Illusions Sweet Reality

[jessica]

Jessica Davis- Thompson
Ms. Wright
10B English 2
8 March 2009

A Long Night, And Still No News From Auschwitz

Often times, our society is faced with the multiple problems concerning the constant struggle for power. In the book V for Vendetta, the terrorist V- who is defined as a terrorist by the eyes of the government- says that “while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth.” He is describing the sheer power words have. Tyrants and dictators keep the power they gained through violence, propaganda, and censorship, but words will always be the messengers of peace and prosperity that violence cannot be. In lieu of the violence Hitler raged, in lieu of the mass murder that left graves like mountains, in lieu of this all the same men who were tortured and beaten would learn to use their words to speak out and call for remembrance of such terrible acts. A.M. Rosenthal wrote the article No News From Auschwitz to revive the memory of those who may have forgotten or for those who never learned about the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel‘s book Night, which is a memoir of his time spent in the concentration camps, was written with the same purpose. Elie Wiesel was more effective at conveying this intended purpose than Rosenthal, though, because Elie Wiesel’s use of figurative language, diction, and word choice catch the reader’s attention and convey an unforgettably powerful message.
It is noticeable that both non-fiction pieces are remarkably alike in both diction, and writer’s purpose. When describing Brzezinka, the location of Auschwitz, Rosenthal says “it would be fitting if at Brzezinka the sun never shone and the grass withered, because this is a place of great terror” (Rosenthal; No News From Auschwitz). He is describing in an ironic tone that it is strange that children play and flowers grow on the same ground that thousands were killed and tortured. Rosenthal’s purpose here is to convey the fact that this horror can never be forgotten, even if it has long passed.