Literary Techniques Used In Elie Wiesel's Night

1089 Words5 Pages
Quotations Find an example of each of the literary techniques listed below in your novel. For each one you must provide a quotation to support your example and a brief explanation of the significance to the story. Symbol #1 “The days resembled the nights, and the nights left in our souls the dregs of their darkness.” (Page 100) This quotation is used when everyone is piled in the train, lying on top of each other, struggling to survive and on the verge of giving up. When you think of nighttime you think of darkness, cold, not being able to see, or feeling scared. Night is a very important symbol throughout the novel. It is used heavily throughout the book to symbolize death, darkness of the soul and loss of faith. Night always…show more content…
Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the small faces of the children whose bodies I saw transformed into smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I forget those flames that consumed by faith forever. Never shall I forget the nocturnal silence that deprived me for all eternity to the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments that murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to ashes. Never shall I forget those things, ever were I condemned to live as long as God himself. Never.” (Page 34) This quotation is extremely powerful. The use of parallelism also contributes to how it makes us feel, it is very memorable. Parallelism is created by the use of the repeating words never shall I forget. Eliezer says these words to us after he first arrives at the camp. This quote tell us just how much Eliezer was affected by the camps and how he will never be the same, it shows us just how much it took from him and how it forever changed him. Character Foil “Oh God, Master of the Universe, give me the strength never to do what Rabbi Eliahu’s son has done.” (Page…show more content…
Fire is another important symbol within the novel. It represents the Nazi’s cruel power. First, Mrs. Schachter has a premonition of the horror to come as she keeps seeing the flames on the train, and most importantly fire is the agent of destruction in the crematorium, where many meet their death at the hands of the Nazis. The symbol of fire also contributes to Eliezers loss of faith. In Gehenna (Jewish version of hell) the wicked are punished by fire. But in Night, it is the wicked who have the power of fire to punish the innocent. This further contributes to Eliezers loss of faith. Irony “After the war I learned the fate of those who had remained at the infirmary. They were, quite simply, liberated by the Russians, two days after the evacuation.” (Page 82) Eliezer says this right after him and his father had made the decision to evacuate with the others, because they believed this would be a better option for them. This is an example of situational irony (irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended.) Because Eliezer and his father made the decision to evacuate with everyone, they were imprisoned for another three months. If they had just stayed in the infirmary, they would have been rescued within two days and Eliezer’s father might have had the chance to

More about Literary Techniques Used In Elie Wiesel's Night

Open Document