In both Elie Wiesel’s Night and Across Five Aprils by Irene Hunt, we see the characters’ lives change in an instant. They were forced to leave behind their daily lives and face this newfound fate. Violence and misfortune played a significant part in what caused this dramatic change in lifestyle for Elie Wiesel and his family in Night. Violence played a different role in Across Five Aprils; what happened to Jethro was more of an indirect result than a direct one. Elie Wiesel was taken to a ghetto then transferred to a concentration camp, Jethro Creighton was not directly involved, but affected by disgraceful acts of vandalism. Both families lived completely different lives in completely different times, yet we see the common element of violence time after time.
In Across Five Aprils Jethro must have been feeling a jumble of emotions when he learned that his father had a heart attack, he knew that if it had marked Matt unable to continue his job he would have to fulfill his responsibilities. Furthermore, in Night, Elie Wiesel had to have been heartbroken when he learned that the line his mom and sister were in led to the crematorium. Both boys had to endure a variable amount of loss and people leaving their lives. With the Civil War just beginning and each side’s armies needing more soldiers and infantry Jethro was left alone with only his mother and his father, who had recently suffered a heart attack. Elie Wiesel was forced to do backbreaking work everyday and was only accompanied by his father, who’s physical state was slowly deteriorating. Elie and Jethro were both hard-working boys forced into involuntary work. Elie’s case was a bit more extreme, but still, work.
Before the war, Jethro was far from adulthood; he was just as innocent as any other child his age. Contrarily, Elie Wiesel was already studying at a nearby jevish at the age of 12. He was influenced by his grandfather and grandmother to pursue what they followed. Their childhoods were vastly different. Jethro is a boy who grew up in Illinois, he lived on a farm and was the youngest of three brothers. All three of his brothers fight in the war, one of them for the confederate forces. Elie Wiesel was the only son and the third of four children, each of his parents wanted him to follow different religious paths, his mother sacred Jewish texts, his father Modern Hebrew literature. He began to look into religion at an extremely young age. Young Jethro was still a child, Elie was different, physically, yes he was a child, but mentally far from it.
Night is unique in its writing style. Mr. Wiesel writes the book in a fragmented writing style. He uses short, graphic sentences that jump straight to the point he does not pack in any extra details, he tell s it as it is. Irene Hunt is told from a third-person point of view but is centered around the life of Jethro Creighton and the events he experienced. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. “Never shall I forget that 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.” is a quote from Night, this quote captures Elie Wiesel’s writing style in a couple of sentences. He uses small fragments with repetitive wording to get the point across without confusion. “He’s like a man standin’ where two roads meet, Jeth … and one road is as dark and fearsome as the other; there ain’t a choice between the two, and yet a choice has to be made.” Irene Hunt writes this quote, the words she uses are words we would not be accustomed to using. She uses southern vocabulary to create more realism within the book. Both authors are spectacular writers, but each in their respective ways.
Each of the characters was forced into manhood, whether that means taking on the job of your ill father, having your home taken away from you, or being forced to do labor. Although they could easily give up, each character pushes on, representative of the shear will each character has. Both stories speak of a pain that can only be experienced through traumatic events. Across Five Aprils focuses on the emotional aspect of loss and war, when Night focuses on the physical pain of labor and inhumane circumstances. They both go through events that, at the time, they would have rather forgotten about, but they didn’t, and these experiences are what eventually defines them.