Motifs In Night By Elie Wiesel

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The book Night by Elie Wiesel is an incredibly written memoir about his struggle through the Holocaust. I have chosen to look at the motifs in this memoir. A motif is symbol or image that is constantly referred to in the text. In this paper we will focus on the motif of night and it’s significance to the story telling. In the beginning of the memoir night is less prominent. Also in the beginning of the memoir I had the feeling that he set the mood at dusk. As the book progresses the tone get darker as the references about being in the dark and night become more frequent. Therefore the book slowly slips from dusk to dark to night and then at the end the sun begins to rise but the carnage caused by the monsters of the night is still there. I also feel that night refers to not only his time in the concentration camps but also the officials and those who never spoke. Their shadow of turning their back on their brothers caused a terrible night to fall on the Jewish people. To him it was no better than agreeing with the Nazis. …show more content…

No one prayed so that the night would pass quickly.” This quote caught my attention for several reasons. One being it made me think about Elie’s change in faith ; Was this a references to how his faith in God and himself changed? Another reason this seemed that Elie was foreshadowing what was to come in the concentration camps. At the camps Elie and many others lost their faith in God and refused to pray to him. Plus you can feel the anticipation for the night to be over. We have all felt that feeling but to read about it and know what is going to happen to Elie and to know that at this point in time he does not know what going to happen to him and his family is