Symbolism In Elie Wiesel's 'Night'

Words: 581

Pages: 3

Open Document

Levi condemns language as a method of communicating the horrors of the Holocaust as he becomes aware of the necessity to create new definitions of words he used as a free man. Levi begins with introducing the concept of “free words” which were created by those who “live in the suffering of their own homes” (Levi, 112). Within this quote, Levi captures the internal struggle the prisoners are forced to go through in order to survive Auschwitz. Once they find the normal connotations of commonly used words no longer come near describing the world of the Lager, the prisoners feel the need to assign new values to common words. The contradiction between the diction, “comfort’ and “suffering” creates the impression that “free men” have a completely …show more content…
However, the prisoners do not react to this event, because even this symbol has lost its meaning amidst the darkness of the Lager. This only further proves that life in Auschwitz can change the meaning of certain aspects in life from acting as a symbol of hope, to becoming a symbol of their inevitable death. Levi introduces a new definition behind names as they become symbols of the prisoner’s past identity. "Only man is worthy of a name...Null Achtzehn[3] is no longer a man." (Levi, 37) In our society today, each person is given a name, making them human and giving them personality. Therefore, by reducing the prisoners to numbers, the guards steal any trace of their former humanity away. One example of a prisoner who has succumbed to this degradation is Null Achtzehn, who is known as the prisoner without a name. He has been reduced to the last three digits of his number, proving that, in Levi’s words, he is no longer a man. The power behind Levi’s use of the image of the “un-name”, which is used to identify prisoners, can be expanded to apply to the world

'Symbolism In Elie Wiesel's Night'

Symbolism occurs often in the story NIGHT. For example at the beginning of the story Hitler has the Jews put a Goldstar on them to symbolize that they are Jewish. After they did that the Nazis came and took all the Jews to a concentration camp. Once they arrived they separated the strong from the weak. The weak would be thrown into a furnace and the strong would be sent to do hard labor. At the beginning when the Jews are all lined up a stranger tells them to say their ages…

Words 338 - Pages 2

Symbolism In Elie Wiesel's Night

The book “Night “written by Elie Wiesel is about the Holocaust and the Jewish people that were affected. The book has a lot of symbolism, the title “Night” is a symbol for how the main character was put through a never ending darkness and at the end morning came and he was freed. The story itself is dark because of all the deaths that happened at the camps, you might consider that it’s called “Night” because the main character is blind to the happenings outside the camps, therefore he has no sense…

Words 483 - Pages 2

Tragedy In Elie Wiesel's Night

In the book Night by Elie Wiesel people might ask, is Wiesel's memoir ultimately an account of tragedy or an expression of hope? After reading the book thoroughly and analyzing key events I can say the memoir as a whole is an account of tragedy. Elie Wiesel's memoir Night is an account of tragedy because the ratio of tragedy to that of hope is quite large. Throughout the book Elie references his loss of faith and his loss of belief that he would be liberated from the Nazi death camps. In the end…

Words 688 - Pages 3

Figurative Language In Elie Wiesel's 'Night'

Style Essay Elie Wiesel’s writing style in the novel Night conveys very deep and intricate messages about his time in the concentration camp, and his life in general. During this time in the holocaust, Elie Wiesel was dehumanized, tortured, and forced to experience things no one should have to; especially not a teenager . Wiesel’s memoir includes diction that holds back no emotion, vivid symbolism, and figurative language to project his experiences. The use figurative language in Night gave Wiesel…

Words 1160 - Pages 5

Night And Survival In Auschwitz Analysis

Primo Levi and Elie Wiesel, authors of the Holocaust survivor books Night and Survival in Auschwitz, both use the symbolism of night and darkness to advance the themes of their stories. In Levi’s work, the prisoners are preparing to leave to go to the next camp, and everyone is preparing during the night. When night came, “it was such a night that one knew that human eyes could not witness it and survive.” All of the prisoners know that something horrendous is coming so they prepare to never return…

Words 334 - Pages 2

Symbolism In Night By Elie Wiesel

the flicker of a tiny flame. Throughout the book Night, Elie Wiesel incorporates the symbolism of fire to paint the picture of a world so dark that it was only lit up by the burning of the Jewish people and their identity. The symbolization of fire illustrates the horrors of having family, culture, and identity all ripped away in a matter of only days, which was a daily experience for Jews. Across the entirety of this text, Wiesel uses the symbolism of fire to portray the horrors of daily life for…

Words 963 - Pages 4

Elie Wiesel Symbolism In Night

the novel “Night”, uses aggressive diction, heavy imagery, and stirring symbolism to describe the distorted line between existence and demise. The whole of the book "Night" is filled with an extensive amount of word choice. For example, when Elie was just arriving at the death camp, he is approached by an "inmate"(32) which conveys the undeniable fact they they are indeed in a prison, or an inescapable place where Death can attack at any moment. Additionally, when the first Labor camp Elie was in was…

Words 622 - Pages 3

Manifestation In Elie Wiesel's Night

all things considered, to lose what one holds dear. This truth is extremely evident in Elie Wiesel's Night, a piece that recounts the authors struggles during Germany's Nazi occupation. During this time frame, the Jews were robbed of everything they had cherished, and tortured at the hands of the German Nazi’s. The pain and hardships that the Jews endured appear in many forms, and Wiesel's masterful use of symbolism is critical in conveying to readers the horrors of his experience…

Words 337 - Pages 2

night elie wiesel Essay

Mr. Sheehan In the novel Night, Elie Wiesel develops the theme of fathers and sons by the usage of figurative language. He also develops his theme by showing how a father and son relationship, can change frequently when life experiences come abroad. To support this theme Wiesel uses irony, symbolism and understatement. These examples of figurative language are also used to show how the relationship between Elie and his father, frequently changes throughout the time spent…

Words 901 - Pages 4

The Holocaust and Text Essay

a unified whole that communicates meaning to the viewer. For this project, you will be combining what you have learned about symbolism in Elie Wiesel’s Night, what you know about the Holocaust, and what you have explored about hate crimes into a photomontage. Assignment Goals Your goals in creating the photomontage are as follows: • Further explore a symbol from Night. • Find images and text that deal with the Holocaust or more recent events and that convey the same or a similar meaning as the…

Words 569 - Pages 3