Symbolism and purpose of Night

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Elie was a young boy when he had everything he ever cared for taken
from him, leaving him with his physical body only. First we were deprived of
our addresses, then of our citizenship, then of our home, then of our family,
then of our name, then of our life. This occurred to several million people
between 1941- 1945 under the German Nazi regime. The mass slaughter of
people who were considered to be non-Aryan by the Nazi regime became
known as the Holocaust. It is hard for the author to depict the horrors of the
concentration camps and speak of what had happened to him, and this is
apparent in his novel Night. He wanted to educate future generation, of the
struggles he had to endure during his time in the concentration camp. Wiesel
feels as though he could never speak or write enough to clarify what had had
happened, which is why he feels as though it is his responsibility, along with
that of other survivors to warn people, and prevent such events from ever
unfolding again. Wiesels purpose for writing the book Night was to honor
those who died by remembering what had happened to them. For those who
lost their lives, we remember. To those who survived, we hear you. To the
next generations, we must never forget. This was a quote taken from the
interview between Opera and Wiese, summarizing the purpose behind
writing his novel Night, along with the symbolism and techniques he
successfully used to achieve this purpose. The symbolism and themes such
as loss of faith and silence of the book tie dramatically to the purpose behind
its publishing. The symbol of words, such as night, and fire along with
specific minor characters such as the Pipel, Akiba Drumer, Juliek, Moshe the
Beadle, Rabbi Eliahous son and Madame Schchter tell the story behind the
usage of these symbols in a way that helped clarify why Wiesel wrote about
his experiences in the concentration camps and how they build on his
purpose for writing this novel.
The ending of a time of hope and freedom is signified by the
connotation of the word night through darkness. Darkness, or the absence of
light is the absence of joy, of hope, of happiness, of love, and strength. The
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word night is a connotation for darkness to its infinity, fear, hopelessness,
evil, uncertainty, blindness, discouragement, and abandonment. The
symbolic usage of the word night was appropriate because it ties to the
story, helps keeps a constant tone through the novel and helps build
suspense. Wiesels purpose for using these symbols were to help the reader
better understand the horror he felt, along with many others; in such a way
that it would create an emotional response that would never be forgotten.
During some of the most dramatic page-turning events the author would use
the phrase last night or night fell, when the worst was to come.
Examples of this are the last night in Sighet, the last night in Buna, the
last night with his father, the last night of innocence. This can be seen at
the start of the book when the worst was to come, as night falls when his
father is interrupted from telling stories, only to be informed about the
deportation of Jews (10). 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. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed
my faith forever. (32). Night is an appropriate symbol to covey Elie Wiesels
concentration camp experience because it is written with such detail that it
helps us envision the horrors of his experiences in an emotional way. Along
with the connotation of night as loss, this also includes the loss of faith,
another major theme of the novel.
Elie looses his faith in God because he believes that a God would not
let such horrors happened to the Jewish people, and holds Him responsible.
"Why, but why should I bless Him? In every fiber, I rebelled. Because He had
had thousands of children burned in his pits? Because He kept six
crematories working night and day, on Sundays and feast days? Because on
His great might, He had created Auschwitz, Birkenau, Buna, and so many
factories of death?"(64). He believed that darkness became a world without
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God, (since He was one who created light in the first place) that had died on
the gallows along with the Pipel. A pipel is an attractive male who receives
special privileges by maintaining a relationship with another detainee who
has been granted some authority over other detainees. As Elie sees the
young boy slowly suffocate, the only silent victim to be hung, it related to the
main characters silent and slowly painful spiritual death. Akiba Drumer, who
was a very religious person, is yet another representation of the loss of faith
presented throughout the book. He became broken, stopped reading the
bible, and stopped singing as the Nazis broke down social bonds through his
dehumanization. This shows how even the strongest and most faithful can
loose it and give up. 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" (32). He felt it his responsibility to inspire humanity,
in such a way that his experiences would never happened again, for the
dead to be honored and remembered.
The hanging of the Pipel also symbolized the death of Elies faith in
God because of the silent, slow painful death the boy went through,
resembling Elies slowly painful spiritual death; as if it is God hanging on the
gallows instead. This event also symbolizes a loss of innocence and is the
point in the novel where Elies childhood comes to an abrupt end. "For the
first time, I felt revolt rise up in me. Why should I bless His name? The
Eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible, was silent. What
had I to thank Him for" (31)? It symbolizes an overall death in God, as even
the most loyal of the people in the concentration camps had lost faith,
believing that this world turned to a Godless world. This even symbolizes the
faith of the other prisoners like him in a way that says everyone, even if
innocent can be murdered without a given explanation. The effects of the
Holocaust would end ones faith, even between the most promising. You see

Symbolism and purpose of Night

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the majority of the characters and even the faithful Elie Wiesel loses the god
he once so strongly believed in. Though most lost their faith, many lost their
humanity as well.
Even the strongest and most compassionate of people could be turned
to evil selfish prisoners. The book also represents mans inhumanity to man
because it shows how selfish people can become when put in the worst
circumstances; what people will do just to live another day. It shows how
cruelly the concentration camps were built, and instead of having the people
comfort each other when things got hard, they would turn against one
another. Here every man fights for himself and not think of anyone else
Here, there are no fathers, no brothers, no friends. Everyone lives and dies
for himself alone. In many cases the prisoners that were put in charge of the
other prisoners were just as bad as the Nazis. There would be cases like this
where people chose to be cruel, just so they would have it better off. Idek,
the lead prisoner chose to be cruel just so he would be better off. He was the
Kapo in Elies building, whom abused his power and was turned evil by the
people imprisoning them. What happened to this character, along with
Frenek, show how the concentration camps would turn compassionate caring
man into evil and selfish monsters. Characters, such as the loving son of the
Rabbi Eliahou; who killed his father for just a few crumbs of bread just add to
the list. Wiesel wanted to make people aware of the effect the Holocaust had
on the Jews culture and religion, and how it can lead to its destruction.
Moshe the Beatle was another character that had lost all hope. He
started out in Wiesels novel as the physically awkward poor barefoot Jew of
a small town called Sighet in region of Transylvania, which was part of
Hungary, at the time. He was a humble man, which was tolerated and well
liked by his people. His waiflike timidity, which made him unnoticeable, made
people happy. As one of the foreigners he used to spend most of his time in
the synagogue were he would pray and be faithful. This taught in a way that
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taught the young Ellie to ask God the right questions. Part of his
psychological makeup was also singing, where he uses to chant, as his
dreamy eyes would be lost in the distance. After the Hungarian police had
expelled all of foreign Jews out of the city, many of whom had been
slaughtered; miraculously Moshe the Beadle makes it back alive, although
only in a physical sense. He came back worn out, injured, and insane having
completely lost his faith. He had witnessed the horrors of the holocaust,
which he tried to warn the others of, but they mistook him as insane. With
his worn-out soul he never sang or talked of the cabbala. He became
ostracized and the outcast of the city as he was ridiculed for trying to worn
people of what had happened. He was taken for a lunatic as he becomes
completely altruistic and selfless in his concerns. In his desperation to be
heard, he becomes broken and once defeated he fell silent, as the city he
once loved outcasted him and became weary of speaking. Along with other
character that had given up, just the same were the Wiesels relative and a
family friend. Stein of Antwerp, who was a compassionate family man found
out his had family died and gave up. Meir Katz showed no emotion from
beginning and was a strong man, which lost all his strength in the end.
This is more evidence of what the evils of the holocaust and the
concentration camps had the power to do. Turning even the best of people
evil, killing even your soul before taking you to the crematoriums. Along with
the premonitions given through the symbolism of fire by Madame Schchter,
fire as a symbol also played a big role in the development of the story. And
with the connotative meanings of the burning of faith, agony (torment, rage),
smothering (the crematories), fire as a weapon against life, fear, and evil.
The connotations and symbolic meaning of the word fire are appropriately
used because they allow you to have an emotional response to the imagery
that fire brings about. Madame Schchter was a family friend that began to
go crazy on the train ride, after loosing her family and has premonitions of
the future (23). It showed the power that the word fire had, in the terror that

Symbolism and purpose of Night

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it would set permanently through the novel. And the fear that starts early on
in the novel towards the crematoriums that the author is trying to make the
readers understand and feel for themselves.
The novel Night, accounts for the horrifying events a young boy went
through and depicts the faith of millions just like him. The chain of events,
that stripped Elie of everything but his physical body took Wiesel 10 years to
speak of. The loss of faith in the Jewish peoples eyes, along with the silence,
mans inhumanity to man, the images and emotional responses to the
connotations of night and fire give a feeling a fear in such a way that readers
would never forget and encourage for events of this matter to never take
place again. Wiesel wishes for no one to ever experience the feeling of
darkness without joy, hope, happiness, strength, or a God. He wants to
prevent anyone from ever feeling so hopeless, abandoned, discouraged, and
uncertain. He wrote from his heart, which allowed readers to come close to
living through the experiences themselves. He wanted to make people aware
of the effect the Holocaust had on the Jews culture and religion, leading to its
destruction. Wiesel felt it his responsibility to inspire humanity, in such a way
that what he experienced would never happened again, and for the dead to
be honored and remembered.