“NIGHT” AS A SYMBOL
Alisha Clingan, Andrea Cox, Larkyn Pope
PURPOSE
The purpose behind “night” as a symbol is to
represent the darkness in losing hope and
abandoning all belief in God. Throughout the
book, Elie Wiesel goes from a faithful Jewish boy,
to a broken shell of a boy with no faith in God or
humanity.
This is shown through the following quotes:
“Never I shall I forget that night, the first night in camp,
which has turned my life into one long night.”(Pg. 32)
• By saying his life had turned into one long night he
implying his life has become a nightmare
• God has lead him into the darkness
“At the place of assembly, surround by electrified barbed
wire, thousands of silent Jews gathered, their faces
stricken. Night was falling.” (Pg. 63)
• This quote exaggerates how nothing is getting better
and everything is getting worse
• The use of the word “night” helps you experience
the darkness physically, spiritually and emotionally of
what is happening
“Here or elsewhere- what difference did it make? To die
today or tomorrow, or later? The night was long and
never ending.” (Pg. 93)
• This quote shows how in the end how all hope is lost
to the night
• Nothing is left to live for
BEGINNING
“Night fell.” (Pg. 10)
• Demonstrates the beginning of the end
• Only bad things were to come
• An unsure feeling about what was going to happen, only
knowing things are going to get worse
• A “darkness” fell upon the Jewish people
“Night. No one prayed, so that the night would pass quickly.”
(Pg. 18)
• This is an example of when Elie starts to lose faith and hope,
along with everyone else
• It shows how faith wavers at night; during the day people had
hope that God would save them but, their hope was lost
during the night
• Shows how people just want things to go quickly, they’ve
accepted what’s happening and are just trying to get through it
“But there was nothing outside save the darkness of night.”
(Pg. 25)
• There really is no hope; all that is left is darkness
• People have finally given up.
MIDDLE
“Why should I bless him?... He kept six crematories open night
and day… Who chose us of all races to be tortured day and
night.” (Pg. 64)
• Beginning to blame God for what is happening
• Questioning why God has allowed this to happen
• Elie becoming aware of his loss in hope and faith
“Nothing. Not the shadow of an expression. Broken.” (Pg. 65)
• Elie realizing what has/is happened/ing in the big picture and
how the world is too far gone to be fixed
• The expression isn’t physically broken, rather reflecting the
how the world is broken
END
“The days were like nights, and the nights left the dregs of their
darkness in our souls.” (Pg. 94)
• Everything was alike to hell 24/7
• The hopelessness of the night now carries over into the day
“And again the night would be long.” (Pg. 98)
• The realization that even though they have left the camp, there
is still nothing left to live for; nothing will ever be the same
• No dignity. No faith. No nothing.