What Does Bread Mean In Night By Elie Wiesel

The dehumanization of the Jews throughout the Holocaust had a lasting impact on their morale and affected how they viewed their daily life. The authors’ first-hand experiences better depict this moral change in the ghettos and concentration camps. Elie Wiesel and Rachmil Bryks were Holocaust survivors and remain acclaimed writers today. Elie Wiesel was born in Romania and endured the horrors of Auschwitz and Buchenwald when he was taken at age 15, where he watched his parents and siblings die (Boston University). Once liberated, Wiesel published his memoir Night, which provides literary imagery of the horrors he witnessed. Rachmil Bryks was born in Poland and spent many years in various concentration camps, including Auschwitz, in 1944 (Raphael

Wiesel and Bryks illustrated their memories to ensure the lessons of the Holocaust were never forgotten. Both authors use bread as a motif to illuminate the change in lifestyle throughout the Holocaust. In addition, their narration shows a shift in moral values that portrays underlying symbolism. The motif of bread in Night and “Bread” serves as a powerful symbol that effectively portrays the Jews’ shift in moral value during the Holocaust through the use of imagery and dialogue.

The imagery associated with the bread motif is a powerful representation of the change from nourishment to currency, painting a vivid picture of the Jew’s moral framework as it shifts towards survival. Imagery is visually descriptive and allows the reader to imagine the story as if it were before them. Wiesel and Bryks do an excellent job of captivating the reader with their profound imagery of the ghettos. In “Bread,” Bryks introduces bread in the first sentence of his short story, “Comrade Zeide and Bluestein always went together for bread”

Dialogue is a literary tool the authors use to bring characters to life and enhance the story. Through dialogue, Bryks further illustrates the increased need for survival: “‘What do you, mean—later? We need bread now!’ ‘It’s easy for you to say ‘later’ because you have already eaten.’ ‘My children have had nothing in their mouths since yesterday!’”, revealing the urgency and desperation of obtaining bread (Bryks 88). The dialogue captures the intense emotions of frustration and the moral dilemmas encountered by those who must navigate the scarcity of resources. The use of dialogue in this context serves to deepen the readers’ understanding of motivation, fear, and internal conflict. Similarly, Wiesel uses dialogue to portray the violence surrounding bread, “‘Son, they keep hitting me!’ [...] ‘No. I wasnt asleep. They jumped on top of me. They snatched my bread…and they hit me [...]’” as his father calls out for help, we see him beaten in exchange for bread (Wiesel 104). Wisel’s presented dialogue effectively conveys the urgency and fear in his father’s plea for assistance, while the distress in his voice reflects helplessness. The use of dialogue in this passage heightens the emotional impact on the reader as it allows them to