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Symbolism In Elie Wiesel's Dawn

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In the book Dawn, written by Elie Wiesel, Elisha has many internal conflicts which he has to deal with before and after the killing of John Dawson. The value of innocent human life is questioned in this book and whether or not Elisha is ready to take away such a precious gift. Elisha is reluctant to kill a human being for the sole reason he is British and an enemy to Elisha and his group’s cause. Even though Elisha and his group agree that the British are the cause of the suffering of the Jews in Palestine, Elisha is reluctant to execute a person who isn’t proven to be guilty of a crime nor innocent; he is a complete stranger. The novel’s title gives the reader a symbolic clue as to what effect the execution will have on Elisha. The choice he makes will be the choice he has to live with forever. …show more content…

Elisha feels as though after he confronts and kills John Dawson, his life would change, but doesn’t know whether for the better or the worse. Wiesel cites, “Somewhere a child began to cry” (1). Usually, a child that is crying represents a new birth and a new beginning. For Elisha, the time is coming in which he will have to make the hardest decision in his life and this decision will affect his future life. He has to do deal with consequences of his killing of John Dawson and has to start a new life. “There was a pain in my head and my body was growing heavy. The shot had left me deaf and dumb. That’s it, I said to myself. It’s done. I’ve killed. I’ve killed Elisha” (80). This quote suggests that the killing of John Dawson ultimately killed a part of Elisha; his innocence. This gives the reader another example of dawn and how Elisha isn’t the same Elisha anymore and must start a new

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In the book, “Dawn” written by Elie Wiesel. Elisha is faced with an ultimatum between life and murder. He has been told that he must murder a british officer named John Dawson by dawn and if do so it will change the man in him. He will no longer look at life the way he looked at it before, he will not feel the same way but only feel as a murderer. John Dawson believes Elisha is a good person but he knows that Elisha must do this and he now more than understanding about it.

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