Themes In Night By Elie Wiesel

Death isnt always refering to a body even though we often times think of it that way. In the memoir Night by: Elie Wiesel there are many instances of non-physicals deaths thoughout out the events that occur. In this memoir the examples of figuritive death are non stop. Three main instances are the death of freedom,the death of identity, and the most important the death of faith. Death is not just physical but figurtive displayed by Elie Weisel in the memoir of Night.

Firstly, the death of freedom is shown through out this memoir. Elie Weisel shows his freedom getting taken when he tells the reader,” The HUngarian police made us climb into the cars, eighty persons in each one. They handed us some bread, a few pials of water. They checked the

Elie now has been seperated from his mother his sister and is struggling to stay with his father because he is afraid of being seperated with him. The S.S. now has to give all of the prisoners tattoos withnumbers that are assingned to them. Elie says,”In the afternoon, they made us line up. Threee prisoners brought to a table and some medical instruments. We were told to roll up our left sleeves and file past the table. The three veteran prisoners, needles in hand, tattied numbers on our left arms. I became A-7713. From then on, I had no other name. This is a very good example of how the prisoners of the concentration camps had there identitry stolen adn were no longfer themselves. At the end of this memoir Elie is no longer in the concetration camp and is seeing him self in thwe mirror for the first time in many many years. Elie says,” One day when I was able to get up, I decided to look at myslef in the mirror on the opposite wall. I have not seen myself since the ghetto. From the depths of the mirror, a corpse was contemplating me. THe look in his eyes as he gazed at me has never left me. Elie’s identiy died becasue he could no longer recognize the person that he used to be before the time of the concentration