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Symbolism In Night By Elie Wiesel

1614 Words7 Pages

After losing World War One in 1918, the Germans were in an utter state of disillusionment and despair. Due to the Treaty of Versailles, they lost vast amounts of territory, became demilitarized, and had to pay millions in restitutions. A bleak time such as this was the perfect opportunity for fascist dictator, Adolf Hitler, to rise to power. Hitler managed to brainwash millions of vulnerable Germans into believing that the Jews were responsible for all the misfortune that had befallen them. Countless images and videos of Nazi propaganda circulated through Europe, depicting Jews as evil vermin that must be exterminated in order for the “master race” to reign supreme. The creation of the concentration camps that shortly followed is one of the …show more content…

Elie once more saw the human capabilities for reason and goodness. After regaining his strength and passion, Elie decided that he must educate the world about the horrors that can be faced when one does not stand up to injustice. In his memoir, Night, the dehumanization of the Jews in the Holocaust is a prevailing theme that educates people as to the consequences of evil on humanity. Wiesel uses symbolism and imagery to depict the methods and ways in which the Jews are gradually stripped of their identity and humanity through stars, tattoos, and other cruel and inhumane treatment. Elie’s purpose behind writing his memoir is to keep alive the memory of all those who lost their lives too early and to make sure history does not repeat itself. However, as of now, history seems to be repeating itself once more. In Syria, millions of refugees are trying to flee to America in hopes of escaping a raging civil war. America’s response is reminiscent of the stance it held during World War II when the Jews were frantically trying to escape religious persecution by the Nazis. Rather than repeat the mistakes this country so fervently regrets, America must learn to welcome in refugees. Instead of letting dreams, hopes, and futures turn to ash, let this country provide opportunities and drive

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In his Holocaust memoir, Night, Elie Wiesel uses imagery and motif to develop the idea of power and perseverance of the human spirit. Elie Wiesel while in the concentration camps often times wanted to give up, but continued to push forward for his father's sake. “He was playing his life. The whole of his life was

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Prisoners in Auschwitz received about three “meals” a day. Half a liter of “coffee” for breakfast, and a liter of soup for the noon meal. For dinner, the prisoners usually received about 10 ounces of black bread, with 25 grams of sausage or margarine, or a tablespoon of marmalade of cheese. The small amount of food prisoners got in concentration camps caused them to starve. In the story, Night, the absence of food caused Eliezer and others around him to slowly change themselves and their morales, hoping for a little extra soup or a crust of bread.

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In his memoir Night, Elie Wiesel details that the Jews of his hometown Sighet Hungary, cling to an illusion of safety up until the moment of their arrival at Auschwitz. Mosche the Beadle provides the first evidence of potential danger; however the townspeople choose to ignore the warnings and instead condemn Mosche the Beadle as a lunatic. The Jews of Sighet choose to sacrifice the ”joy in[Mosche the Beadle’s] eyes”(7) to maintain a sense of security and isolation from the actions of the Hungarian police. Upon the seizure of power by a pro-nazi party the Jewish people merely view the change “in abstract”(9). They do not allow themselves to rationalize the event. German encroachment into Hungarian territory is not enough to shatter the

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During the Holocaust, food played a significant part. It was important for the way people took care of themselves and survived. The reason being was that in the concentration camps it was every man for himself and they sought food to stay healthy. Elie Wiesel had managed to keep himself strong and healthy for his father.

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844 Words | 4 Pages

Elie questions how “is it possible that men, women, and children were being burned and that the world kept silent?” (Wiesel 32). Never expecting to witness such horrible things, Elie wonders how the atrocities had never been made public and known. There were so many people in the concentration camps that he expected someone to have shared their story and help others stay away from the concentration camps, yet he himself had been one to ignore the warnings. Elie states that he “could not believe that human beings were being burned in our times; the world would not tolerate such crimes” (Wiesel 33).

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The motif that I chose from the book Night, by Elie Wiesel is “night”. This motif represents both physical and spiritual death, but it also represents death and despair. When Elie uses this word, it symbolizes when something in his life simply goes away, or when he enters a phase of darkness. For example, when Elie states, “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed”, he is saying that the night that he entered the concentration camp, it of course changed his life forever, but it also was the night that he stopped trusting in God so much because he didn’t understand how God could be doing such horrible things to such innocent people. Now

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Symbolism can be seen through both good and bad alike. Though when it comes to instances that have to do with the holocaust, it’s almost always, if not always, a painful connotation. The holocaust is one of if not the the largest instance of mass genocide in recorded history. Leaving each Jew that survived with a different story to tell. While their story’s remained different, the pain that they each experienced was not.

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At the beginning of the book a little boy at the age of fifteen is name Elie Wiesel. Had to go through some difficult and challenging positions that he was in. And how he had to find a way to get out of these positions. And the name of the book is called (“NIGHT”) by Elie Wiesel. Now how the Germans and the cops are treating the Jews like dogs.

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In brief, this story is labeled “night”, the author is Elie Wiesel. The tone of this story is intimate, and affectionate, it characterizes the extraordinary painful and personal experience of a single victim. The setting first takes place in Sighet, Transylvania, and then Elie is transported to several concentration camps such as Auschwitz, Buchenwald, and Gleiwitz; he spends the time there in the years 1941-1945, during World War II. Eliezer struggled to maintain faith in a caring God; Silence; Inhumanity to other humans. The first symbolism is fire; Madame Schachter foreshadows death and horror “look, look at it, fire, a terrible fire, mercy, oh that fire”.

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In the beginning of Elie Wiesel’s Night Elie is very faithful to God and eager to learn about God, the Kabbalah, and mysticism. When asked why does he pray Elie answered, “Why did I live? Why did I breathe?(4) ” After one of God’s Followers and Elie’s leader, Moishe the Beadle gets back from the forests everything changed. News about the Holocaust starts to spread.

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140 Words | 1 Pages

“I want to know how you keep holding on and believe again or how you never stop believing to begin with.” These words by Jessica Watson perfectly accentuate the battle that Elie Wiesel, the author of Night, struggles with throughout the novel. In the village of Sighet, Romania, a young Wiesel is enthralled by Jewish mysticism and believes the existence of an omnipotent God. One day, however, the Jewish people of Sighet are forced to live in supervised ghettos, and later brought to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Wiesel suffers with the physical torture of forced labor and hunger, as well as the mental and emotional torture of losing his family.

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290 Words | 2 Pages

The night is a motif in the novel, appearing again and again in the text. While Elie is in the process of moving into the ghetto and becoming accustomed to their new home he says "Night Fell". A second instance that night is used is when the train is taking the Jewish people to the concentration camp. Elie says "Only the darkness of night". While at the concentration camp, the last day in the Jewish calendar is drawing near so everyone is gathering around to pray.

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690 Words | 3 Pages

The author of Night, Elie Wiesel wrote his novel to inform his readers of the gruesome experiences that he witnessed during the Holocaust. Throughout his novel, Wiesel reenacted many different events that took place to illustrate the main themes of this novel and exhibit his emotions. During the course of the novel, the reader is witnessing Elie's personal experiences in the Holocaust, seeing not only what he had to go through, but how he had felt while it was taking place. In Night, Elie Wiesel includes the struggle between a father and his son. While Elie spent his life in the concentration camps, he not only had to ensure his own safety, but his father’s too.

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1099 Words | 5 Pages

During World War II, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi controlled concentration camps abducted millions of European Jews and were responsible for the deaths of over 6 million people. For those who survived, they were left with extreme physical and emotional scars that would never fade. In Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night, he reveals the heartbreaking backstory of the Holocaust and the traumatizing effects it had on him, which left him comparing himself to a corpse after liberation. Elie Wiesel’s mirror reflection is that of a corpse at the end of his memoir, Night, because of the immense loss he experiences during the Holocaust.

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1405 Words | 6 Pages

Although the German dictators are trying to destroy the minds of their prisoners in order to create more compliant slaves, the Jews find ways to rebel and reasons to live. The Nazi soldiers take away everything they can from the jews except the basic human needs, but however hard they try, they can not take away their faith, hope, and friendship. These forces can not simply be taken away and they have become a coping mechanism for the repressed Jews because they are reasons to live and they make the grueling work easier. Most of the Jews in Night come from religious backgrounds, so they pray to get through difficult situations. Practicing their religion is a way of “escaping from reality” and “not feeling the blows” from the truncheons that

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