In reading the novel, Night, it's obvious that night is a major symbol in the book. A question I keep asking myself as I read the book, though, is what does it mean? So far, I have come up with a few ideas on the topic but I'll let you guys comment and throw in anything else that crosses your mind. I think that Wiesel uses night to symbolize an absence of God. According to the book of Genesis, God’s first creation was light. The first thing he did was get rid of the infinite darkness. This is why I think that darkness and night symbolize a world without His presence.
I keep coming across examples of this in the book. The falling of night constantly occurs when pain is at its worst, and its being there shows Eliezer’s belief that he lives in a Godless world. For example, the first time Eliezer says that “[n]ight fell” is when his father receives news about the exile of Jews. Likewise, it is night when Eliezer first gets to Auschwitz. Also, it is night when the prisoners start the run from Buna.
Has anyone else found any examples of the symbolism of night? Maybe there are some other ideas as to what it could mean?
"After a hard day's work diggin' up the sod, we're ready for chow."
Welcome to our class's blog. We are discussing the latest topics we're studying in American history and literature. This website has been active since December 2005. Selected Excel 10 students will take turns posting their thoughts, and other Excel 10 students will comment on these posts. Parents, staff, and other interested persons are invited to add their comments on our musings. Any inappropriate comments will be deleted.
Sunday, January 29, 2006
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Blog Archive
-
▼
2006
(81)
-
▼
January
(11)
- Jill's take on the Night motif
- The Harlem Renaissance
- Which poem is your favorite?
- Brittany on Wright's Writing Style
- Michelle's 1st Impression of Black Boy
- 1st Semester Evaluation - Part 4 - Self - Evaluation
- 1st Semester Evaluation - Part 3 - The Future
- 1st Semester Evaluation - Part 2
- 1st Semester Evaluation -Part 1
- Updating the Scopes Trial - Evolution, Creation, o...
- Newsies Tie-in w/ Curriculum
-
▼
January
(11)
3 comments:
I agree with night being without the presence of god. On pg. 72 it says "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"?
From this I think that Elie lost faith in god but I don't think that he lost belief. I can understand where he lost faith because of Pg. 42 he writes "How i sympathized with Job! I did not deny god's existence but I doubted his absolute justice". I gather from what we learned about the story of Job that Elie really feels like he has a duty to pay god by showing him that he can make it through this anti-miracle without the help of god and that he won't ever deny his presence.
I also agree that night may symbolize the absence of God. I too saw that when Wiesel mentioned night, bad things usually happened.
I also agree with Madi that Elie began to lose his faith when those bad things happened, so night may represent his loss of faith, too.
I also agree with jill, madi and nick. I noticed that everytime the phrase "night" was used, it usually indicated something bad was going to happen.
I agree too with madi when she says that night can indicate a loss in his faith as well. I think she brings up a very good point and i didn't even notice it before.
AJ
Post a Comment