Figurative Language In Night Elie Wiesel

The term “Holocaust” has the ability to strike an indescribable fear in the hearts and minds of many people. There is no misgiving that the atrocities occurring inside the Nazi-ran concentration camps during the shadows of World War II is unimaginably tragic and heartbreaking. It is difficult to fully understand the painful experiences that the Jewish people went through during these dark years of history. For this reason, Elie Wiesel, a survivor of the Holocaust, decided on recollecting the dire memories he had of his stay at the concentration camps, into a memoir famously known as Night. It is without a doubt that the major concepts, of upholding hope when faced with hardship and of avoiding the ignorance that hinders wise judgement are influential

For instance, descriptive imagery along with metaphorical language were used to compare the harsh conditions at camp to the calming natural surroundings. These differing simultaneous occurrences brought on the mood of seriousness, bitterness, and uncertainty of the future. This can be thoroughly demonstrated, in one of the rising actions of the story, in the fifth and sixth paragraphs of page 33, when the Jews were being selected either for labour or for death. The text says, "The world? The world is not interested in us. Today, everything is possible, even the crematoria…His voice broke. "Father," I said. "If that is true, then I don't want to wait. I'll run into the electrified barbed wire. That would be easier than a slow death in the flames." The aforementioned passage contained short, quick paced dialogue, punctuated with question marks, ellipses, and periods to highlight the fear and confusion the characters felt at the time. This established a suspenseful and tense tone. At this moment in time, the Jews finally realized the enormity of the situation they were presently in. If this realization had been developed earlier in the book, the Jews of Sighet would have not made the wrong judgement of following the commands of the German troops, which eventually led them to their arrival at the concentration

While residing at the encampment, inmates would witness multiple hangings of people who committed minor offences. One these victims was a young child. As the author depicted the scene of the hanging, readers were able to sense the dark, somber, and tragic tone. The book states in the second paragraph of page 65, “And so he remained for more than half an hour, lingering between life and death, writhing before our eyes. And we were forced to look at him at close range. He was still alive when I passed him. His tongue was still red, his eyes not yet extinguished.” In the forenamed section, the words “lingering”, “death”, “writing”, and “extinguished” were incorporated to indicate the character’s feelings of distress and disturbance as they witnessed the young child’s agonizing demise. It is unequivocal that the main purpose of the live hangings was to cause the remaining inmates psychological pain, leading them to lose the little hope they had left. Despite the devious intentions of the SS, the Jews fostered the remaining hope they had left, to the best of their abilities, which helped them to relieve their suffering and fight for their own