Symbolism In Night By Elie Wiesel

In this scene from Night by Elie Wiesel (published 1958), Elie and many other men were crammed into train cars as they were transported from one concentration camp to another. Many men on the train had either reached their fate or were struggling though their last minutes. The men had been deprived of food for a very long time and were in desperate need of even the smallest crumb of food. Then, pieces of bread had been thrown into the wagon’s and everyone fought for the bread, not because they thought it would taste good, but because their lives depended on it. It was every man for themselves and people will willing to kill for a crust of bread, showing that life or death situations expose the evil side of people by showing their selfish natures.

The fact that all the men were fighting for a single piece of bread symbolizes that even the smallest most simple items were cherished for men, women, and children in concentration camps. The men on the train were willing to go to the greatest extremes to survive. An old man of Elie’s wagon had gotten a piece of bread and quickly put it into his mouth. But, just as his did this, “a shadow had lain down beside him” (Wiesel, 101). This shadow turned out of be the man's son, who killed his own father for the crust of bread still clutched in his father's fist. Once his father was dead, the son showed no sympathy or sadness. He immediately “took the crust of bread, and began to devour it” (Wiesel, 101). This shows how selfishness can lead to people to do things that they could normally not even imagine doing. The metaphor and imagery of “a shaddow” show that the old man would never have expected his loving son to be the one to take his life. His son’s selfish nature took over and caused him to do something that would haunt him for his entire life. This shows that in the most difficult times, people don't think about others, they think about doing everything possible to