The Imagery Used In The Night By Elie Wiesel

​In Elie Wiesel’s novel, Night, setting, character and conflict emphasize the consequences of extreme racial discrimination. The story is a first person traumatic experience based on real events, retold by Elie Wiesel. The reader can sense Wiesel’s real emotions as he retells the story as Wiesel and the other characters suffer a terrible holocaust. Many people witness other Jews being killed directly in front of them. Wiesel recalls his experience as a hopeless Jewish prisoner. The author uses setting to enhance the reader’s ability to relate to the story. The reader is able to connect the location of the story to the historical events that took place in that time period. The characters in the story face multiple types of conflict such as living in very harsh camp conditions. The character description is rather vague; however, the author uses dialogue to give the reader an insight into their minds. There are many conflicts presented in the novel. Person versus society, where Wiesel and his prison mates battle for their lives against the overwhelming Nazi Force. Person versus religion, as Wiesel finds himself questioning the existence of God due to his unbearable reality. Other conflicts include: physical and psychological battles between characters.

The characters in the story help demonstrate contrasting views on various racial situations, such as; persecution by Nazis. Wiesel is speaking subconsciously while he is in the concentration camp. Wiesel recalls noticing the changes to his body and mind, he describes his experience in the following quote; “One day I was able to get, after getting up, after gathering all my strength. I was able to see myself on the opposite wall. I had not seen himself 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”(Wiesel 115). Here Wiesel feels as if he is dead, his soul was killed, by all the horror he had witnessed, the deaths, the torture and so much more horror. When he says, “the look in his eyes stared into mine” it is an implication of separation between himself and his corpse. He expresses his after affects and feelings towards the holocaust experiences, he describes the unwarranted mistreatment. Moshe the beadle is another character in the story, he is highly committed to Judaism, and he is also Wiesel’s Cabbala teacher. Moshe says, ''I Pray to God within me that he will give me the strength to ask Him the right questions'' (Wiesel 3). Moshe grows weak in terms of his faith, physically and mentally. He is too weak to ask God any questions other than to question his existence. He prays god will provide him with the strength to ask him questions that will better his situation and surrounding environment. Madame Schochter is another Jewish camp prisoner. She screams out a very significant statement to her fellow prisoners while looking abroad from the camp. She reacts based on the realization that thousands of innocent Jewish bodies are burning as she looked on. “Jews listen to me, I can see the fire! There are huge flames! It is a furnace” (Wiesel 34)! After the characters left the Ghettos and were boarded on the train, they soon realized they are on their way to a dark place, far away from salvation, the Jewish killing camp.

​Various types of conflict are presented in this novel to prove the alteration of the characters’ realities and mental states. Wiesel recalls a man behind him asking ''For God’s sake, where is God'' Wiesel hears a voice within him answer “Where he is? This is where. Hanging here from the Gallows” (Wiesel 65). Wiesel witnesses the hanging of Oberkapu Pipe, a young Jewish man. Wiesel cannot cope with the violence surrounding him and he is in search of answers. This moment is a person versus religion conflict and represents the loss in Wiesel’s faith in God. It also represents the loss of his innocence and purity. Before the holocaust, Wiesel’s faith in God is very strong. Moshe the beadle asks him, Why Wiesel prayed” (Wiesel 65). What a strange question I thought. Why did I live? Why did I breathe“(Wiesel 65)? thought Wiesel. Evidently, Mosh has a very strong religious belief. Wiesel later meets Rabbi Eliohou Jr, a young prisoner, who wants separation to eliminate the burden that could diminish the chances of his own survival. Wiesel describes his thoughts towards Rabbi Eliohou a Jewish prisoner who is growing sick. “A terrible thought crossed my mind” says Wiesel. “What if he had wanted to be rid of his father” (Wiesel 72)? He feels his father is growing too weak to survive in their surrounding environment His son faces a conflict with himself; he has to decide if he is going to leave his father and move with no one else to worry about or, bringing him along and being with his only remaining family member would be with him. This is an example of person versus person and person versus self. Wiesel’s struggle with Nazi persecution is a major conflict in the story. He recalls being segregated from the world and put into a society where everyone is worthless. He says, “I became A-7713. From then on, I had no other name” (Wiesel 42). Wiesel describes his experience, in being dehumanized and being made a number amongst millions of others, because Nazi’s consider Jews to be a cancer to their society. This is an example of a person versus society conflict.

​Wiesel expresses many aspects of conflict, as it helps the reader reflect on the mental and physical battles the characters’ experience. Setting is the final example used to help the reader connect with the story.

​Concentration camps were and remain to be seen as one of history’s most racist and murderous settings/places ever. One could say concentration camps were Hell. ​Setting is a main cause of mistreatment of Jewish people. Hitler and the Nazi’s set out to eliminate the race they saw as an infestation to their own. Europe was an anti-Jewish location for several years. Setting helps the reader understand the racial differences. Europe in the 1930’s to 1950’s was a very terrible place for anyone other than the Nazi’s. The following quote uses imagery to help the reader imagine themselves as him. His reality was very dark and traumatizing. “It was pitch dark. I could only hear the violin” (Wiesel 86)… Wiesel describes the scenery surrounding him. The violin he was hearing symbolized the screams he frequently heard while it was pitch black, except this time it was a peaceful sound. Wiesel explains his everlasting pain, due to the horrid things he has experienced in his hostile setting. The scenery is described as foggy, filled with the horrid smell of rotting corpses and filled with innocent Jewish blood. “Never shall forget that night, the first night in the camp that turned my life into one long night seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke…. Never shall I forget the small faces of children whose body I saw transformed to smoke under a silent sky. Never shall I forget those flames that consumed my faith forever” (Wisel 113).

​Wiesel uses a simple yet powerful line to empower people who feel they have been ridden of their voice. He says; “Those who kept silent will remain silent tomorrow” (Wiesel 109). This quote is a representation of the European system at the time in history. Nazi’s and their supporters believe if you are not one of them, in terms of belief of appearance, you are to be treated as lesser and should be sent to execution camps. Those who keep silent will always be silent and be in a sunken, dark place. These concentration camps are and will remain to be recognized as one of history’s most racist and murderous places ever. One could say concentration camps are a hell. Setting is the cause of the hatred for Jewish people, in Europe, the anti-Jewish location for several years.

​In conclusion, Night, by Elie Wiesel uses character, conflict and setting to demonstrate the effects of extreme racial discrimination. Character helps the reader see different angles of a very controversial and harsh part in history. Conflict explains the mental and physical battles the characters’ experience throughout their time in the concentration camps.