Setting In Elie Wiesel's Night

Setting (time and place): Early 1940s, during World War Two, Holocaust era. starting in Sighet, Transylvania, and moving throughout concentration camps in Europe.

There are many vices that are taken up exclusively by Humans. Other animals don’t think about wiping out entire races or species just for kicks, most species don’t have the urge to attempt genocide or even turning on their own kin, but humans do. Elie Wiesel was a holocaust survivor whose ghastly year at the Auschwitz death camp was shared with the world by way of his book, “Night.”

In “Night,” the setting creates a cruel and depressing mood which helps the reader feel what it was like to live during the Holocaust. For example in chapter one he uses descriptive words that make it seem like the Nazis think that the Jewish people didn’t deserve a life. Once the Jewish get to the concentration camps the writing said “They were forced to dig huge trenches then they shot the prisoners” (Wiesel 6). That quote is saying that they were forced to dig their own grave when they arrived at the concentration camps, and then got shot and placed in the grave that they had just dug. In the writing i get the feeling that the Nazis thought the Jews were evil people because of the way they named the street that they lived on. In the text

The novel Night written by Elie Wiesel recounts his horrible experience as a young Jewish boy during the time of the World War 2, his story shows the lengths of man’s capability to act inhumane to one another. Millions of Jews -countless women, men and children- were murdered during the Holocaust. Unfortunately for the Jews in Sighet their projected fate became reality, although there were warnings of the danger coming. These signs were constantly ignored and overlooked. Characters such as Moishe the Beadle and Mrs. Schächter revealed people’s ability to ignore the reality that is approaching and how people often disregard information that is too difficult for them to accept. The Jews in Sighet preferred to remain oblivious in order to protect

The first activity that I chose to do, was to interview a character in the memoir, Night. The second activity that I choose, was to create a collage that represents the mode and the themes of this memoir. Many themes were portrayed throughout this memoir. The two activities I chose, relate to a variety of themes: the consequences of human judgement, loss of faith in God, father-son relationships, and loss of human freedom.

In the novel “Night”, by Elie Wiesel, the Holocaust survivor suggests that when humans are faced with protecting their own mortality, they abandon their morals and values. This can be seen in both the Jewish and German people. The German’s are inhumanely cruel to protect their own jobs and safely by obeying government commands. The Jewish captives lost their morals as they fight to survive the concentration camps. Elie Wiesel encountered many obstacles that made many of his ideals changed drastically for Wiesel which was his loss in humanity throughout the book he explains the many ways he does not see people as people anymore. He also explains how all of his natural human rights were no more during the time in the Holocaust. He had to find a sense of self because he could have easily fallen apart. He could not have done anything different, he knew it was going to end poorly. Silence is a very important and prominent theme in this book as silence represents many key symbols such as. God’s silence: Eliezar questions God’s faith many times throughout this book and wonders how he could just sit there and be silent while people are mass murdering people.

In Night the setting is symbolic. The author Elie Wiesel uses symbolism by the street name being synonymous to evil or the devil. Wiesel writes “The street we lived on, Serpent street, was in the first ghetto” (11). In the story of Adam and Eve, Eve is tempted by the devil who takes the form of a serpent. The Nazis naming a street in the ghetto where they put the Jews Serpent Street symbolizes that they view the Jewish people as evil or like the devil. Symbolism is also found when they are in the cattle car. The quote “The world had become a hermetically sealed cattle car”(24). By saying that the world is a hermetically sealed cattle car it is symbolizing how their world is getting smaller and how they have no control over where they go or

One day, when Elie returned from the warehouse, he was summoned by the block secretary to go to the dentist. Elie therefore went to the infirmary block to learn that the reason for his summon was gold teeth extraction. Elie, however pretends to be sick and asks, ”Couldn’t you wait a few days sir? I don’t feel well, I have a fever…” Elie kept telling the dentist that he was sick for several weeks to postpone having the crown removed. Soon after, it had appeared that the dentist had been dealing in the prisoners’ gold teeth for his own benefit. He had been thrown into prison and was about to be hanged. Eliezer does not pity for him and was pleased with what was happening

Night begins with the narrator, Elie, talking about Moishe the Beadle, who is described as the “jack-of-all-trades” in a shtibl (Weisel, 21). He then continues by talking about his family. He goes back to talk about his deep conversations with Moishe and their evenings spent together. One day, the foreign Jews of Sighet, where he lives, were expelled. This included Moishe. They were taken away in cattle cars by the Hungarian police. Months past and one day, Elie saw Moishe sitting on a bench near the synagogue. He tells Elie about what happened to him; how he and the other Jews were transported and forced to dig their own graves in the forest. Luckily, Moishe had managed to escape. He had come back to warn the Jews in Sighet of what to come.

At the beginning of Night, Eliezer describes himself as someone who believes “Profoundly.” However, as the book carries on, that tends to change. The experiences he goes through changes him as a person.

In the book Night by Elie Wiesel there are many instances where his use of imagery helps establish tone and purpose. For example Elie Wiesel used fire (sight) to represent just that. The fire helps prove that the tone is serious and mature. In no way did Wiesel try to lighten up the story about the concentration camps or the Nazis. His use of fire also helps show his purpose. “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, that turned my life into one long night seven times scaled. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw

When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led Israel forty years.

Have you ever had to make an instant decision that would significantly impact your life?

In the memoir Night by Elie Wiesel, Elie Wiesel is a young boy who struggles to survive after being forced to live in the brutal concentration camp of Auschwitz. In Auschwitz, death and suffering is rampant, but due to compassionate words and actions from others, Elie is able to withstand these severe living conditions and overcome the risk of death in the unforgiving Auschwitz. As shown through the actions and words of characters in Night, compassion, the sympathetic pity for the suffering or misfortune of others is critical to the human experience because it enables humans to empathize with each other, empathizing which allows us to feel the need to assist others which can often be vital for survival.

In the memoir, Night, author Elie Wiesel portrays the dehumanization of individuals and its lasting result in a loss of faith in God. Throughout the Holocaust, Jews were doggedly treated with disrespect and inhumanity. As more cruelty was bestowed upon them, the lower their flame of hope and faith became as they began turning on each other and focused on self preservation over family and friends. The flame within them never completely died, but rather stayed kindling throughout the journey until finally it stood flickering and idle at the eventual halt of this seemingly never-ending nightmare. Elie depicts the perpetuation of violence that crops up with the Jews by teaching of the loss in belief of a higher power from devout to doubt they