Symbolism In Night Wiesel

Traveling in darkness can be equivalent to going through an obstacle blind. Darkness is portrayed in different ways to reveal the dark secrets of the night. The details of the night are changed according to the specific events happening at the moment. Wiesel is describing the events of the Holocaust, and the gruesome days and nights he suffered at the concentration camps. The memories of the Holocaust left Wiesel distraught, but he learned various lessons from the experience. In “Night,” Wiesel utilizes the title to symbolize death, loss of faith, and darkness throughout the story. During the Holocaust, death was extremely common among the laborers. The smokestacks are used to smoke the laborers and burn them to death. The objective of the laborers is to survive until they reach the end of the journey. While marching, Wiesel’s friend Zalman is becoming extremely ill and is in the process of dying. Wiesel states “Wait a little, Zalman" (Wiesel 86). Wiesel is already aware of what will happen to Zalman if he quits marching. Zalman will either be trampled, or shot to death.

The night and day hours are different, but Wiesel describes the events very similarly. There is one particular event Wiesel will never forget, a man killed his father over a piece of bread. According to Wiesel “His son searched him, took the crust of the bread, and began to devour it.” (Wiesel 101). The young man is more concerned about feeding himself rather than his father being alive. Juliek only plays the violin through the night and the corpses represent the night. Wiesel states “Even today, when I hear that particular piece by Beethoven, my eyes close and out of the darkness emerges the pale and melancholy face of my Polish comrade bidding farewell to an audience of dying men” (Wiesel 95). Wiesel remembers the night Juliek played in front on the dead corpses and it will never leave his