Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
MARCHELYNOW ALFA CHRISTIAN
Student Number: 024214097
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
i
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree ofSarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
MARCHELYNOW ALFA CHRISTIAN
Student Number: 024214097
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
ii By
MARCHELYNOW ALFA CHRISTIAN Student Number: 024214097
Approved by
Modesta Luluk Artika W., S.S. 14 November 2009 Advisor
iii By
MARCHELYNOW ALFA CHRISTIAN Student Number: 024214097
Defended before the Board of Examiners On 26 November 2009
and Declared Acceptable
Name Signature
Chairman : Drs. Fr. B. Alip, M.Pd., M.A. ________ Secretary : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum ________ Member : Maria Ananta Tri S., S.S., M.Ed. ________
Member : Modesta Luluk Artika W., S.S. ________
Member : Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum ________
Yogyakarta, 30 November 2009 Faculty of Letters
Sanata Dharma University Dean,
iv
When there is a will, there is a way
(unknown)
“You got a dream, you gotta protect it.
People can’t do something themselves,
they wanna tell you that you can’t do it.
You want something? Go get it”
~Chris Gardner~
Justdothebest,
v
My Almighty Creator, Jesus
Christ
My beloved Father and
Mother
My Princess Lem0ntea
My GrandPa & GRANDMa
My Twin Sister
The big PRUE Family
vi
Nama : Marchelynow Alfa Christian Nomor Mahasiswa : 024214097
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul :
ELIE’S MOTIVATION IN ACHIEVING FREEDOM REVEALED IN THE MAIN CHARACTER’S CONFLICTS AS SEEN IN ELIE WIESEL’S NIGHT
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalty kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal : 14 November 2009
Yang menyatakan
vii without Him.
The writing process of this thesis involved many generous contributions of wonderful people. My enormous thank and award is dedicated for my advisor, Modesta Luluk Artika W., S.S. I thank her for all her help, suggestions, and guidance during my undergraduate thesis up to the end. I also would like to thank Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum for the suggestions and inputs as the co-advisor of my undergraduate thesis and as my academic counselor. My acknowledgement also goes to all of the lecturers and the staff of Department of English Letters. I thank them for their unforgettable great role during my study in this university.
With lots of love, I would like to express my extraordinary gratefulness to my amazing father and mother for their unconditional love. They are tha Inspirator, S.F.L. Mengko for his inspirational words, and my wonderful tha Motivator, Deetje Sampe who always care of me and taught me to be optimistic in finishing this thesis as soon as possible.
viii
Family, and Big Mengko’s Family. I would like to thank my aunt Ike and Mr. Moses. Thank you for your support.
The expression of thankfulness also goes to bigPRUE family (Jeff Reinhard, Nicholas Maynard, Yeremias Nardi, Gerardus Ferdinand, Gatot Hendy, Fitra Sony, Sri Harjanto, Suryo Pramono, Rudi Prasojo, Debora Wienda, Kartika Kusumaningsih, Faida Indana, Dian Patricia) who have shared an unforgettable and craziness friendship in all lovely days during my study at Sanata Dharma University, and special warm thanks to Dhina Mayasari, Agusta Rosariana, my KKN team (Githa, Ria, Tyas, Abu, Yosep), Yosua’06 English Letters Department, the Karang nangka’s and the Djiman’s.
Last but not least, thanks for everyone who helps me in hand and those who filled my life with joy and laughter that I cannot mention here. You are all the best things I have ever had.
ix
A. Background of the Study………...……….…….. 1
B. Problem Formulation………... 4
C. Objectives of the Study……… 5
D. Definition of Terms……….……. 5
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW……….. 7
A. Review of Related Studies………... 7
B. Review of Related Theories……….… 9
1. Character and Characterization….……….…….. 9
2. The Relation between Literature and Psychology……….….. 12
3. Theory of Motive and Motivation………... 13
4. Theory of Conflict……… 14
5. Review on Freedom and Survival……… 17
C. Theoretical Framework………... 19
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY……….….. 20
A. Object of the Study……….……. 20
B. Approach of the Study……….…… 21
C. Method of the Study……….…... 22
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS………... 24
A. The Characterization of the Characters……….. 24
1. Elie Wiesel………...………...… 25
2. Chlomo Wiesel………..………. 29
B. The Internal and External Conflicts of Elie Wiesel….…………..…. 31
1. Internal Conflicts…………...……….….…... 32
xi University.
This thesis discusses the novel by Elie Wiesel entitled Night, published by Bantam Books in 1982. Elie Wiesel’sNight tells about the life of a Jewish boy who struggled for his life in the concentration camp during the Second World War. This thesis discusses Elie’s Motivation in Achieving Freedom Revealed in The Main Character’s Conflicts as seen in Elie Wiesel’sNight.
To see Elie’s motivation of survival that revealed in the main character’s conflicts in the novel, three questions are formulated to guide the analysis. They are (1) How are the characters described in the Elie Wiesel’s Night? (2) What are Elie Wiesel’s internal and external conflicts that revealed in the story? (3) In what way the internal and external conflicts reveal Elie’s motivation of survival?
The method applied in this study is library research. The approach used in this study is psychological approach. The sources that are needed to support this study are taken from the novel Night and sources that contain the theories of literature and theories of psychology in terms of books and internet.
xii Dharma.
Skripsi ini membahas sebuah novel yang berjudul Night karya Elie Wiesel yang diterbitkan pada tahun 1982 oleh Bantam Books. Novel Nightbercerita tentang pengalaman hidup seorang anak laki-laki keturunan Yahudi yang berjuang untuk bertahan hidup selama berada di kemah konsentrasi pada saat Perang Dunia II. Skripsi ini membahas tentang pentingnya arti bertahan hidup dalam upaya meraih kebebasan yang merupakan sebuah tujuan dari seorang Elie Wiesel dalam novel Night. Pentingnya arti bertahan hidup tersebut tersirat pada tiap-tiap konflik yang dihadapi Elie Wiesel selama berada di kemah konsentrasi.
Untuk melihat arti pentingnya bertahan hidup yang tersirat didalam setiap konflik yang dialami Elie Wiesel, diformulasikanlah tiga pertanyaan guna memandu proses analisa, yaitu: (1) Bagaimanakah penokohan dari tokoh-tokoh dalam novel Nightkarya Elie Wiesel? (2) Konflik internal dan eksternal apa sajakah yang dihadapi oleh Elie Wiesel? (3) Bagaimana konflik-konflik tersebut menunjukan motivasi Elie untuk bertahan hidup?
Metode yang digunakan dalam studi ini adalah studi pustaka. Pendekatan yang digunakan adalah pendekatan psikologi. Data-data yang diperlukan untuk mendukung studi ini diambil dari novelNightdan sumber-sumber yang memuat teori sastra dan teori psikologi dalam bentuk buku-buku maupun data-data dari internet.
1
This chapter consists of four sections. The first is the background of the
study, which covers reason of choosing the novel and the topic. The second
concerns with problem formulation, which gives general description of the
problem that will be analyzed in this study. The third talks about the objectives of
the study to answer the problems stated in the problem formulations. The last part
describes about the terms that are used in this study.
A. Background of the Study
Literary work is a portrait of human’s life. What is pictured there is
generally based on the fact and experience which happened in the past or the
dreams about future which is expressed through the medium of written language.
As Hudson says inAn Introduction to Study of Literature,
Literary is the expression of life through the medium of Language. It can be regarded as something essential since it contains about real life, people, thought, and their feeling about life (1958: 10)
The writer sees that literature is a creation of art, an object that an artist
makes. Literature is not only an idea or theory that an artist makes, but also a
creative work to express an experience of an artist, which is related to the human
life. A novel as an example of literary works can be used by the author to express
his or her feeling, point of view, protest or even everything that he or she wants
toward his society or environment where he or she lives in. Murphy in his book
elements, just as life is a mixture of joy, disappointment, hope, sorrow, humor,
suffering, and success (1972: 33).
Night is a novel by Elie Wiesel published by the Bantam Books in 1982.
This novel is a true story where the author of this novel was the main character in
the story; as Stanton stated that an author can also become the storyteller who told
us about a story where he or she wants us to see the meaning of something, to feel
a living experience, not just a gray abstraction (Stanton 1965: 19).Nightis a story
which tells us about the author’s experiences living in the concentration camp
during the Second World War. He has experienced a horrible journey of pain and
sorrow during the Nazi’s regime. During his journey of life, he has faced so many
conflicts both internal and external conflicts. Conflict is a natural and inescapable
phenomenon in human condition (Burgoon & Ruffner, 1977: 503). In other
words, every human will face conflicts during his life. All conflicts in human life
will have something to do with what we called motive and goals. Cofer and
Appley stated that conflict is often conceived as occurring not only between
action tendencies, but also between motives or drives and between goals or end
states of action (1968: 413).
Since every human has his/her own goals and motives in life, it becomes
easy to have conflicts in every day life. These motives and goals will also
influence his or her motivation and behavior. According to Frank J. Burno in
Dictionary of Keywords in Psychology (1986: 140) the definition of motive is
hypothetical state in an organism used to explain its choices and goal-oriented
Life, the definition of motivation is the process of starting, directing and
maintaining physical and psychological activities toward a certain goal (2002:
364). For the writer, the close relation between motive, motivation, conflict, and
goal appears to be an interesting subject to be analyzed, in this case, the relation of
Elie Wiesel’s goal, motivation and conflicts especially during his life as a prisoner
in concentration camp. As a prisoner, freedom has become something that Elie
wanted to achieve. Freedom is something important for every human being. As
Sartre mentioned that human beings are free and this is what separates human
from animals. He also argued that we have the freedom to choose our own path
and to decide upon our own essence and our own nature. Furthermore, he explains
that the only necessity that a man needs is being free. Man is condemned to
freedom: he cannot not to be free. (1956:560). Another writer, Paulo Freire inThe
Pedagogy of the Oppressedsuggested that by being the oppressed side, freedom is
something which the oppressed struggles for in order to strive to get back their
stolen humanity (1973:44). Enrich Fromm in The Fear of Freedom defined that
the longing for freedom is rooted in all who are oppressed (1960: 1). Freedom has
become something that the oppressed wanted so much. Freedom has become a
desire for every oppressed person. In this case, freedom has become a goal for
Elie. He wants to see the day where he will be liberate from the concentration
camp and from the slavery. Freedom for Elie who has become the oppressed is
something valuable. But in order to achieve this valuable thing he must struggle
for it. His struggles can be seen in his conflicts. Elie knows that he must struggle
liberation day. His goal of freedom has motivated him to keep on fighting. In
other words, his goal has created his motivation. Survival has become Elie’s
motivation. His motivation directs and maintains his physical and psychological
activities toward his goal. Elie’s motivation which is to survive influenced his
mind, actions, and his behavior.
In Night,the setting, the flow, the dynamical emotion of getting involved
in this novel, the sense, and the scope of understanding the novel are the things
that can be reached more in this novel. During Elie Wiesel’s struggle to live in the
concentration camp, he has gone through so many conflicts even a conflict with
nature. In Night,Elie’s goal of freedom has created Elie’s motivation which is to
survive. This motivation influenced his mind, actions, and behaviors. The
importance of Elie’s motivation of survival is depicted through the Elie’s both
internal and external conflicts. That is why “ELIE’S MOTIVATION IN
ACHIEVING FREEDOM REVEALED IN THE MAIN CHARACTER’S
CONFLICTS AS SEEN IN ELIE WIESEL’SNIGHT” is chosen as the title of this
thesis.
B. Problem Formulation
As a guide for the writer in referring to the particular elements to discuss,
these questions below will direct the writer’s writing on the certain scope of the
analysis. They are stated to be the problems, as well as the basic construction of
1. How are the characters described in the Elie Wiesel’sNight?
2. What are Elie Wiesel’s internal and external conflicts revealed in the story?
3. How do the internal and external conflicts reveal Elie’s motivation of
survival in achieving freedom?
C. Objectives of the Study
The aim of the study is to answer the three formulated problems above as
clearly as possible. The first thing to do is to find how Elie Wiesel describes the
main characters in the novel. The second thing to do is to find Elie Wiesel’s
internal and external conflicts. And the last thing to do is to explain how internal
and external conflicts reveal Elie’s motivation in achieving freedom as seen in
Elie Wiesel’sNight.
D. Definition of Terms
To avoid any misinterpretations in the title, this thesis will provide some
explanation on several important terms mainly used and closely related to the
topic. The writer tries to explain them by borrowing mainly from the media,
particularly from books and dictionaries.
1. Character
One of the important elements of a play or a novel is the Character.
Abrams’ theory about character in A Glossary of Literary Terms mentioned that
character is the person presented in a dramatic or narrative work who naturally
possesses moral, dispositional, and emotional qualities that all reflected in the
2. Motive and Motivation
According to Frank J. Burno in Dictionary of Keywords in Psychology
(1986: 140) the definition of motive is hypothetical state in an organism used to
explain its choices and goal-oriented behavior. Furthermore, in Psychology and
Life the definition of motivation is the process of starting, directing and
maintaining physical and psychological activities toward a certain goal (Gerring
and Zimbardo, 2002: 364).
3. Conflict
The term is conflict which is taken fromLiterature: Structure, Sound, and
Sensesecond edition by Laurence Perrine. He defines conflict as a clash of action,
ideas, and desires or wills between two individuals or among people in the
society. The conflict can include physical, mental, emotional, or moral. In the real
life people try to solve conflict but they will soon get a conflict (1974:44). In other
words conflict is a state of discomfort cause by someone’s ideas, desires, wishes,
or will that are incompatible between individuals, society, or someone’s internal
and external demands.
4. Freedom
The word freedom according to Webster’s Encyclopaedic Unabridged
Dictionary means a state of being at liberty rather than in confinement or under
physical restraint. “Freedom” is also understood as the power to make one’s own
choices or decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy;
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
This chapter will be focused on the analyzing of theories that are used in
this study. It is divided into three parts. The first part, the writer tries to review on
some related studies that contain some information, comments, or criticisms
related to Elie Wiesel’s Night. The second part is the writer tries to review on
some theories that will be used in the analysis. The third or the last part is the
writer discusses the theoretical framework. In this part, the writer tries to explain
how the theories are used to support the analysis.
A. Review of Related Studies
The existence of a literary work always invites comments or criticism from
some critics. The criticism can be an agreement or disagreement toward the story.
There are some criticisms directed to Night and those criticisms are needed to
support the analysis of this study.
One of the comments is in a website -www.powells.com- which is written
by the publisher ofNight, which said thatNightis a terrifying account of the Nazi
death camp horror that turns a young Jewish boy into an agonized witness to the
death of his family, the death of his innocence, and the death of his God.
Furthermore, Francios Mauriac in the same website says that
“What I maintain is that this personal record, coming after so many others and describing an outrage about which we might imagine we already know all that it is possible to know, is nevertheless different, distinct, unique....Have we ever thought about the consequence of a horror that, though less apparent, less striking than the other outrages, is yet the worst
of all to those of us who have faith: the death of God in the soul of a child who suddenly discovers absolute evil?”.
Another critic, Alan M. Dershowitz in the Washington Post Book World
writes that "The book that always makes me weep is 'Night' by Elie Wiesel,
because it brings up emotions of sorrow, horror and anger. And the book that
unfailingly cheers me up is also 'Night' by Elie Wiesel, because it shows me that
there is never an excuse for not trying to overcome evil, and that there is no
situation from which we cannot emerge with a determination to be productive”
(www.powells.com). The same idea also rises on A. Alvarez’s opinion that is
written in the same website which conclude that 'Night' is almost unbearably
painful, and certainly beyond criticism.
According to Lawrence L. Langer, an eminent scholar of Holocaust
literature and a friend of Wiesel’s, in Rachel Donadio’s articleThe Story of Night,
“What sets Night apart is a moral honesty that helps undermine the sentimental responses to the Holocaust. Night remains an essential companion or antidote to The Diary of Anne Frank. (http://www.nytimes.com)
Another study on Elie Wiesel’s Night was done by Theo Donum. Donum in his
thesis “Problems of Faith, Hope, and Suffering as Revealed in Eliezer’s Character
Development as Seen in Elie Wiesel’s Night” concluded that the life in
concentration camps has made Eliezer think about staying alive until the day of
liberation. After his father’s death, nothing matters to Eliezer anymore as if he has
already obtained his freedom. Eliezer eventually succeeds in managing himself to
hope, to some extent, has taken serious part in providing Eliezer the strength to
stay away from death (2008:88).
Those opinions, criticisms, and comments give deeper information for the
writer in analyzing the story of the novel. Most of them share the same view about
the issues appearing in the time when the novel was written and generally focus
on a terrifying account of the Nazi death camp especially to the Jewish. Donum’s
point of view about Elie Wiesel’s Night,provoke the writer to analyze deeply on
the influence of freedom and survival. That is why, in this undergraduate thesis,
the writer will emphasize more on Elie’s motivation of survival in achieving his
goal of freedom revealed in the main character’s conflicts as seen in the Elie
Wiesel’s Night. The writer hopes that this study will give something new in
understanding the story of the novel.
B. Review of Related Theories
Some theories will be used in the study as the guidance in answering the
problems formulation that becomes the focus of the analysis.
1. Theory of Character and Characterization
Since this study tries to deal with the main character’s conflict, the writer
thinks that the understanding of the theories of character and characterization are
needed to do the analysis. Character is one of the elements of play or novel that
has significant role to show the qualities of the novel or play. According to
Abrams in A Glossary of Literary Terms, character is the person presented in a
emotional qualities that all reflected in the dialogue and action among the person
(1981: 20).
Abrams also stated that characters in novel are divided into “major” and
“minor” character based on their importance in the novel. He mentioned that
major characters are substantially involved in main action as well as becoming the
central and the most important in a story, while minor characters are characters
that appear in certain setting and they are necessary to become the background for
the major character (Abrams, 1981:20). According to Stanton in An Introduction
to Fiction, the term “character” is commonly used in two ways; first, it designates
the individual who appears in the story. Second, it refers to the mixture of interest,
desires, emotions, and moral principles that makes up each of these individuals
(1965:17).
The process by which an author creates a character is called
characterization. Murphy in Understanding Unseens: An Introduction to English
Poetry and the English Novel for Overseas Students (1972: 161-173) describes
characterization as the way in which an author attempts to make his characters
understandable and come alive for his readers. He also proposes some methods of
characterization to discern how an author conveys the characters and the
personalities of the people he writes about.
The first method is personal description. By using this method the author
can describe a person’s appearance in terms of build, face, hands, skin-color, hair,
and clothes in order to help the reader both to visualize the character and to
The second method is character as seen by another. Instead of describing
a character directly the author can describe him through the eyes and opinions of
another. The reader gets, as it were, a reflected image. This method can give the
impressions of shape, cleanliness, firmness, smoothness, color, etc. Another
character will give explanation about what the character is like.
The third method isspeech. The author can give the readers an insight into
the character of one of the persons in the book through what the person says. The
characters of a person can be seen from whenever he/she speaks, having
conversation with others, and stated his/her opinion.
The fourth method ispast life. By letting the reader learn something about
a person’s past life the author can give the readers a clue to events that have
helped to shape a person’s character. This can be done by direct comment by the
author, though the person’s thoughts, through his conversation or through the
medium of another person.
The fifth method is conversation of others. By using this technique, the
author can also give the readers clues to a person’s character through the
conversations of other people and the things they say about him. People talk about
other people and the things they say often give as a clue to the character of the
person spoken about.
The sixth method is reactions. By using this method, the author can also
give the readers a clue to a person’s character by letting us know how that person
reacts to various situations and events. The actions are related to his/her motives
The seventh method is direct comment. In this way, the author can
describe or comment on a person’s character directly. Usually the author gives
comments based on his point of view.
The eighth method is thoughts. In this method, the author can give us
direct knowledge of what a person is thinking about. In this respect, he is able to
do what we cannot do in real life. He can tell the readers what different people are
thinking. The readers then are in a privileged position; they have, as it were, a
secret listening device plugged in to the inmost thoughts of a person in a novel.
The last method is mannerisms. Through this method, the author can
describe a person’s mannerisms, habits, or idiosyncrasies which may also tell the
readers something about his character.
Some of the theories above will be useful to help the writer to identify and
understanding character’s attitudes in the novel and to do the analysis.
2. Review on the Relation between Literature and Psychology
It is almost impossible to separate psychology and literature because both
of them have a close relation in which some literary works take the issue of
psychology as the basic idea as Wellek and Waren in Theory of Literature(1956:
81) purposed. The term psychology of literature has four possible meanings. The
first is the psychological study of the author as a type or as an individual. The
second is the study of creative process. The third is the study of psychological
types and laws presented within works of literature, and the last is the effect of
literature upon readers (1956: 81). They state that people can learn theory of
Cohen in Humanistic Psychology also states that literature and psychology has a
relation in exploring human’s life, “in a variety of ways, a psychological approach
has opened new avenues to the study of literature” (Cohen, 1958: 189). Those
theories have shown the relation between psychology and literature. Analyzing
literary works may reflect certain psychological factors. This study will explore
parts of the psychological subjects. That is Elie’s motivation of survival in
achieving his goal of freedom.
3. Theories of Motive and Motivation
Frank J. Burno in Dictionary of Keywords in Psychology proposed the
definition of motive as a hypothetical state in an organism used to explain its
choices and goal-oriented behavior (1986: 140). It is supported by Charles G.
Morris’ theory which stated that motive is an inner directing force –a need or
want- that arouses the organism and directs behavior toward a goal (1990: 408).
Furthermore, in Psychology and Life the definition of motivation is the
process of starting, directing and maintaining physical and psychological activities
toward a certain goal (Gerring and Zimbardo, 2002: 364). It is similar to Miller’s
theory of motivation in Robert C. Beck’s Motivation Theories and Principles
which stated that the closer an organism is to a positive goal, the stronger the
motivation to approach that goal and the closer an organism to an aversive goal,
the stronger the motivation to escape or avoid the goal (1978:256). Petri, in the
Motivation: Theory and Research, states that motivation is the forces acting on or
Furthermore, Abraham Maslow in Introduction of Psychology stated that
there are psychological motives and physiological motive.Psychological motives
are motives which are in form of desire such as safety needs, belongingness and
love needs, esteem needs, cognitive needs, and aesthetic needs (in Atkinson,
Atkinson, and Hilgard, 1983: 317). From those theories of motivation and motive,
it can be concluded that all people usually have certain motive when they do
something in their life because motive is the foundation of every action human
beings do. All the theories of motive above will be used in determining Elie’s
motivation of survival in achieving his goal of freedom.
4. Theory of Conflict
Conflict in its broadest sense means “struggle or fight”, furthermore, it
means “opposition, differences, or clash of opinions, desire, etc., for examples are
the conflict between one’s duty and one’s desire, a conflict of interest between the
achievement of one aim and of another” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary,
1989: 245). In analyzing Elie Wiesel’s Night the writer uses many theories of
conflict. Laurence Perrine’s in her book Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense
assert, “Conflict itself is a clash of action, ideas, desires, or will between two
individual, or among people in the story” (1974: 44). In a journal of psychology
by Malloy and McMurray, Conflict Strategies and Resolutions, Conflict can be
defined as a relationship where two people have incompatible goals and use a
variety of prosocial and antisocial strategies to influence each other’s behavior
Abrams inA Glossary of Literary Termsproposed the meaning of conflict
as the disagreement between the protagonist and the antagonist that may create
conflict but “there may be the conflict of the protagonist against fate, or against
the circumstances that stand between him and a goal he has set himself; and in
some works, the chief conflict is between opposing desires or values in the
protagonist’s own temperament” (1981: 159). Conflict does not only show the
struggle of protagonist against someone or something, but also shows some
“motivation” and aim that wants to be achieved (Holman and Harmon, 1986:108).
Perrine states in his book,Story and Structure, that there are two kinds of
conflict; they are internal and external conflict. The internal conflict or
psychological conflict is a struggle within a person, or a struggle of a person
against himself. The individual of himself is facing a kind of complicated situation
in which he or she should choose the best alternative according to his or her
consideration (1970: 54). It is similar to what Rodman suggested; inner conflict
refers to a struggle that happens inside the heart and mind of the protagonist
(Rodman, 1964: 363). In psychology, this internal conflict or inner conflict called
intrapersonal conflict. Intrapersonal conflict is the first level of conflict.
Intrapersonal conflict results when an individual, on the basis of his or her own
behavior or other related experiences, perceives himself or herself in a manner
inconsistent with previous held notions of self-concept (Burgon & Ruffner, 1977:
484). In other words, intrapersonal conflict is a condition where we experience an
In psychological parlance such a situation is considered Self-estrangement.
The term self-estrangement presumes that each of us has within us an inner self
that consists of what we really are, what we really believe, and what we really
think. Rossiter and Pearce suggested that the internal struggle that accompanies
self-estrangement forces us to choose between behaviors consistent with our own
self-image and behaviors consistent with another’s opinion of how we should act
or think (Rossiter and Pearce, 1975: 154). Some choices however, involve serious
internal conflicts, especially those choices that involved something important such
as life goals. This idea supports the statement from Cofer and Appley in which
they suggested that conflicts may arise between motives, goals, or responses but is
meaningfully conceived only in terms of incompatible action tendencies. One may
speak, for example, of a conflict between desire and fear, on the motivational side,
or between anticipated pleasure and pain, on the side of the end state resulting
from action (1968:413).
Perrine defined External conflict as a struggle which involves a character
and other things outside the character himself. There are three categories of
external conflict, which are struggle against nature, a struggle against another
person, and a struggle against society. A struggle against nature represents man
versus forces of nature, the difficulties and the danger; a struggle against another
person concerns with a kind of a struggle between one person and another, many
popular fictions are based in this conflict; a struggle against society is a struggle
about a man values in his society (Perrine, 1970: 59). A struggle of one person
may be arisen when the goals of two individuals are incompatible or whenever
one strongly motivated individual feels threatened or frustrated by another or
when individuals fail to share perceptions of others. Interpersonal conflict, then,
signifies a mutual opposition or aggression, always with reference to an
indivisible goal or material reward (Burgoon and Ruffner, 1977:485-486).
In Cofer and Appley’sMotivation: Theory and Research, types of conflict
which is divided based on the basis of the movement in space in relation to goals,
response tendencies can be divided into two groups: those involving approach to
and those involving avoidance of a goal or goal region. By these two basic
response patters, four types of conflict can be derived: approach-approach,
avoidance-avoidance, approach-avoidance, and double approach-avoidance.
Most common type of conflict is theapproach-avoidance. It is a conflict between
desire and fear (1968:433).
Conflict in a literary work may consist of one conflict that is stated clearly
and the reader can easily identify the conflict. It may also consist of multi
conflicts or more than one conflict that is difficult to be understood by the reader
(Perrine, 1974:44). To understand multi conflicts the reader should analyze the
internal and external conflicts one by one.
5. Review on Freedom and Survival
In Webster’s Encyclopaedic Unabridged Dictionary the word “freedom”
means as a state of being at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical
restraint. “Freedom” is also understood as the power to make one’s own choices
self-determination (1975:565). In The New Oxford American Dictionary, the word
“freedom” means the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without
hindrance or restraint. It also means the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved
(2005:670).
As Sartre mentioned that human beings are free and it is what separates
human from animals. Sartre argued that we have the freedom to choose our own
path and to decide upon our own essence and our own nature. In effect, human
gets to pick what he will become. Sartre wants men to accept their own absolute
responsibility for their lives. Man is free, completely free. Furthermore, Sartre
explains that the only necessity that a man needs is being free. Man is condemned
to freedom: he cannot not to be free. (1956:560). Paulo Freire in The Pedagogy of
the Oppressed suggested that by being the oppressed side, freedom is something
which the oppressed struggles for in order to strive to get back their stolen
humanity (1973:44). Freire’s opinion is also related to what Enrich Fromm
suggested in The Fear of Freedom, he defined that the longing for freedom is
rooted in all who are oppressed (1960: 1).
In theThe New Oxford American Dictionary, the meaning of “survival” is
the state or fact of continuing to live or exist, typically in spite of an accident, or
deal, or difficult circumstances (2005:1702). In the Webster’s Encyclopaedic
Unabridged Dictionary, survival means surviving of pertaining to the food,
clothing, equipment, etc., necessary to or aiding a person’s survival in adverse or
a. Theoretical Framework
Some theories are employed by the writer to be the basic understanding in
doing the analysis of the study. The theory of character and characterization is
used because in the first part of the analysis the writer deals with the characters
and characteristics of the characters in the play. In here, writer needs those
theories to understand the basic concept of characters and to describe the
characteristics of the characters in the novel.
The writer uses the theory of conflict to find out and analyze the internal
and external conflicts the main characters involved. All conflicts were analyzed
using theory of conflict both from Literature and Psychology point of view. It
enables the writer to analyze Elie’s conflicts, as the answer of the second problem.
To answer the third and final question, the writer uses theories of motive
and motivation in order to see the relation between Elie’s conflicts, goals, or
motives, and motivation. Those theories explain about the understanding of
human’s behavior in doing an action like action during conflicts. It enables the
writer to analyze Elie’s motivation of survival in achieving his goal of freedom
that become an important thing to the main character and how those things
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter will be divided into three parts. In the first part, the writer
describes the object of the study. The description of the novel and the information
of its publication are clearly presented. In the second part, the writer explains the
application of the approaches used for the study. Finally, in the last part, the writer
describes the methods that are taken in analyzing the novelNight.
A. Object of the Study
As the object of the analysis, this thesis takes Elie Wiesel’sNightwhich is
firstly published by Hill & Wang, New York on September 1960. The novel that
the writer uses as the primary source of this study is taken from the book that
published by Bantam Books, New York in 1982. The novel is translated from the
French by Stella Rodway and it consists of 109 pages. In this edition, the book
contains the story of Night and some important information. The first one is a
preface for the twenty-fifth anniversary edition by Robert McAfee Brown and the
second one is a foreword by Francois Mauriac.
Elie Wiesel is a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps and the winner
of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize, Wiesel is one of the most acclaimed authors of
Holocaust literature and an eloquent spokesperson for contemporary Judaism.
Throughout his career he has delineated the horror of the concentration camps and
has explored the apparent indifference of God, ultimately reaffirming his life and
faith. His lyrical, impressionistic novels, written primarily in French, frequently
juxtapose past and present to examine the effect of the Holocaust on Jews, both as
individuals and as a people. Although Wiesel focuses strongly on the experience
of Jews, his work also speaks for all persecuted people, and, by extension, for
humanity itself. Nightis generally about a story of Elie Wiesel’s own experiences
when He was taken from Sighet, a little town in Transylvania to Birkenau,
reception center for Auschwitz. This novel shows Elie Wiesel’s struggle to live in
the concentration camp just in order to see the liberation day come. This novel
also shows how he has gone through so many conflicts both internal and external
conflict and he tries to deal with those conflicts.
B. Approach of the Study
In order to analyze the novel Night, the writer uses the psychological
approach as the most suitable approach to be applied in this study because the
writer studies on the main character’s motivation of survival in achieving his goal
of freedom that reveal through the main character’s conflicts. Rohrberger and
Woods in Reading and Writing about Literature divided literary approaches to
literature into five basic sections. There are: formalist approach, biographical
approach, psychological approach, sociocultural-historical approach, and
mythopoeic approach (1971: xi).
Psychological approach is used to explore the main character’s motivation
of survival in achieving his goal of freedom that reveal through the main
character’s conflicts. As stated in Reading and Writing about Literature
(Rohrberger and Woods, 1971: 81),psychological approach emphasizes on human
psychological aspect that give influence to literary work. In this case the writer
tries to see the conflict from the behavior of the main character or from the
psychological aspect. The analysis of this novel deals with the motive of survival
and freedom which is part of psychological point of view. By using this approach,
the writer tries to find out how the internal and external conflicts reveal the main
character’s motivation of survival in achieving his goal of freedom.
C. Method of the Study
In analyzing the study, the writer used library research in collecting the
data. There were two kinds of sources used in this study. The primary source of
data was a book with a new preface by Robert McAfee Brown and a foreword by
Francois Mauriac which was published by, Bantam Books, New York in 1982.
The secondary sources were some books and criticisms on literature and
some books that concerned with the theory of conflict, motive and the ideas of
survival and freedom. Some of the books wereA Glossary of Literary Termsfrom
Abrams, An Introduction to the Study of Literature from W.H. Hudson,
Understanding Unseens:An Introduction to English Poetry and the English Novel
for Overseas Studentsby M. J. Murphy,Fiction: An Introduction to Reading and
Writing by Edgar V. Roberts and Henry E. Jacobs, Human Communication by
Michael Burgoo and Maichael Ruffner,Motivation: Theory and Researchby C. N
Cofer and M. H. Appley, Critical Survey of Long Fiction by Frank Maggil, The
Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire, Interpersonal Conflict by Joyces
To gather explanation of the novel, the writer used some online sources,
such as, “The Story of Night” by Donadio in the www.nytimes.com, “Synopses &
Reviews of Night” in the powells.com, “Critical Analysis of Elie Wiesel's Night”
in www.enotes.com.
In order to have a good understanding about the meaning of Conflict,
Motive and Motivation, and the ideas of Survival and Freedom the writer used
some dictionaries, such as Webster’s Encyclopedia Unabridged Dictionary,
Dictionary of Keywords in Psychology, The New Oxford American Dictionary,
andLongman Dictionary of English Language and Culture.
Concerning with the library research, there were four steps that the writer
used in this thesis. First, the writer read the novel to find the topic. Second, the
writer tried to find some references, which could be used to support the topic in
revealing the main character’s motivation of survival in achieving his goal of
freedom that reveal through the main character’s conflicts. Third, the writer used
some theories to analyze the relation of the main character’s motivation of
survival with the main character’s conflicts. Finally, after having answered the
three problems, the writer drew the conclusions from what he had already
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
This chapter consists of the analysis of the literary work and the answer of
the problem formulations. The first analysis deals with the characterization of Elie
Wiesel as the main characters in the novel. The writer also believes that it is also
necessary to analyze another character in the novel. Another character that will be
analyzed is Chlomo Wiesel (Elie’s father). The second analysis is analyzing the
main character’s conflicts. The third analysis is to see the relation between the
main character’s motivation of survival in achieving freedom and the main
character’s conflicts. In other words, in the last part of the analysis, the writer tries
to show the main character’s motivation of survival in achieving freedom that
reveal through the main character’s conflicts. Theories that were presented in
chapter two will be used to answer the formulated problems.
A. The Characterization of the Main Characters
Character has various types. As Abrams (1981: 20-21) stated characters in
the novel are divided into major and minor character. The major character takes
the important role and becomes the focus from the beginning until the end of the
play, while the minor character is the character that appears in certain setting.
According to that theory, in Elie Wiesel’s Night, Elie is categorized as the major
or main character because he plays the most important role in the play and as the
focus of the story as well. Chlomo Wiesel is categorized as the minor character in
the novel. That character supported the main characters where that character
involves in conflicts with the main character. That is why it becomes necessary
for the writer to analyze that character in order to reveal the relation of Elie’s
motivation of survival in achieving freedom with Elie’s conflicts.
In order to find out the characteristics of the main characters, Murphy’s
(1972: 161-173) theories of characterizations are applied. They are personal
description, character as seen by another, speech, past life, reaction, conversation
of others, direct comment, thought, and mannerisms. However, from those nine
methods, the author only makes use some of them.
1. The Description of Elie Wiesel
a. Religious
According to Murphy (1972: 164) in Understanding Unseens, we can
understand the characters deeper through nine methods, two of them are through
their speech and mannerism. The author can give the readers an insight into the
character by seeing whenever the character speaks or having conversation with
others and stated his/her opinion. The author can also describe a person’s
mannerisms, habits, or idiosyncrasies which may tell us something about the
character (Murphy, 1972: 173). Elie in the beginning of the story is described as a
religious boy who fully believes the existence of God in life as the one who
brought peace, love, justice, help, and all the good things in life (Wiesel, 1982:
1-26). Elie’s religiosity can be seen through his habits that show his interest in
learning things that are related to his religion. As stated in the following
“I was twelve. I believed profoundly. During the day I studied Talmud, and at night I ran to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the Temple” (Wiesel, 1982: 1).
Although, he was a young boy, Elie Wiesel already interested in studying Talmud,
it is kind of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics,
customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism. Elie has a friend,
named Moshe the Beadle, who acts also as a master of Jewish’s mysticism
Cabbala who taught him so many things about Talmud and Cabbala. His relation
with Moshe the beadle and his religious activities like studying Talmud and
Cabbala have made him a religious boy.
Another part that also describes Elie’s religiosity can be seen through the
way Elie and his family always perform every Jewish religious ritual such as the
Passover. It is showed in the following quotation,
“The week of Passover. The weather was wonderful… There were no longer any synagogues open. We gathered in private houses; the German were not to be provoked. Practically ever rabbi’s flat became a house of prayer… The bible bade us rejoice during the seven days of the feast, to be happy…” (Wiesel, 1982: 8).
Passover is a Jewish holy day and festival commemorating the Hebrews' escape
from enslavement in Egypt. During the previous Passovers, the Jewish always go
to synagogue to celebrate it. At that time, although the Jewish were prevented to
go to synagogue during the Passover, Elie and his family kept celebrating it even
they had to do it in home. It describes Elie and his family’s religious life, even
they face a condition where they do not have a chance to go to the synagogue, and
At the time of the deportation where Elie and his family have to leave their
house, Elie spent some of his time just to pray (Wiesel, 1982: 16). When he was
going to be deported, he wanted to see his house for the last time where the house
has become an eye witness for his religiosity development as can be seen in the
quotation below,
“I looked at our house, where I had spent so many years in my search for God, in fasting, in order to hasten the coming of the Messiah…” (Wiesel, 1982: 16).
It shows that he trusted on God’s help and mercy for everything happen in his life.
As we can see from Elie’s speech and mannerism, we can conclude that he is a
religious boy, but later on in the story, during his life in the concentration camp,
Elie begins to question about God’s existence.
b. Loving
In the camp, Elie also shows his characteristic as a loving person. He cares
and loves his father so much. He prevents his father from sleeping in the outside,
in the freezing temperature because he believes that to fall a sleep means to die.
He does not want to lose his father to death and because of that when he sees his
father starting to fall a sleep he wakes him up (Wiesel, 1982: 85). His love for his
father also can be seen when he was crying while preventing other Jewish in the
wagon trying to throw his father out because they thought his father was already
dead (Wiesel, 1982: 94). Elie’s love for his father can also be seen from how he
encourages his father. When his father thinks that he cannot continue, Elie
encourages him not only by yelling at him but also by seizing him in the hand and
Elie is very concerned about his father condition. It can be seen in the
following statement, “Father! I’ve been looking for you for so long… Where were
you? Did you sleep? … How do you feel?” (Wiesel, 1982: 101). He found out that
his father was not in a good condition. Chlomo Wiesel has gone ill. He was
burning with fever. Elie took a good care of his father by bringing him a cup of
coffee although Elie has to struggle like a wild beast just to get it (Wiesel, 1982:
101). Elie also managed to exchange his ration of bread with beds for his father.
He did anything he can just to save his father but unfortunately dysentery took his
father away forever.
The author can give the readers a clue to a person’s character by letting the
reader know how that person reacts to various situation and events (Murphy,
1972: 164). By seeing Elie reaction of showing how much he cares and loves his
father shows that he is a loving person.
c. Brave
Elie Wiesel is also described as a brave boy. He shows his bravery during
his time in Buna. One of his bravery was when the assistant of the quarantine tent
asked for Elie’s shoes but he refused to give it away, “I refused to give him my
shoes. They were all I had left” (Wiesel, 1982: 46). Another case is when he
refused Franek’s demand on possessing his gold crowned tooth. Although Elie
was threatened by Franek, he still refused to give away his crown. Unfortunately,
at the end of the day, Elie has to lose his tooth for nothing (Wiesel, 1982: 52-53).
Elie’s bravery can also be seen in the following quotation,
longer afraid of death, at any rate, not of that death. Every bomb that exploded filled us with joy and gave us new confidence in life” (Wiesel, 1982: 57).
Elie shows that he no longer fears death since living in a concentration camp is
scarier than death itself. For him, every bomb that exploded gave him joy and
hope for freedom.
2. The Description of Chlomo Wiesel
a. Wise
Chlomo Wiesel is the father of Elie Wiesel. He was described as a well
educated person and an unsentimental man as Elie Wiesel stated in “My father
was a cultured, rather unsentimental” (Wiesel, 1982: 2). He also considered as a
wise person. It can be seen from Elie’s statement below,
“The Jewish community in Sighet held him in the greatest esteem. They often used to consult him about public matters and even about private ones” (Wiesel, 1982: 2).
From the quotation it can be seen how Chlomo Wiesel plays an important role in
the Jewish Community in Sighet. People often came to Chlomo and ask for his
opinions or advices about many things either public matters or private ones.
Another part that shows Chlomo’s influence in the society is when he was asked
for his opinion about the situation the Jewish had.
“Some of the prominent members of the community came to see my father—who had highly placed connections in the Hungarian police—to ask him what he thought of the situation” (Wiesel, 1982: 8).
The statement above also shows Chlomo’s important role in society. Chlomo has
good connection with the authorities. And that is why the Jewish community came
situation where all Jewish must wear yellow star. Instead of describing a character
directly the author can describe a person through the eyes and opinions of another.
This method can give the impression of shape, cleanliness, firmness, smoothness,
color, etc (Murphy, 1972: 164). By using that theory, others view of Chlomo
shows that he is a wise man and as a wise man, Chlomo’s opinion and advices are
always needed.
b. Loving
Chlomo is also pictured as a loving person. Although he is an
unsentimental person and rarely shows his emotion we still can see his care and
love toward family and others. During the time in the concentration camp,
Chlomo’s love toward Elie can be seen clearly. He tries to protect his son with all
the strength left. One day, Chlomo brought his son a present,
“My father had brought me a present—half a ration of bread obtained in exchange for a piece of rubber, found at the warehouse, which would do to sole a shoe” (Wiesel, 1982: 69).
From Elie’s statement above it can be seen how Chlomo loves his son so much.
He brought his son a half ration of bread that he got by exchanging a piece of
rubber that Chlomo found at the warehouse. Chlomo knows that food is important
for the body to gain strength. Instead of having the bread for himself, he gave it to
his son. Chlomo’s care and love for his son also seen in how he woke Elie up and
prevent him to fall a sleep in the snow.
Chlomo knows that if his son fall asleep in the snow, he might not be able to wake
up again or in other words he will die. That is why Chlomo keeps his son awake.
B. Elie Wiesel’s Internal and External Conflict
Conflict in its broadest sense means “struggle or fight”, furthermore, it
means “opposition, differences, or class of opinions, desire, etc., as the examples
are the conflict between one’s duty and one’s desire, a conflict of interest between
the achievement of the one aim and of another” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary, 1989: 245). It means that a conflict can be physical which involve
other persons or it can also in form of psychological conflict which only happens
inside someone’s mind. It is similar to what Cofer and Appley stated that conflicts
may arise between motives, goals, or responses but is meaningfully conceived
only in terms of incompatible actions tendencies as one may speak, for example,
of a conflict between desire and fear, on the motivational side, or between
anticipated pleasure and pain, on the side of the end state resulting from action
(1968: 413). Human is a complex person full with desires, fears, ideas, and goals.
That is why a conflict may easily happen in someone’s life and in this case is in
Elie Wiesel’s life.
Perrine stated in his book,Story and Structure, that there are two kinds of
conflict; they are internal and external conflict. The internal conflict or
psychological conflict is a struggle within a person, or a struggle of a person
against himself. The individual of himself is facing a kind of complicated situation
consideration (1970: 54). Perrine defined External conflict as a struggle which
involves a character and other things outside the character himself. There are three
categories of external conflict, which are struggle against nature, a struggle
against another person, and a struggle against society. A struggle against nature
represents man versus forces of nature, the difficulties and the danger; a struggle
against another person concerns with a kind of a struggle between one person and
another, many popular fictions are based in this conflict; a struggle against society
is a struggle about a man values in his society (Perrine, 1970: 59). Elie Wiesel had
lived a horrible life in the concentration camp. During his life there, he had faced
not only the conflict that happens inside of him but also the conflict that took
place outside himself which involving other elements such as other persons or
even nature. In other words Elie Wiesel had faced many conflicts, both internal
and external during his life in the concentration camp. It is similar to Perrine’s
theory which stated that conflict in literary work may also consist of multi
conflicts or more than one conflict (1974: 44). Because of that, to make it easier to
analyze, the writer analyzes the conflict separately Internal and External.
1. Elie Wiesel’s Internal Conflicts
In psychology, Burgon and Ruffner placed the internal conflict or inner
conflict or intrapersonal conflict as the first level of conflict (1977: 484).
According to Rodman, this first level of conflict happens inside the heart and
mind of the protagonist (1964: 363). So, Elie’s internal conflicts must only
happen inside himself. Elie’s first internal conflict happens at the reception center
selection for the Jewish at that time. Dr. Mengele, a SS officer, leads the selection.
He uses a conductor’s baton to determine whether the Jewish live or die by
moving the baton to the left or to the right. Before the selection comes to his turn,
Elie and his father were forced by another prisoner to lie about their age in order
to pass the selection (Wiesel, 1982: 28). The internal conflict is started when Elie
was asked by Dr.Mengele.
“How Old are you?” he asked, in an attempt at a paternal tone of voice. “Eighteen.” My voice was shaking.
“What’s your occupation?
Should I say that I was a student?
“Farmer,” I heard myself say (Wiesel, 1982: 29).
Elie was asked about his age and occupation. The conflict itself is closely related
to Elie’s answers toward the questions. Rodman suggested that inner conflict
refers to a struggle that happens inside the heart and mind of the protagonist
(1964: 363). The struggle that occurs inside Elie’s mind is a conflict on what
answers he should give to Dr. Mengele. It is a struggle of making a decision
whether he should answer the questions by telling the truth or should he lie about
his age and occupation just like what the prisoner has asked him to. He finally lied
about his age and occupation. Another internal conflict rises after he saw the
baton moved left. Once again, he has a struggle inside his mind about which
direction that actually means “good” and which direction that means “bad”. It is
similar to what Cofer and Appley stated that a conflict can be inform of struggle
inside someone’s mind about what he/she will get as the result of the action taken
before (1968:413). There is a struggle inside Elie’s mind about what he will get as
thinks of another option that might become a better solution for him. If later he
finds that the “left” sign means to die in the crematory, than he will break from the
ranks and throw himself into the electric barbed wire (Wiesel, 1982: 31). Elie’s
wanted to avoid the slow and painful death and prefer to have a fast and less
painful death. Later on, he found out that the “left” sign means to live for another
day and his answers had saved him for awhile.
Elie faces another internal conflict during another selection that is held in
Buna. Similar to the previous selection, Dr. Mengele will decide who shall live
and who shall be sent to death. Before Elie gets his turn, a thought crosses his
mind. The conflict is started when the time finally comes to his turn to walk pass
Dr. Mengele.
“I ran without looking back. My head was spinning: you’re too thin, you’re too weak, you’re too thin, you’re good for the furnace….” (Wiesel, 1982: 68).
From the quotation above, it can be seen what actually Elie’s internal conflict is.
The conflict is the struggle inside his mind about the result of the selection
process. It is similar to what Cofer and Appley suggested that conflict can be a
struggle between thoughts on the side of the end state resulting from the action
(1968: 413). It is a struggle of his thought about whether he will pass the selection
or not.
Another internal conflict of Elie Wiesel is the struggle between his
religious side and his logic mind. It is related to what Abrams mentioned in A
Glossary of Literary Terms that a conflict can be between opposing desires or
conflict between his opposing desire from his religious side and his logic mind
toward his ideology of God. His religious side told him to believe in God while
his logic mind told him to deny his God’s existence. His logic mind is supported
by his past experience. He had faced moments which shows that God is no longer
existed. He had seen the moments where he found that there are no God’s help or
mercy given to the oppressed Jewish. One of the moments was when he saw the
Germans soldier burning babies and little children alive (Wiesel, 1982: 30). The
moment has started an internal struggle inside Elie’s mind.
“For the first time, I felt revolt rise up in me. Why should I bless His name? The Eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible, was silent. What had I to thank Him for” (Wiesel, 1982: 31).
Elie’s religious side forced him to keep on believing in God while his logic mind
forced him to stop believing in his God by giving him reasons of why he should
stop believing. From the quotation it can be seen how Elie’s logic mind tries to
show to Elie that there are no more reasons for Elie to keep on believe in God
because God Himself was not even there to help the babies and the little children.
The horrible moments that he saw has brought a great impact toward him.
“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” (Wiesel, 1982: 32).
The horrible moments have influenced him so much. Elie then decided to stop
believing in God. He uses the word “murdered” to show how those moments had
made him lost his faith in God. Elie Wiesel has become a completely different
person after those moments that he saw. He is no longer the same child he was
Elie’s disbelief in God continues as he thinks that instead of helping the
oppressed Jewish, God troubled the Jewish mind and crippled bodies by having
them crowed together just to celebrate the ceremony of Rosh Hashanah (Wiesel,
1982: 63). Rosh Hashanah is a ceremony of Jewish New Year. During the
ceremony of Rosh Hashanah, Elie’s mind keep on questioning why he should
bless his God just to make sure that his decision not to believe in God is a right
decision.
“Why, but why should I bless Him? In every fiber I rebelled. Because He had thousands of children burned in His pits? Because He kept six crematories working night and day, on Sundays and feast days? Because in His great might He had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many factories of death? How could I say to him: “Blessed art Thou, Eternal, Master of the Universe, Who chose us from among the races to be tortured day and night, to see our fathers, our mothers, our brothers, end in the crematory? Praised be Thy Holy Name, Thou Who hast chosen us to be butchered on Thine altar?” (Wiesel, 1982: 64).
From the quotation above, we can see another attempt of Elie’s logic mind in
order to show Elie that there are no more reasons for him to praise, to worship, or
to bless God because what God had brought for the Jewish were all the terrible
things and even death itself.
Another Elie’s internal conflict was during the Day of Atonement or Yom
Kippur. During Yom Kippur, all the religious Jewish usually fast. The conflict is
on whether he should fast as what a religious Jewish do or should not fast. This
conflict related to Cofer and Appley’s suggestion which stated that a conflict may
arise between responses toward something (1968:413). Elie’s intrapersonal
conflict is between what response he should take toward the fasting tradition of
so but also because there is another more important reason. He found that there
was no more reason why he should fast since he is no longer accepted God
(Wiesel, 1982: 66).
One day, in the middle of January, Elie’s right foot began to swell because
of the cold. He was unable to put it on the ground and because of that; he went to
a doctor to be examined. He found that he needs an operation in order to be able
to walk again. He was staying at the hospital when he heard his neighbor said that
there will be a selection also in the hospital. His neighbor told him that it is better
for Elie to get out of the hospital before the next selection. This information and
suggestion creates an intrapersonal conflict. There is a struggle inside Elie’s mind
toward his neighbor statement and suggestion.
“But perhaps my faceless neighbor, fearing that he would be among the first victims, simply wanted to drive me away, to free my bed in order to give himself a chance to survive. Perhaps he just wanted to frighten me. Yet, what if he were telling the truth? I decided to await events” (Wiesel, 1982: 75).
From the quotation we can see what the struggle was about. It was about whether
his neighbor’s opinion is true or false, whether he should believe it or not. Elie
decided to take an action of waiting because for now, he concerned more on his
foot. He wanted to be cured.
Other Elie’s internal conflicts involved his father’s existence. But before
looking to Elie’s internal conflicts that involved his father’s existence, there are
some moments that were important. Those moments become important because
those moments influenced Elie’s mind. The first moment is when Rabbi Eliahou
