Kudia 1

Mahum Kudia

Mr. Van Velzer

Beginning Composition-Block 4

7 November 2014

Hatred, the Worst of Humanity

Elie Wiesel is a Holocaust survivor, and has written many books on his experience. One

such autobiographic novel Night, shows us his feelings and emotions while in the concentration

camps. Mark Mathabane suffered in apartheid South Africa. He escaped and is now living in the

U.S. He has written many books and articles on his experience in apartheid. In one such article,

The Cycle of Revenge, Mathabane states, Guns, bombs, and tanks cannot defeat hatred. It can be

vanquished only by humanity. I agree because if you fight fire with fire, there will only be more

fire. But, if you fight the fire of hatred with the water of humanity, and the light of

reconciliation and forgiveness, then the fire of hatred and revenge will be extinguished.

When a person, out of hate, fights back, wanting revenge, with the desire to hurt

everyone and everything, innocent people are caught in the cross fire. In his article, Mathabane

says, If by killing whites I would also kill people like the nun whose empathy had given my

mother hope and whose help had saved me As long as there was that chance, I couldnt bring

myself to kill in the name of hate. If Mathabane had fought back in a rage, filled with hatred

and revenge, good people, such as the nun, would have paid the price, with their lives. Then the

white people who did nothing and whose friends and family died would hate black people and

try to hurt them. Then both sides would constantly be fighting because of hatred and revenge.

From this evidence, we can see that reacting negatively, with hate and rage results in nothing

positive, just more loss, sadness, and hate. In this situation we have to ask ourselves, Whats the
 Kudia 2

best thing to do? and the best thing to do is fight back. Not with violence, rage, and hate, but

with words, truces, negotiations, forgiveness, and peace. That is the true test of the human

character, being able to find peace and tranquility, amidst chaos, confusion, and hatred.

Violence and hatred is not the answer. There is more than one way to get even with

oppressors, and to prove that we are stronger and better than them. Wiesel states in his

autobiographic novel, And even when we were no longer hungry, not one of us thought of

revenge, (115). This was two days after the Jews in Buchenwald, a concentration camp, were

liberated. After all the suffering they went through at the hands of Hitler and the Nazis, not one

of them wished revenge and violence on Germans as a whole. For them, surviving, being

successful, having large, happy families, and informing people about the horrors of the

Holocaust, was the best and only way to fight back peacefully, as doing these things was

exactly what the Nazis didnt want. Being the victims of hate-induced mass murder and

attempted genocide, Holocaust survivors know better than anyone that hatred against someone,

especially based on their race or beliefs, is one of the worst crimes that we as human beings can

commit.

If we dont do anything to help resolve conflict, than who will? The oppressors will

continue to victimize people and make them suffer, and the victims will hate everyone, those that

are oppressing them, as well as those who have done nothing to help them. In Night, when

Wiesel first enters the concentration camps, he is horrified when he sees people being thrown

into giant pits of fire, and asks, Was I still alive? Was I awake? How was it possible that men,

women, and children were being burned and that the world kept silent? (32) The Nazis were

able to kill millions of Jews because nobody tried to prevent it from ever happening. From a

young age, children were exposed to hatred towards the Jews. They had all been brainwashed
 Kudia 3

into believing that the Jewish people are an inferior race, and that it was the Jews who caused

Germanys economy crash. Because of their blind hatred, the Nazis sentenced more than 6

million Jews to painful deaths. From this evidence we can see that when the world stays silent

and doesnt do all that it can to prevent injustice and hatred, people like the Nazis take control,

and with them comes the hatred and violence that will destroy humanity.

It is our responsibility, as fellow humans to encourage peace, resolve conflicts, help those

that are suffering, and to not contribute more hate and violence to the already vengeful world. If

you fight fire with fire, there will only be more fire. But, if you fight the fire of hatred with the

water of humanity, and the light of reconciliation and forgiveness, then the fire of hatred and

revenge will be extinguished. Mark Mathabane says in The Cycle of Revenge, Guns, bombs, and

tanks cannot defeat hatred. It can be vanquished only by humanity. I agree with this statement

because if we dont get our act together, no ones going to do it for us, and the future generations

will have to pay the price.