though
Wiesel lived through a tragic event, he still had enough hope and determination to make
something good come out of his experience. He was able to show the world what the Holocaust
was really like and make a point that we cannot let this type of situation ever happen again. “The
idea of hope is shown in The Book Thief by the fact that Liesel goes on to get married, have
children, have grandchildren, and live a long life” ("Holocaust Literature Pairing for Young
Adults Pt. 2"). Liesel also lived through a painful life but she still managed to hold on to what
life had to offer and make the most of it by creating the family she always needed. Both of these
stories portray that it is indeed possible to still have hope and move on from your life after major
obstacles are thrown your way.
One final similarity between “Night” and “The Book Thief” is that death is a very
prominent theme in both books. “Characters in both books live in fear of death - Elie for himself
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and his family, and Liesel for Max when he left” ("CHS Honors and AP English Blog"). Both
books are very straightforward about death.
Although these books share the similarity of death being a major part of them, they differ
in the way that death affects how the characters act. Elie’s thoughts seem to reveal that he feels
hopeless about death and has negative thoughts about what his fate will be in the concentration
camp. It seems as though Eliezer and the other prisoners sort of wait for death to come their way,
and that they may actually be better off dead. Elie realizes that he can do nothing to stop death
and must accept it no matter what. This differs from “The Book Thief” in that Liesel refuses to
be hopeless against death. In the end, she lost her parents, neighbors, and best friend. Despite
these tragic events, she refused to just give up with life and she continued to move forward.
“Liesel knows that she must also accept death, but she struggles and almost rebels against it although the effects are irreversible” ("CHS Honors and AP English Blog").
Both novels take place during the time of World War II and the Holocaust, but occur in
different types of settings. In “Night,” Eliezer’s story begins in Sighet, Transylvania. He is later
forced against his will to travel to various concentration camps located throughout Europe. This
is unlike “The Book Thief” which is a story about a girl named Liesel who lives primarily in the
fictional German town of Molching.
“Night” sets itself apart from the other novel because it is non-fiction and is told from the
point of view of the person who actually experienced the horrors of that time. Eliezer is
recollecting his true childhood past where he was forced to leave his home and his mother and
sister to go live and work within various concentration camps. Eliezer is jewish which makes
him different than Liesel in “The Book Thief,” who is German. This makes it completely
different because this story is told from somebody who was living in Germany and was forced to
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follow Hitler’s laws of that time. She was not sent to the concentration camps like Elie was. It is
also quite different from “Night” because the story is fictional and is told from Death’s point of
view, adding a completely different element to the story and making it unique.
Eliezer and Liesel share similar tragic events but also have differences when it comes to
their lives. Elie loses his home and his family and never gets his normal family life back. “Elie is
boxed up and tortured, he lives amidst the horrors of the camp, and is not only surrounded by
death, he witnesses death everyday” ("Are Eliezer Weisel (Night) and Liesel Meminger (The
Book Thief) more similar or more different? | Night Questions | Q & A"). Liesel loses her family,
too, but she but she differs from Elie because she gains another family. She is not forced into any
sort of concentration camp and does not ever actually experience the life of being a Jew during
this time.
“Night” by Eliezer Wiesel and “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak share numerous
similarities and differences. The main characters in each of the books experience the pain of
losing family. Each of the stories center around the portrayal of death and the need to keep
moving forward despite the curveballs life throws at you. The way that the books make their
main characters act and the differing viewpoints make them unique to one another. “Night” and
“The Book Thief” are similar and different which stands them apart from one another and other
novels alike.