Elie Wiesel concluded his memoir, Night, by describing his feelings when he sees himself in the mirror for the first time since he left the ghetto. The purpose of this is to portray the state his body and mind is in. Elie describes himself as a corpse because his humanity had been stolen from him after so many years of suffering. Elie also was at the brink of starvation and death, which would have contributed to his corpse-like appearance. Elie went nearly an entire week without eating, and this is detrimental to his body. Elie states “Hunger was tormenting us; we had not eaten for nearly six days” (Wiesel). This quote explains that Elie and the others did not eat for almost 6 days, and it also explains the suffering they were going through
In the 1956 memoir Night, by Elie Wiesel, he illustrates that witnessing human cruelty was his traumatizing memory of the Holocaust. Weisel supports his illustration through the use of symbolism, which demonstrates that witnessing human cruelty had more effect on him that anything else he will ever experience. He uses the flames that he saw as a symbol for the atrocities that he saw, because the flames themselves were the first example of cruelty that he ever witnessed. The author’s purpose is to explain why he will never forget “that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night”, so that the reader can understand the consequences of cruelty. Instead of simply stating that the cruelty he witnessed tore his dreams
The second “kiss” from God Elie received was in the Rabbi’s words. When his life began to progressively become worse in the camps moments like the ones in the ghettos were not common; he began to become more despair. The book Night states, “He was the only rabbi whom nobody ever failed to address as "Rabbi" in Buna. He looked like one of those prophets of old, always in the midst of his people when they needed to be consoled. And, strangely, his words never provoked anyone.
Night Elie loses his faith throughout the book, but it was not always like that. Elie used to be very religious and wanted to learn as much as possible about his faith. “One evening, I told him how unhappy I was not to be able to find in sighet to teach me the Zohar, the Kabbalistic works, the secret of jewish mysticism” (Wiesel 5). Elie said to Moshe the Beadle. His father wasn’t supportive of his decision so he took things into his own hands.
In the beginning, Eliezer is a very strong follower of the Jewish Religion. In the early part of the book, before they are sent to the labor camps, Wiesel shows that he is strong with his faith when he says: “I was almost thirteen and deeply observant. By day I studied Talmud and by night I would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the temple (Wiesel 3).” This quote comes from the first page of the book, where Wiesel is talking about his life before the chaos started, circa. 1941.
The night is a motif in the novel, appearing again and again in the text. While Elie is in the process of moving into the ghetto and becoming accustomed to their new home he says "Night Fell". A second instance that night is used is when the train is taking the Jewish people to the concentration camp. Elie says "Only the darkness of night". While at the concentration camp, the last day in the Jewish calendar is drawing near so everyone is gathering around to pray.
In the story Night by Elie Wiesel, we follow Elie between 1941 and 1945 across Europe. Elie is an adolescent Jewish boy in tune with his faith. He would study Talmud by day and by night he would run to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the Temple. In Sighet 1941, Elie was nearly thirteen when he met someone who everyone called Moishe the Beadle. Elie was so interested in learning more about his faith that he asked his father to find a master to help guide him in his studies of Kabbalah.
The motif that I chose from the book Night, by Elie Wiesel is “night”. This motif represents both physical and spiritual death, but it also represents death and despair. When Elie uses this word, it symbolizes when something in his life simply goes away, or when he enters a phase of darkness. For example, when Elie states, “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed”, he is saying that the night that he entered the concentration camp, it of course changed his life forever, but it also was the night that he stopped trusting in God so much because he didn’t understand how God could be doing such horrible things to such innocent people. Now
For my creative response to Night by Elie Wiesel, I decided to make an alternative book cover. The theme that I chose to portray in my adaptation of the cover is the journey from darkness to light. My cover is black at the top and the amount of black reduces towards the bottom of the cover. I did this to show the transition from darkness to light that is shown during this novel.
The title Night is a symbol itself. Just thinking about the word “night” one thinks of darkness, particularly the darkness of the concentration camp. The title itself symbolizes the loss of hope, the loss of honor, and the loss of the human soul. In chapter three of the memoir, Elie Wiesel talks about his first night in Birkenau.
Elie Wiesel, a holocaust survivor that has used his experience to write and publish a memoir, Night. In this book, Wiesel talks about the journey and hardships he and his father faced while imprisoned in the concentration camps. Night portrays numerous themes, one of which being self preservation. This is depicted in a multitude of scenarios along with Wiesel's battle with the temptations that he is faced with in regard to choosing between self preservation and altruism.
At the end of his memoir, Night, Elie Wiesel's mirror reflection is that of a corpse, as the Holocaust has completely destroyed the person he once was. Throughout this mass genocide, Elie had lost
I hadn't seen myself since the ghetto. From the depths of the mirror a corpse gazed back at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never left me” (pg.83). This show how the holocaust change people life and left them with horrible memories like when Elie look at himself, The last time he saw
Protagonist Elie recalls the inhumane torture, indifference, and discrimination that he faced throughout the Holocaust: “Bread, soup - these were my whole life. I was a body. Perhaps less than that even: a starved stomach. The stomach alone was aware of the passage of time”(Goodreads). This is evident in the book Night; Elie Wiesel and his father along with the other Jews were a part of the life-taking Holocaust.
The Holocaust was one of the most horrifying times in the world for Jews. In the novel Night by Elie Wiesel, he retells his terrifying experience and existence within a concentration camp that was nothing more than the destruction of human life. As a thirteen year old boy, Elie Wiesel becomes got trapped in a world of hell. Auschwitz, a death camp for all Jews, was controlled by the German soldiers. Within Auschwitz all freedom and humanity is denied.
Literary Term: Symbol Symbol: A symbol is an object, person, or event that has another meaning other than its own to represent an idea, object, or connection Example: “Yes, I did see this, with my own eyes… children thrown into the flames” (32). Wiesel, Night Function: Context: In Night by Elie Wiesel, Eliezer’s family had arrived in the Auschwitz concentration camp, where Eliezer was separated from his family and was only left with his father.