Symbolism In Elie Wiesel's Night

Over 5 million people died between 1933 and 1945. Additionally, around half of these deaths happened in a concentration camp. This point in time is commonly referred to as the Holocaust. In Elie Wiesel’s book "Night” that documents Elie Wiesel’s struggles in a ghetto and then being transported throughout Germany to these awful places that are made for death. However, in the novel “Night,” Elie Wiesel uses dialog, ellipses, and symbolism to show the bond he has with his father. (73)

"The night seemed endless" (Wiesel 26) on the train to Auschwitz. In the memoir "Night" by Elie Wiesel, Night is symbolic, and its meaning can be interpreted in multiple ways. Night epitomized fear whilst also serving as a haven from the torture in the camp. The horrors Elie witnesses in the camp are relieved, even if it be for a little while, at night. Night is not just a period of respite, but also a time of anxiety for the coming day of torture.

Fire can also be seen as a symbol of Elie’s loss of his faith in his God and in the Jewish religion. In Judaism, tradition says that the evil and wicked will be condemned to Gehenna and suffer a fiery punishment. However, Elie’s experiences reverse what he was taught by his faith. The innocent were murdered in the crematorium by the evil. This shows how Elie’s faith was strongly questioned during the Holocaust due to the experiences and how his concept of religion was changed dramatically. “Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes.”

The pain, the cold harsh wind biting at the ankles of hundreds of thousands of people. Human beings enduring torture so great it was not life, it was survival for beasts. Pain so great that no word in any dictionary can describe it. The emanation of a thousand rotting corpses lying in the snow. The wailing of millions so intense it was like it was from the depths of Tartarus watching as they trudged on. The cold snatching hundreds of lives and the only heat sources are from the eternal fires of death. The holocaust, the hand of hell descending on the world. Jews crammed into cattle cars and sent to concentration camps. Families were separated into different camps and many died in the rigorous selection process. Survivors were worked to near death by German SS officers as shown in Elie Wiesel’s Night, a memoir of the holocaust. Imagery, Symbolism, and Comparisons are all viable writing tools that provide a writer the best

When a son kills his father over bread, the meaning of Night is further brought to light. It is illuminated by the fact that Elie loves his father very much, how little food they were given, and how ruthless people had become to get what they needed.

Elie Wiesel’s life has been molded by the events he endured while in Auschwitz during World War 2. His memoir, “Night,” illustrates his life during the darkest moment in Jewish history. The story begins in 1941 in the town of Sighet, where Eliezer his parents are shopkeepers and he strictly adheres to Jewish tradition and law. By 1944, the Hungarian government fell to the Fascists which resulted in the eventual oppression of Jews in Sighet, where Eliezer, his family, and other Jews are forced to wear yellow stars and succumb to the strict measures of the Germans. Later, the Jews are herded into ghettos, where they unknowingly awaited their trains for Auschwitz. By the end of his ordeal and his liberation from the camp, he had witnessed the

Similarly, Elie deliberately uses several instances of foreshadowing as a warning that further develops the dehumanization theme. As the cattle car was approaching Auschwitz concentration camp, Madame Schächter screams, “’Jews listen to me,’ she cried. ‘I see fire! I see flames, huge flames’” (25 Wiesel)! Madame foreshadows the annihilation of millions of Jews being burned alive and dead within the crematoriums located at Auschwitz. Also, her hallucinations predicted the horrific fate of all the Jewish people, who would suffer

Wiesel uses the themes of the struggle to maintain faith and inhumanity toward other humans in order to portray the cruelty of the Holocaust. Eliezer begins the novel with a strong, unwavering faith in God. He believes that God is everywhere and that God is present at all times. Since God is present in every place in the world, the world must be good and just. Eliezer’s faith in the integrity of the world and God is challenged by the brutality he witnesses during the Holocaust from the Nazis and his fellow prisoners. An example of Eliezer questioning his faith is when he witnesses a small child being hanged. He asks himself where God is and answers, “He is hanging here on this gallows” (Wiesel 65). He witnesses Nazis burning children in furnaces, Jews being subjected to repeated beatings and humiliations, the hanging of fellow prisoners, the hanging of a child and the slaughter and death of prisoners. The cruelty of the Nazis breeds more cruelty and Eliezer sees the prisoners become cruel as well. He sees sons abandoning and abusing their

The book Night by: Elie Wiesel is a book that follows Elie Wiesel’s life during the holocaust. The book describes the tragedy first hand from Elie Wiesel. Elie Wiesel got separated from his mother and sisters and only has his father throughout this tragedy. Throughout all of the chapters in the book Night, Elie Wiesel uses the literary device imagery to describe the theme of horror and despair to the reader. By sharing his experiences in the concentration camps during the holocaust.

One of the central themes in Night was choosing not to know. People chos not to know for many reasons. On page 7 when Moiche the Beadle came back he said “They think I’m mad.” This quote might be short but it speaks volumes. They think he is crazy because something like to Holocaust had never happend before. The people he was telling couldn't imagine being forced to dig trenches then getting shot into them. The whole concept of the Holocaust was so foreign that none of them could imagine such a thing happening. The next quote that represents choosing not to know is on page 46. It said: “Mother is still a young woman,’ my father once said. ‘She must be in a labor camp. And Tzipora, she is a big girl now. She must too be in a camp...” This quote

Eliezer finds God's silence is the most troubling. The lack of God's response while all the horrible events are taking place makes Eliezer question his faith in God. In the book Eliezer says "How could it be possible for them to burn people, children, and for the world to keep silent?" Also in the book while people are being hanged, Eliezer mentions that someone behind him asked "Where is God? Where is He?"

A Holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel shares his experience in Auschwitz-Birkaneau, one of Hitler’s concentration camps, in his autobiography Night. In the memoir, Wiesel utilizes the motifs: silence, survival, and responsibility to develop character, plot, and other literary elements.

“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.” (Wiesel ix). This quote comes from the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel. This quote contains one of the most obvious used symbols from the book. The memoir Night is about the author Elie Wiesel struggling to survive during the bad days and nights in the concentration camps. The author tells us about his struggles using symbolism. The author uses symbolism to give a visual so that you can relate to the story. The three most important symbols that are used in Night are the fires, night, and the baton.

Eliezer Wiesel is a notable survivor of the Holocaust. Wiesel uses literary devices in his memoir to describe his life in concentration camps and the journey of his survival during the Holocaust. In the memoir, Night, the author utilizes imagery, understatement, and symbolism to revel to the reader that horrific events occur when a society loses its humanity. Wiesel uses imagery to show some of the horrible things that were done to people within the concentration camps. When he first arrives in Birkenau he describes, “Not far from us, flames, huge flames, were rising from a ditch.

When I was reading through our class syllabus I was very excited when I saw this was a required book to read. My sister in law, whom is a History major, had the privilege of meeting Elie Wiesel’s in High School and was lucky enough to receive and autographed version of his book. She told me how emotional is was hearing him talk about his experiences in person, being physically next to someone and hearing them relive their terrible experiences. Night is an autobiography written by Elie Wiesel’s about his horrific experience as a prisoner in World War II living in a concentration camp. Right from the beginning this book is a very intense and powerful read, everything Wiesel discusses and the characters he brings up are all very real. Nothing that he wrote about or lived through is make believe or pretend. The truth is powerful and that’s what makes this book as emotional as it is. He writes his story in a manner that you can truly feel what it 's like to truly feel alone and afraid just like he felt.