Hell’s Regrets
Elie Wiesel uses figurative language and recurring motifs throughout Night to
emphasize the seriousness of the suffering millions of Jews endured during the Holocaust. The Jew’s statements of regret pose a reminder of what they did, and what they believe they should have done. It changes them from when they first made the decision to when they were thinking about what they should have chosen to avoid the life that they made and are suffering through. The atrocities they suffer come to life through Wiesel’s skillful writing, because of precise word choice, figurative language, and motifs, Night’s message resonates with the reader by creating an emotional tie between narrator and reader.
In one’s deepest despair, holding onto anything with familiarity helps to relieve the pain of the past, present, and future, and so Wiesel symbolically develops the relationship between Juliek and his violin. Music has a way of communicating what words cannot and foreshadowing what cannot be imagined. When Elie hears Juliek’s violin in the dark of night, “it was as if Juliek’s soul had become his bow. He was playing his life” (Wiesel 95). The metaphors here magnify the power of Juliek’s music. All of Juliek’s pent-up emotions flow from the strings of his beloved violin. He plays what all of the Jews are feeling, and this brief reprieve from the atrocities they are subjected to is welcome. To the reader, it foreshadows more deaths. Elie understands that Juliek’s “whole being was gliding over the strings. His unfulfilled hopes. His charred past, his extinguished future” (Wiesel 95). Wiesel’s word choice “extinguished future”, dramatizes their fate. Playing Beethoven is Juliek’s way of “bidding farewell to an audience of dying men” (Wiesel 95). What else does he have that he could possibly offer them? His music acts as a reminder of a better, more humane time in their lives—when each of them had worth, love, and joy in their lives—all of which have been stripped from them and what has yet to come. Even so, the Germans are not able to silence his last farewell and forewarning to his comrades. When the fingers that guide the bow across the violin’s strings die, so too does the violin—“trampled, an eerily poignant little corpse” (Wiesel 95). Again, a metaphor relays intensity. The darkness that was lit for a few brief moments by Juliek’s playing returns with a vengeance, but Juliek’s soul—a soul that is strong enough to disengage him from the nightmare he is living—travels towards a place of peace. The violin motif, precise word choice, metaphors, and foreshadowing are powerful literary devices Wiesel employs to establish an emotional attachment to Night.
Another one of Wiesel’s motifs in Night is fire—a symbol of the prevalence of death. In a most prophetic way, Mrs. Schachter shouts, “Fire! I see a fire! I see a fire!” (Wiesel 14). By using repetition Wiesel plants the seed of forthcoming fires and foreshadows events to follow. By repeatedly using fire as a symbol of death, he creates a sense of the millions who will die. In addition to repetition, Wiesel’s use of precise word choice strongly relays the emotion tied to the Holocaust and the individuals’ lives when they “stared at the flames in the darkness. A ‘wretched stench’ floated in the air” (Wiesel 28). Of course, the wretched stench is that of burning flesh and effectively draws an emotional response from the reader. The scene where “children [are] thrown into the flames,” crafts an unforgettable image of the inhumanness of the Germans towards all Jews, not just men and women (Wiesel 32). The crematorium is metaphorically referred to by Elie as the “Angel of Death” (Wiesel 34). Each of the literary devices Wiesel uses adds strength to his novel.
Irony is understandably another literary device Wiesel uses in Night. Just thinking of the inhumanity of man is ironic. When a worker throws a piece of bread into a wagon of starving Jews, “Dozens of starving men fought desperately over a few crumbs” (Wesel 100). The irony of this scene is not lost on the reader. The man thinks he is helping, but instead creates chaos. Referencing regrets repeatedly like the rabbi “regretted having uttered…God is no longer with us,” gives the reader an opportunity to reflect on what the Jews’ lives had once been and what they have become because of the Germans (Wiesel 76). Intensity describes Night. Irony and repetition contribute to the novel’s level of power.
Without the use of literary devices and motifs, Night may not be able to connect as strongly with the reader. A story as important as Elie Wiesel’s journey deserves being told and remembered in hope of preventing an event as horrific as the Holocaust from ever happening again. Wielsel’s skilled writing makes Night more than a story—it is a reminder of what humanity represents.
In one’s deepest despair, holding onto anything with familiarity helps to relieve the pain of the past, present, and future. Such is the relationship with Juliek and his violin. Music has a way of communicating what words cannot. When Elie hears Juliek’s violin in the dark of night, “it was as if Juliek’s soul had become his bow. He was playing his life” (Wiesel 95). All of Juliek’s pent-up emotions flow from the strings of his beloved violin. He plays what all of the Jews are feeling, and this brief reprieve from the atrocities they have been subjected to is welcome. Elie understands that Juliek’s “whole being was gliding over the strings. His unfulfilled hopes. His charred past, his extinguished future” (Wiesel 95). Playing Beethoven is Juliek’s way of “bidding farewell to an audience of dying men” (Wiesel 95). What else does he have that he could possibly offer them? His music acts as a reminder of a better, more humane time in their lives—when each of them had worth, love, and joy in their lives—all of which have been stripped from them. Even so, the Germans are not able to silence his last farewell to his comrades. When the fingers that guide the bow across the violin’s strings die, so too does the violin—“trampled, an eerily poignant little corpse” (Wiesel 95). The darkness that was lit for a few brief moments by Juliek’s playing returns with a vengeance, but Juliek’s soul—a soul that was strong enough to disengage him from the nightmare he had been living—travels towards a place of peace.
Elie Wiesel uses figurative language throughout Night to emphasis the seriousness of the suffering millions of Jews endured during the period of the Holocaust. He uses fire to symbolize the prevalence of death in this novel. In a most prophetic way, Mrs. Schachter shouts, “Fire! I see a fire! I see a fire!” (Wiesel 14). By using repetition Wiesel plants the seed of forthcoming fires and foreshadows events to follow. By repeatedly using fire as a symbol of death, he creates a sense of the millions who will die. In addition to repetition, Wiesel’s use of precise word choice strongly relays the emotion tied to the Holocaust and the individuals’ lives when they “stared at the flames in the darkness. A ‘wretched stench’ floated in the air” (Wiesel 28). Of course, the wretched stench is that of burning flesh and effectively draws an emotional response from the reader. The scene where “children [are] thrown into the flames,” crafts an unforgettable image of the inhumanness of the Germans towards all Jews, not just men and women (Wiesel 32). The crematorium is metaphorically referred to by Elie as the “Angel of Death” (Wiesel 34). Each of the literary devices Wiesel uses adds strength to his novel.
Commentary: This is one of the later papers that I wrote and you can see how my writing style changed.
Elie Wiesel uses figurative language and recurring motifs throughout Night to
emphasize the seriousness of the suffering millions of Jews endured during the Holocaust. The Jew’s statements of regret pose a reminder of what they did, and what they believe they should have done. It changes them from when they first made the decision to when they were thinking about what they should have chosen to avoid the life that they made and are suffering through. The atrocities they suffer come to life through Wiesel’s skillful writing, because of precise word choice, figurative language, and motifs, Night’s message resonates with the reader by creating an emotional tie between narrator and reader.
In one’s deepest despair, holding onto anything with familiarity helps to relieve the pain of the past, present, and future, and so Wiesel symbolically develops the relationship between Juliek and his violin. Music has a way of communicating what words cannot and foreshadowing what cannot be imagined. When Elie hears Juliek’s violin in the dark of night, “it was as if Juliek’s soul had become his bow. He was playing his life” (Wiesel 95). The metaphors here magnify the power of Juliek’s music. All of Juliek’s pent-up emotions flow from the strings of his beloved violin. He plays what all of the Jews are feeling, and this brief reprieve from the atrocities they are subjected to is welcome. To the reader, it foreshadows more deaths. Elie understands that Juliek’s “whole being was gliding over the strings. His unfulfilled hopes. His charred past, his extinguished future” (Wiesel 95). Wiesel’s word choice “extinguished future”, dramatizes their fate. Playing Beethoven is Juliek’s way of “bidding farewell to an audience of dying men” (Wiesel 95). What else does he have that he could possibly offer them? His music acts as a reminder of a better, more humane time in their lives—when each of them had worth, love, and joy in their lives—all of which have been stripped from them and what has yet to come. Even so, the Germans are not able to silence his last farewell and forewarning to his comrades. When the fingers that guide the bow across the violin’s strings die, so too does the violin—“trampled, an eerily poignant little corpse” (Wiesel 95). Again, a metaphor relays intensity. The darkness that was lit for a few brief moments by Juliek’s playing returns with a vengeance, but Juliek’s soul—a soul that is strong enough to disengage him from the nightmare he is living—travels towards a place of peace. The violin motif, precise word choice, metaphors, and foreshadowing are powerful literary devices Wiesel employs to establish an emotional attachment to Night.
Another one of Wiesel’s motifs in Night is fire—a symbol of the prevalence of death. In a most prophetic way, Mrs. Schachter shouts, “Fire! I see a fire! I see a fire!” (Wiesel 14). By using repetition Wiesel plants the seed of forthcoming fires and foreshadows events to follow. By repeatedly using fire as a symbol of death, he creates a sense of the millions who will die. In addition to repetition, Wiesel’s use of precise word choice strongly relays the emotion tied to the Holocaust and the individuals’ lives when they “stared at the flames in the darkness. A ‘wretched stench’ floated in the air” (Wiesel 28). Of course, the wretched stench is that of burning flesh and effectively draws an emotional response from the reader. The scene where “children [are] thrown into the flames,” crafts an unforgettable image of the inhumanness of the Germans towards all Jews, not just men and women (Wiesel 32). The crematorium is metaphorically referred to by Elie as the “Angel of Death” (Wiesel 34). Each of the literary devices Wiesel uses adds strength to his novel.
Irony is understandably another literary device Wiesel uses in Night. Just thinking of the inhumanity of man is ironic. When a worker throws a piece of bread into a wagon of starving Jews, “Dozens of starving men fought desperately over a few crumbs” (Wesel 100). The irony of this scene is not lost on the reader. The man thinks he is helping, but instead creates chaos. Referencing regrets repeatedly like the rabbi “regretted having uttered…God is no longer with us,” gives the reader an opportunity to reflect on what the Jews’ lives had once been and what they have become because of the Germans (Wiesel 76). Intensity describes Night. Irony and repetition contribute to the novel’s level of power.
Without the use of literary devices and motifs, Night may not be able to connect as strongly with the reader. A story as important as Elie Wiesel’s journey deserves being told and remembered in hope of preventing an event as horrific as the Holocaust from ever happening again. Wielsel’s skilled writing makes Night more than a story—it is a reminder of what humanity represents.
In one’s deepest despair, holding onto anything with familiarity helps to relieve the pain of the past, present, and future. Such is the relationship with Juliek and his violin. Music has a way of communicating what words cannot. When Elie hears Juliek’s violin in the dark of night, “it was as if Juliek’s soul had become his bow. He was playing his life” (Wiesel 95). All of Juliek’s pent-up emotions flow from the strings of his beloved violin. He plays what all of the Jews are feeling, and this brief reprieve from the atrocities they have been subjected to is welcome. Elie understands that Juliek’s “whole being was gliding over the strings. His unfulfilled hopes. His charred past, his extinguished future” (Wiesel 95). Playing Beethoven is Juliek’s way of “bidding farewell to an audience of dying men” (Wiesel 95). What else does he have that he could possibly offer them? His music acts as a reminder of a better, more humane time in their lives—when each of them had worth, love, and joy in their lives—all of which have been stripped from them. Even so, the Germans are not able to silence his last farewell to his comrades. When the fingers that guide the bow across the violin’s strings die, so too does the violin—“trampled, an eerily poignant little corpse” (Wiesel 95). The darkness that was lit for a few brief moments by Juliek’s playing returns with a vengeance, but Juliek’s soul—a soul that was strong enough to disengage him from the nightmare he had been living—travels towards a place of peace.
Elie Wiesel uses figurative language throughout Night to emphasis the seriousness of the suffering millions of Jews endured during the period of the Holocaust. He uses fire to symbolize the prevalence of death in this novel. In a most prophetic way, Mrs. Schachter shouts, “Fire! I see a fire! I see a fire!” (Wiesel 14). By using repetition Wiesel plants the seed of forthcoming fires and foreshadows events to follow. By repeatedly using fire as a symbol of death, he creates a sense of the millions who will die. In addition to repetition, Wiesel’s use of precise word choice strongly relays the emotion tied to the Holocaust and the individuals’ lives when they “stared at the flames in the darkness. A ‘wretched stench’ floated in the air” (Wiesel 28). Of course, the wretched stench is that of burning flesh and effectively draws an emotional response from the reader. The scene where “children [are] thrown into the flames,” crafts an unforgettable image of the inhumanness of the Germans towards all Jews, not just men and women (Wiesel 32). The crematorium is metaphorically referred to by Elie as the “Angel of Death” (Wiesel 34). Each of the literary devices Wiesel uses adds strength to his novel.
Commentary: This is one of the later papers that I wrote and you can see how my writing style changed.