How does silence perpetuate the transgressions of those who wish to cause harm?
I sort of already spoke about this in the post below, but I'll discuss it more thoroughly in this one. Here we go!
When someone commits a misdeed unto someone else, and that person remains silent about it, the misdeeds will obviously continue. People usually do bad things when they feel they won't get into trouble. If this is the case, they can keep going as long as they want. Their targets' silence basically feeds their desire to hurt others. It's encouraging them to keep going, since nothing is stopping them. There aren't any consequences.
Not being silent means that you don't keep the misdeeds done to you locked away in your mind. Someone has to know what happened. People need to know the truth. If you spread the word about what's going on, everyone can band together as an effort to end the transgressions. Perhaps it could be difficult, depending on whether it's a widespread situation in the world or something simple such as in school. But if those who wish to cause harm see that action is being done against them, the harm will lessen, maybe even stop.
Take Night, for example. The narrator, as well as I, think that the concept of the Holocaust is absolutely ridiculous. To annihilate an entire religion of people, during the 20th century... simply because they were disliked? What kind of reason is that?! Ordinary families were forced out of their homes, separated from their loved ones, lived in foul conditions, and were given fatal punishments. I just don't understand why something like this should happen, or even could happen. Just imagine the horror. You can't! Unfortunately, there seemed to be no end to it at the time - because everyone was silent. Such despicable things were happening right under the Germans' noses, and they didn't care. No one was stopping them. I don't blame the Jewish people for being silent. They had no choice. If they were to rebel, they'd obviously lose because of their seemingly impossible-to-beat enemy. But still, the fact that something like this went on for so long is just horrible. It is a lesson for us here in the future. Don't remain silent. Never forget what you've seen, and what has been done to you. Keep the memory alive, so we can work to resolve the issue and make sure the issue doesn't rise again.
Before I end this post, I'd just like to say how I feel about this book so far.
It's absolutely terrifying! The narrator is the same age as I am, and I can't believe the things he's going through. It's so... I mean, I have no words. The way he describes his first experience at Auschwitz got my heart beating. He was separated from his sisters and mother. Think about it - his mother! During such a time, you'd want as much comfort as possible, which is only possible with your parents. He just lost half of that. He walked left, she walked right. That was it. It was terrible reading such words. Oh, and the chimney... I just don't understand. Why? How? These things happened less than a lifetime ago! This isn't centuries ago when people thought cruel and unusual punishment was normal! This is so inhumane. Those Germans... they're worse than monsters. I'm pretty sure the more I progress through this book, the more frightening it's going to be, but it's all proof that we shouldn't remain silent.
Well, that's all for now. Night is a really well-written book, and though it may be scary, it's enough to keep me reading. Just as I thought, it's a big eye-opener too. We could all learn many things from it. I'm hoping to get through the class discussions on this book with ease and put it all aside afterwards, but it won't be forgotten! The memory shall be alive.
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