By, Sammy, Kayla, Nnenna, Brendan Night Symbolism By, Sammy, Kayla, Nnenna, Brendan

Connotations of Night Darkness Fear Hopeless Faithless Sinister Uncertainty Blindness Connotations of Night: Black Dark Fearful Dreadful Hopeless Heartless Tiring Haunting Faithless Discouraging Abandoned Sinister Uncertainty Blindness Haunting Dead Unholy

Night as a Symbol Darkness and Devastation Absence of light is darkness Extended Night Absorbed spirit Faithlessness in God Symbols *symbolizes the period of darkness and devastation in Elie’s life *Absence of darkness= light. (associated with light are joy, hope, happiness, love, strength, etc.) lack of these things = darkness, or night *Elie’s experience was a long period of night; a long period of darkness, pain, uncertainty, etc. *absorbed his whole spirit and everything he had once cared about *Caused him to lose his faith in God.

Other Ways Wiesel Uses Night: Man’s Inhumanity to Man: Human race cruelness Mood of foreboding ex: "night fell", before a big scene 'Inhumane’ scenes Man’s Inhumanity to Man: *portrays to the reader how the human race can be so cruel to each other *uses lighting (darkeness) to create mood of foreboding ex: night fell, used several times before a big scene *Many ‘inhumane’ scenes take place in a dark place (gas chambers, the cattle crate, the factories, etc)

(cont.) Struggle to Maintain faith: Without God = world of hopelessness and darkness Connotations of night Night = waning of faith Struggle to Maintain faith: *waning of faith is likened to nightfall *night is used to create an atmosphere of hopelessness.

(cont.) Father-Son Bonds: Protect each other From: night, death, or other people Forces try to separate Elie and his father Father-Son Bonds: *Elie and his father protect each other from the night, death, or other people *all three can be represented by darkness trying to separate them

Quote “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...Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me...of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things...Never.” (pg 32)

Analysis Set the stage of Terror Light of life and God started to fade World turned into darkness Shaped the rest of his life. Broke his spirit and joy in life Analysis: This night set the stage for all the nights Elie would spend throughout this experience. He had just arrived at Birkenau, the reception center for Auschwitz. He had been separated from his mother and sister forever, witnessed the mass cremation of Jew (adults, children, babies), thought of killing himself on the electric wire in order to escape the torture of cremation, the first internal revolt he felt against his God, and faced the Angel of Death but it wasn’t his time to die. All of this in just one night. It was in this night that the light of life and God started to fade away. This night turned his whole world into darkness. It was the most memorable because it was the beginning of a new chapter of terror, uncertainty, faithlessness, heartlessness, and wickedness into his life. It was this single night that shaped the rest of his life. His spirit was broken as well as all joy that had once existed.

"The night was long and never ending.” Quote "The night was long and never ending.” (pg. 93)

Analysis Elie and his father were exhausted and waiting to die on the train Night symbolized agony and unhappiness Analysis: Elie and his father, among the other jews, were exhausted and waiting to die on the train. Night is symbolized as agony and unhappiness that was dragged on.

Quote “On the third night of our journey I woke up suddenly and felt two hands on my throat, trying to strangle me.” (pg. 96)

Analysis Elie woken up on train- almost killed at night Imagery- terror and violence between people Some men gone mad- hopelessness and haunted Analysis: Elie was woken up on the train by someone choking him and trying to kill him. This creates imagery of terror and violence between people. During night, some men have gone made from being hopeless and haunted.

Quote "No one prayed, so that the night would pass quickly. The stars were only sparks of the fire which devoured us. Should that fire die out one day, there would be nothing left in the sky but dead stars, dead eyes." (pg.18)

Analysis Creates an image of night symbolising death Draws a connection between stars and the Jews eyes The light in their eyes were fading Meant that death was coming Interpretation: This creates an image of night symbolizing death. It also draws a connection between stars and their eyes, and the light in their eyes fading, a death of its own.

Quote "Look! Look at this fire! This terrible fire! Have mercy on me!" Some pressed against the bars to see. There was nothing. Only the darkness of night." (pg. 22)

Analysis Madame Schachter thinks she sees a fire when there is only darkness She had a false fantasy of a fire (light) Needed and desired light Interpretation: Madame Schachter, in her madness, believe she sees a fire, when there is only darkness. This presents the attitude that even when the prisoners want to believe there is light, there really isn’t, and it’s completely hopeless.

Quote “The last night in Buna. Yet another last night. The last night at home, the last night in the ghetto, the last night in the train, and, now, the last night in Buna. How much longer were our lives to be dragged out from one ‘last night’ to another?” (pg. 79)

Analysis Recalls the “last nights“ Omen of something worse New chapter of terror, uncertainty, and faithlessness How much longer? Analysis: This was the last night in Buna, before the Jews were to be evacuated and taken to Gleiwitz. Elie recalls on all the “last nights” he had to spend throughout his experience. Everyone of these nights were dreadful and brought upon a new chapter of terror, uncertainty, and faithlessness in his life. They always meant that something worse was going to come. Elie ponders on the idea of how much worse it can get (i.e. how many more nights is he going to have to experience with the knowledge that his life is going to take another turn for the worse)

Quote “The gates of the camp opened. It seemed that an even darker night was waiting for us on the other side.” (pg. 80)

Analysis Greater purge of darkness Worse than the hell he left Experience only to get worse Analysis: This was when the doors of the Buna concentration camp were opening, so the Jews could begin their march, during a blizzard, to Gleiwitz. In just a few lines earlier, Elie had already stated, “Night had fallen,” so the reader can assume he isn’t speaking of a time period in this particular quote. Rather, we can conclude that Elie means that the trip is going to be more horrible, terrible, sad, and haunting than the hell he just left. He is saying that this night was “even darker” than the night he just left; The experience ahead was going to be worse than his experience so far.  

Appropriate Use of Night? Yes! The connotations bring the word to life Ties to the story Keeps consistent tone and mood Causes suspense

Inform, Remember, Prevent Purpose Writing Purpose The purpose of Elie’s writing is to make a reader live through his experience during the Holocaust. He wanted people to know the total effect it had of the Jews, their culture, their religion, and every aspect of their lives. He wanted the total destruction to be realized so that it would never happen again. Inform, Remember, Prevent

The End

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