Notes for "Night,"
a book by Elie Wiesel
Night Chapter Summaries
Chapter 1: Wiesel grew up in Sighet,
a small town in Translyvania. He is a strict Orthodox Jew who
is tutored by Moshe the Beadle. When all foreign Jews are expelled,
Moshe is deported. He returns to Sighet with horrific tales.
Nobody believes him.
Fascists gain control in Hungary and
allow the Nazis to come. The Jews of Sighet remain in denial
that anything bad will happen to them. Days later, the town is
ordered to evacuate. Eliezer's family is part of the last group.
Their former Gentile servant, Martha, warns them of impending
danger and offers them a place of refuge. They refuse.
Chapter 2: Eliezer and his townsmen are
packed into cattle cars and suffer terribly. One woman, Madame
Schacter, continually screams of a fire. She is silenced by her
fellow prisoners. As the train arrives at Birkenau, they see
smoke rising from chimneys and are inundated with the horrific
smell of burning flesh.
Chapter 3: The first selection occurs.
Eliezer and his father lie about their age and avoid the crematorium.
As they walk to Auschwitz they pass a pit of burning babies.
When they arrive in their barracks they are disinfected with
gasoline, receive a tattoo, and are dressed in prison clothes.
Eliezer's father asks to go to the bathroom and is clobbered
by a kapo. The prisoners are then escorted to Buna, a work camp
four hours away.
Analysis: Wiesel emphasizes the human
failure to comprehend just how evil humans can be. He and his
family are warned several times to flee, yet they and the town
find the truth impossible. Wiesel's primary goal in publishing
Night is to prevent another Holocaust from happening. He emphasizes
the need to be aware of evil in the world and to believe first
hand accounts of it.
His recounting of the miserable conditions
on the cattle cars and the horrific events he witnesses at Birkenau
are examples of first hand accounts that must be taken seriously
in order to prevent something as horrible from happening again.
Chapter 4: At Buna Eliezer is summoned
by the dentist to have his gold crown removed. He feigns illness.
The dentist, he discovers, is hanged. Eliezer's only focus is
to eat and stay alive. He is savagely beaten by the kapo, Idek
and is consoled by a French worker, whom he meets years after
the war. The prison foreman, Franek, notices Eliezer's gold crown
and demands it. He refuses. Franek beats Eliezer's father and
he gives up the crown.
Eliezer catches Idek having sex with
a female French worker. Idek whips him mercilessly and warns
him that one word of what he saw will result in more severe punishment.
During an air raid two cauldrons of soup are left unattended.
A prisoner crawls to them and is shot right before eating some.
The Nazis erect a gallows at camp and hang three prisoners, the
last one, a boy loved by all, causes even the most jaded of prisoners
to weep.
Chapter 5: It is late summer 1944 and
another selection occurs. This time Eliezer's father is on the
wrong side. He gives his spoon and knife to his son. Eliezer
rejoices as he returns and discovers there was another selection
and his father still lives. Eliezer hurts his foot and is sent
to the infirmary. He hears rumors of Russians approaching. The
Nazis evacuate the camp. Eliezer assumes infirmary patients will
be killed so he leaves. He discovers later that the patients
were liberated the next day.
Chapter 6: The prisoners are forced to
run 42 miles in one night during a blizzard. Those unable to
keep up are shot. The refugees stop in a small village where
Eliezer and his father keep each other awake to avoid freezing
to death. Rabbi Eliahu enters a small shack occupied by Eliezer,
looking for his son. Eliezer recalls--after Eliahu's departure--seeing
his son desert his father, something he prays for strength never
to do. Another selection occurs. Eliezer's father is sent to
the death side. A diversion is created and his father switches
lines.
Chapter 7: The survivors are packed into
cattle cars and sent to Germany. The train stops frequently to
remove dead bodies. Eliezer recounts how German workers throw
bread into the cattle cars to witness the prisoners kill each
other. Eliezer is nearly killed.
Analysis: Wiesel attributes his survival
to luck and coincidence, two ideas that play a prominent role
in the novel. Each selection is a matter of luck and coincidence;
being assigned to easier jobs is a matter of luck and coincidence;
leaving the infirmary is a matter of luck and coincidence. Wiesel
honestly portrays his feelings toward his father. He recognizes
that his father gives him strength to continue; he acknowledges
also that his father at times becomes a burden.
Chapter 8: Upon their arrival at Buchenwald,
Eliezer's father is unable to move. Eliezer brings him soup and
coffee, against the advice of other prisoners who counsel him
to keep it for himself. Eliezer's father, suffering from dysentery,
begs for water. An SS guard becomes annoyed and knocks him in
the head. Eliezer wakes up the next morning and discovers his
father's empty bed. He is more relieved than sad.
Chapter 9: Eliezer is only concerned
with food during his remaining months at Buchenwald. On April
5, the evacuation of Buchenwald is ordered. Nazis murder thousands
daily. On April 10, Eliezer's block is ordered to evacuate, but
it is cut short by air raid sirens. The next day the camp is
liberated. Wiesel nearly dies from food poisoning. He recovers,
looks in a mirror, and is shocked by his appearance.
Analysis: Eliezer's reflection that he
resembled a corpse ends the novel with a sense of hopelessness.
Despite this hopelessness Wiesel dedicates his life to human
rights.
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Characters in Night by Elie Wiesel
When reviewing characters in Night
by Elie Wiesel, keep in mind that these Night characters are
actual human beings and that Night is a memoir of Wiesel's actual
experience in a concentration camp.
Eliezer - Wiesel gives a first person
psychological account of life in a concentration camp. It is
important not to confuse the narrator with the author, even though
they are the same person. Eliezer's experiences cause him to
question his faith and the existence of a loving, merciful God.
Eliezer's (the narrator's) account leaves the reader with a sense
of hopelessness, that humanity is irredeemable, that God has
abandoned his creation.
Eliezer's assertions are not that of
the author. Elie Wiesel, the older version of Eliezer, the death
camp survivor, has dedicated his life to serving mankind and
to prevent human rights atrocities, showing that something wonderful
can result from incomprehensible suffering. For more on Wiesel's
life after his liberation, check out his website.
Chlomo - Eliezer's father is the only
other character who appears consistently. He is a respected member
in Sighet before being deported. Eliezer and Chlomo remain together
throughout the ordeal. The narrator is honest and frank in his
assessment of his father. He needs his father to keep going,
but resents having to take care of him at times. He acknowledges
a sense of relief when Chlomo finally dies. One of the more powerful
scenes occur towards the end of the novel when Rabbi Eliahou
searches for his son during the forced evacuation of Buna. Eliezer
recalls seeing Eliahou's son, recalling that he had abandoned
his father. Eliezer then utters a prayer, asking for the strength
never to do such a thing to his own father.
Moshe the Beadle - Moshe is Eliezer's
teacher who is deported along with other foreign Jews in Hungary.
He escapes, returns, and warns the town about atrocities he witnessed.
Nobody believes him.
Madame Shachter - She is deported in
the same cattle car as Eliezer. She screams of fires the entire
time. The passengers mistake her for a mad woman only to discover
she is a prophetess as they see the furnaces of Birkenau and
the pit of burning babies.
Juliek - Eliezer first meets Juliek,
a young musician, at Auschwitz. He hears him play his violin
at Gleiwitz toward the end of the narrative.
Idek - Idek is a kapo at the electrical
parts plant at Buna where Eliezer works. Eliezer catches him
having intercourse with a French woman. Idek whips Eliezer as
punishment.
Franek - Eliezer's foreman at Buna who
steels Eliezer's gold crown with the help of a dentist and a
rusty spoon.
Dr. Josef Mengele - Eliezer encounters
Mengele after his arrival at Auschwitz. Known as the angel of
death, Mengele sentenced thousands of Jews to their death. He
also oversaw cruel experiments on prisoners.
Hilda, Bea, Tziporah - Eliezer's mother
and sisters, whom he never sees after entering Auschwitz.
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Important Quotes from Night by Elie
Wiesel
Use these Night quotes as a reminder
to thwart prejudice, racism, hatred, and discrimination, for
they are the seeds of human rights violations. These important
quotes from Night will help you remember.
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 that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of
the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke
beneath a silent blue sky.
Analysis: As Eliezer arrives at Auschwitz
he is greeted by his first selection. He and his father follow
the line that passes a pit of burning babies. It is difficult
for even the most hardened reader not to wince at this passage;
it stands out as the most horrible atrocity in a chronicle of
horrible atrocities.
Wiesel writes three times in this passage
"Never shall I forget." He uses anaphora, a poetic
device that involves the repetition of a word or phrase at the
beginning of clauses, to highlight the novel's major theme--to
never forget.
Quote: Never shall I forget those flames
which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal
silence which deprived me, for all eternity, 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, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself.
Never.
Analysis: A continuation of the first
quote in this section, the phrase "Never shall I forget"
is repeated four more times. This section of the passage highlights
another major theme of the novel--the struggle to maintain faith
in a world full of evil.
More Important Quotes from Night by Elie Wiesel
Use these Night quotes as a reminder
to thwart prejudice, racism, hatred, and discrimination, for
they are the seeds of human rights violations. These important
quotes from Night will help you remember.
Quote: One day I was able to get up,
after gathering all my strength. I wanted to see myself in the
mirror hanging on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since
the ghetto. From the depths of the mirror, a corpse gazed back
at me. The look in his eyes, as they stared into mine, has never
left me.
Analysis: The narrative's last lines
leaves the reader with a sense of hopelessness. Eliezer views
himself as dead; innocence is dead; humanity is dead; God is
dead. It is important not to confuse the narrator with the author.
Elie Wiesel, the older version of Eliezer, the death camp survivor,
has dedicated his life to serving mankind and to prevent human
rights atrocities, showing the world that humankind is capable
of goodness, notwithstanding its inherent evil. For more on Wiesel's
life after his liberation, check out his website.
Quote: The night was gone. The morning
star was shining in the sky. I too had become a completely different
person. The student of the Talmud, the child that I was, had
been consumed in the flames... A dark flame had entered my soul
and devoured it.
Analysis: Wiesel uses parallel structure--the
like grammatical structure of adjacent phrases or clauses that
signify equality of importance--to draw attention to the two
things which died: his faith and his childhood.
Quote: Yet another last night. The last
night at home, the last night in the ghetto, the last night in
the train, the last night in Buna.
Analysis: The repetition of "the
last night" emphasizes death, not just the death of his
fellow prisoners, but the death of humanity.
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Themes in Night by Elie Wiesel
Night themes include the dangers of
silence and the importance of remembering. Putting into practice
these themes from Night by Elie Wiesel can help prevent human
rights atrocities. Night themes include the inhumanity of humans
toward others and the struggle to have faith in a benevolent
God during suffering.
Silence - As Eliezer and his family exit
the train at Auschwitz, they are shocked at its existence, causing
one of the prisoners to insult them, in disbelief that it was
1944 and they had never heard of Auschwitz. They weren't alone.
How many otherwise good humans were aware
of the existence of concentration camps but chose to remain silent?
It is silence which allows the Nazi takeover in Europe. Another
silence Wiesel emphasizes is the silence of God to allow such
atrocities to occur. Wiesel counsels his readers to not be silent
witnesses to hate.
The Importance of Remembering - One of
Wiesel's main objectives in writing Night is to remind his audience
that the Holocaust occurred, in hopes that it will never repeat
itself. Wiesel has maintained his vigilance against hatred and
inhumanity through the Elie Wiesel foundation for humanity.
The Existence of Evil - Philosophers
and religious scholars have theorized on the existence of evil
for centuries, asking the question "How or why does God
allow evil to exist if he is, in fact, all powerful and good.
Throughout the narrative, Eliezer answers the question by asserting
his God is dead. Despite his avowal that his faith is dead, he
maintains scraps of it, praying, for example, that he will never
betray his father as Rabbi Eliahou's son does. He also recognizes
that those prisoners who completely lose their faith soon die.
Inhumanity - Eliezer is shocked that
human beings can be so cruel. The first section of the narrative
portrays the entire city of Sighet in denial. When foreign Jews
are deported, the town insists all is well. When Moshe the Beadle
returns and reports Nazi atrocities, the town insists all is
well. When the Fascists take over in Hungary, the town insists
all is well. When the SS begin patrolling the streets, the town
insists all is well. When Eliezer suggests they move to Palestine,
his father refuses. When Martha the former servant offers them
refuge, even after most of the town had been expelled, they remain.
Those in Sighet cannot comprehend that other human beings can
be so evil.
The Animalization of Humans - Eliezer
comments on how prisoners themselves become inhuman in concentration
camps. In addition to the kapos who treat regular prisoners almost
as cruelly as the SS, Eliezer witnesses three instances of sons
turning against their fathers: (1) He witnesses a son abusing
his father; (2) He witnesses Rabbi Eliahou's son abandon him
during the forced evacuation from Buna; (3) He witnesses a son
beat his own father over a piece of bread on the train to Buchenwald.
Eliezer feels guilt over the manner in which he treats his father,
feeling him a burden at times.
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Symbolism in Night by Elie Wiesel
Understanding Night symbolism brings
greater appreciation for Wiesel's memoirs.
1. Night - The title of the novel symbolizes
death, the death of innocence, childhood, faith, and millions
of people. The narrative contains many last nights, the last
night in Sighet, the last night in Buna, the last night with
his father, the last night of innocence, etc. Night also symbolizes
a world without God. The worst suffering occurs at night. Wiesel
contends that God does not live in the concentration camps and
God's people have no recourse.
2. Fire - Fire represents hell. Eliezer's hellish experience
is foreshadowed by Madame Shachter's insane screaming on the
train to Auschwitz. The pit of burning babies scars Wiesel for
life. The specter of the furnace haunts Wiesel and his fellow
prisoners throughout. The symbol of fire in Night, however, is
ironic. No longer is fire a tool of the righteous to punish the
wicked. It has become a tool of the wicked to punish the righteous.
It emphasizes Wiesel's belief that God has abandoned his people.
3. Silence - Silence symbolizes fear,
apathy, and inability. Wiesel cannot comprehend that the world
can remain silent as the Nazis commit atrocities. It also represents
the silence of the oppressed. Eliezer, for example, remains silent
when his father is beaten, unable to help him. The entire town
of Sighet remains silent to the pleas of Moshe the Beadle, who
warns the town of what is coming. Silence also represents the
absence of God. Note the camp's reaction to the young boy's hanging--silence.
A common theme in the narrative is God's silence as his people
suffer.
4. Corpses - Corpses symbolize the living dead. Prisoners are
often referred to as corpses, corpses whose spirits have been
crushed by suffering. Eliezer looks in the mirror as the narrative
ends and sees a corpse, symbolizing the death of innocence and
childhood.
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This page was created on January 03,
2010
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