If there was one word to describe to the novel of "All Rivers Run to the Sea" by Elie Wiesel it would have to be powerful. The Literature book only had an excerpt of eight pages from the full novel but, from those eight pages a reader can get a great idea of the style of the novel and what he experienced in his life. The excerpt included the major themes of modernism of loss, which is becoming very common, destruction of the family, and untrustworthy authority figures. The effect that his life had on this story is very apparent as the story is based on his life experiences. This story is very similar to other modernism works as well as being very similar to other works that Wiesel has written (Maas). Even though it was just a short part of the novel included in the Literature book, it is very easy to see how this is a modernism work as well as how strong of a novel it truly is.
The characteristics of modernism that are seen in this novel are very apparent to see to the reader. These characteristics include loss, untrustworthy authority figures, and destruction of the family unit (Byrne). Loss is very apparent in this story as Wiesel is separated from his family home, city, and also family (Wiesel). Not only did he lose some of his family but, he also lost his life style and also some of his innocence by having to grow up immediately and take care of some of the members of his family even though he himself was just a child. The sense of loss goes right along with the destruction of the family because, he lost many of the members of his family including, his three younger sisters, which in turn tore apart his family and would never be the same again (Wiesel). Along with the other two characteristics of modernism found in this book that were negative, the final modernism characteristic found in this book is untrustworthy authority figures because, the authority figures in this novel were SS soldiers who would kill the prisoners if they decided to not cooperate with them or just felt like killing them (Maas). All of these characteristics were negative and it is very easy to see why it was so hard for Wiesel and other prisoners in these camps to survive and trying to keep as much hope as they possibly could during the rough times they had during their days.
The effect that Wiesel’s life had on this story is very easy to see because, his life was the basis for this story, so it obviously affected the story greatly. All of the hard things that he had to go through and experience during his early years in the Nazi concentration camps are included in this novel but, readers could only experience a couple of these since the exert was only eight pages long (Maas). Wiesel had to deal with being away from his all his family as he was separated from them all except for his dad, and also had to deal with saying goodbye to his family home and the life that he was just getting used to (Wiesel). For a young child to go through all of that had to be very traumatic for him, as well as trying to adjust to life after being surrounded by death for so long in his short life. The effect his life had on this story is very easy to see because, the story is an autobiography.
This literary work is very similar to Wiesel’s other works as well as other Modernism works such as "To Whistler, American" and "Gerontion". Like Wiesel’s other works such as "Night", which is very similar to "All Rivers Run to the Sea" being that they both tell the same story, they both pertain to his time during the concentration camp, how he dealt with loss and the his family splitting apart, and how he dealt with life after it was all over (Wiesel). Both of these works are very similar to each other and have the same style that Wiesel is known for. When it comes to how this work relates to other modernism work, they are very similar because both "Gerontion" and "To Whistler, American" deal with the sense of loss with dealt with by the characters in the story and "To Whistler, American" also deals with the destruction of the family unit just like this short story does. The common factor in all three of these works is that they all three have negative feeling surrounding them.
In conclusion, this work by Elie Wiesel is a modernism work that is filled with many negative emotions throughout it. He includes many characteristics that pertain to modernism such as loss, destruction in a family unit, and untrustworthy authority figures. He also shows how his life can affect his writing by including his personal experiences in this non-fiction work about his life leading up to and including the holocaust. This work is also very similar to other works written by Wiesel and other modernism works. This was a very powerful work that includes many characteristics from modernism and also very important themes that are found in modernism writing. Works Cited
Byrne, C. J. "Understanding Modernism & Postmodernism." Writing.Com: Writers, Writing, Poetry, Creative Writing, Fiction Writing, Poetry Contests, Writing Contests. 2005. Web. 03 May 2010. <http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/943010-Understanding-Modernism--Postmodernism>.
Wiesel, Elie. "From All Rivers Lead to the Sea." Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus, Ohio: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 983-90. Print.
If there was one word to describe to the novel of "All Rivers Run to the Sea" by Elie Wiesel it would have to be powerful. The Literature book only had an excerpt of eight pages from the full novel but, from those eight pages a reader can get a great idea of the style of the novel and what he experienced in his life. The excerpt included the major themes of modernism of loss, which is becoming very common, destruction of the family, and untrustworthy authority figures. The effect that his life had on this story is very apparent as the story is based on his life experiences. This story is very similar to other modernism works as well as being very similar to other works that Wiesel has written (Maas). Even though it was just a short part of the novel included in the Literature book, it is very easy to see how this is a modernism work as well as how strong of a novel it truly is.
The characteristics of modernism that are seen in this novel are very apparent to see to the reader. These characteristics include loss, untrustworthy authority figures, and destruction of the family unit (Byrne). Loss is very apparent in this story as Wiesel is separated from his family home, city, and also family (Wiesel). Not only did he lose some of his family but, he also lost his life style and also some of his innocence by having to grow up immediately and take care of some of the members of his family even though he himself was just a child. The sense of loss goes right along with the destruction of the family because, he lost many of the members of his family including, his three younger sisters, which in turn tore apart his family and would never be the same again (Wiesel). Along with the other two characteristics of modernism found in this book that were negative, the final modernism characteristic found in this book is untrustworthy authority figures because, the authority figures in this novel were SS soldiers who would kill the prisoners if they decided to not cooperate with them or just felt like killing them (Maas). All of these characteristics were negative and it is very easy to see why it was so hard for Wiesel and other prisoners in these camps to survive and trying to keep as much hope as they possibly could during the rough times they had during their days.
The effect that Wiesel’s life had on this story is very easy to see because, his life was the basis for this story, so it obviously affected the story greatly. All of the hard things that he had to go through and experience during his early years in the Nazi concentration camps are included in this novel but, readers could only experience a couple of these since the exert was only eight pages long (Maas). Wiesel had to deal with being away from his all his family as he was separated from them all except for his dad, and also had to deal with saying goodbye to his family home and the life that he was just getting used to (Wiesel). For a young child to go through all of that had to be very traumatic for him, as well as trying to adjust to life after being surrounded by death for so long in his short life. The effect his life had on this story is very easy to see because, the story is an autobiography.
This literary work is very similar to Wiesel’s other works as well as other Modernism works such as "To Whistler, American" and "Gerontion". Like Wiesel’s other works such as "Night", which is very similar to "All Rivers Run to the Sea" being that they both tell the same story, they both pertain to his time during the concentration camp, how he dealt with loss and the his family splitting apart, and how he dealt with life after it was all over (Wiesel). Both of these works are very similar to each other and have the same style that Wiesel is known for. When it comes to how this work relates to other modernism work, they are very similar because both "Gerontion" and "To Whistler, American" deal with the sense of loss with dealt with by the characters in the story and "To Whistler, American" also deals with the destruction of the family unit just like this short story does. The common factor in all three of these works is that they all three have negative feeling surrounding them.
In conclusion, this work by Elie Wiesel is a modernism work that is filled with many negative emotions throughout it. He includes many characteristics that pertain to modernism such as loss, destruction in a family unit, and untrustworthy authority figures. He also shows how his life can affect his writing by including his personal experiences in this non-fiction work about his life leading up to and including the holocaust. This work is also very similar to other works written by Wiesel and other modernism works. This was a very powerful work that includes many characteristics from modernism and also very important themes that are found in modernism writing.
Works Cited
Byrne, C. J. "Understanding Modernism & Postmodernism." Writing.Com: Writers, Writing, Poetry, Creative Writing, Fiction Writing, Poetry Contests, Writing Contests. 2005. Web. 03 May 2010. <http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/943010-Understanding-Modernism--Postmodernism>.
Maas, Wendy. "Night." Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, 2006. Web. 3 May 2010. <http://www.fofweb.com/Lit/default.asp?ItemID=WE54>.
Wiesel, Elie. "From All Rivers Lead to the Sea." Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus, Ohio: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 983-90. Print.