Symbolism In Night By Elie Wiesel's Night

The autobiographical novel “Night” by Elie Wiesel is about a very dark time in history. For the main character, Eliezer, being taken away to concentration camps in Germany (Auschwitz) was a nightmare. As a young boy, Eliezer was incredibly devoted to this faith, Judaism. But after seeing the horrendous acts that his God allowed to happen, he has lost his belief in any kind of God. People view religion as a light, a brightness of being saved by following the instructions of a divine power. Since Eliezer loses his faith, his religion, he is plunged into darkness. In other words, he is living in the “night.” Night approaches slowly, with the sunset and then it continues to get darker until the sun rises in the morning. The story follows this cycle with sunset in the beginning, sunrise and the end and all of the middle in the night. Elie Wiesel called his book “Night” because it follows the path of night.

In Birkenau, Eliezer loses his mother and sister but remains with his father. They endure much including male nurishment, extreme cold, constant beatings and harsh working conditions. He is plunged to

He states that after his father’s death, ¨Since my father’s death, nothing mattered to me” (page 113) About 4 months later, Eliezer’s ¨night” was over. He says that at, ¨At ten o’clock in the morning, the SS took positions throughout the camp and began to herd the last of us toward the Appelplatz. The resistance movement decided to take that point to act. [...] The battle didn't last long. Around noon, everything was calm again. The SS had fled and the resistance had taken charge of the camp. At six o'clock that afternoon, the first American tank stood at the gates of Buchenwald.”(page 115) The sun finally rises and, in the shining light of day, Eliezer is freed. The night draws to a close but ELiezer is still forever changed by what happened during his very long, very dark