The Theme of Darkness in Night by Elie Wiesel

Often, the theme of a novel extends into a deeper significance than what is first apparent on the surface. In the novel Night by Elie Wiesel, the theme of night and darkness is prevalent throughout the story and is used as a primary tool to convey symbolism, foreshadowing, and the hopeless defeat felt by prisoners of Holocaust concentration camps. Religion, the various occurring crucial nights, and the many instances of foreshadowing and symbolism clearly demonstrate how the reoccurring theme of night permeates throughout the novel.

Faith in a “higher power” is often used as a crutch by many in times of struggle. However, when that crutch is removed, the hardships that need to be overcome seem to increase as hope diminishes. This is true in Eliezer’s situation; as his faith deteriorates, his spirit is taken over by night: an empire of darkness takes control over his inner being (Fine 53). From the moment he enters Auschwitz, darkness becomes internal when he loses faith in God (Fine 49). From this loss of faith, a sense of desertion and emptiness is created; Eliezer feels he is left alone in the darkness without God, trapped in one long, hellish night (“Night” 243). In spite of these overwhelming emotions, originating from the cruel and brutal treatment he endures, Eliezer manages to muster what little hope his weakening faith allows.

Unfortunately, this hope, this light in the darkness, becomes a heavy burden to bear for such a weakened spirit as his (“Night” 244). The frailty of Eliezer’s wavering faith is shown with the words, “This day I had ceased to plead. I was no longer capable of lamentation. I was the accuser, God the accused. My eyes were open and I was alone-terribly alone in a world without God and without man. Without love or mercy” (Wiesel 65). This line expresses the solitude and despair Eliezer suffers in a world where God, the only light, is extinguished and replaced by deep anguish and malice, which is night. Eliezer’s loss of faith distinctly illustrates the powerful impact the theme of night has when used to show the emotions of prisoners of the Holocaust.

More often than not, when the Holocaust is thought of, a term that comes to mind is death. The death of innocent people, the death of a race, the death of hope, the death of humanity, and more importantly, the death of God. The hanging of a child at Buna represents the death of God, who is light, and entry into hopeless darkness and the horror of being alone, which is night (Fine 65). Expressed in the words of Eliezer, “Behind me, I heard the same man asking: “Where is God now?” And I heard a voice within me answer him: “Where is he? Here He is-He is hanging here on this gallows…” (Wiesel 62). This quote suggests that with the death of the child, all hope is lost for prisoners of the concentration camps; the end is near. The death of God significantly incorporates the use of “night” to convey not only symbolism, but the despondent outlook most Holocaust victims held on life.

The reoccurring concept of night presents itself in many manners throughout the novel. However, one central way in which the theme is related to the story is through the various occurring crucial nights. Many important events take place at night, including the death of Eliezer’s father; this incident seems to plunge Eliezer into perpetual darkness, where he has to fight to survive (Fine 54). While at Auschwitz, he feels darkness eternally eclipses the light (Brown 69); Eliezer is so affected by the horrors of death at the camp that his first night there becomes forever burned into his memory. He expresses his strong emotions in the lines, “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 those flames which consumed my faith forever.

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” (Wiesel 32). This quote unites the emotional, mental, psychological, and spiritual damaged suffered by Eliezer from his experiences with inhumanity of the Nazis. Lastly, the march from Buna to Buchenwald occurs at night; this is significant because it indicates the fate awaiting the prisoners (Fine 54). The many important nights that take place throughout the novel are clear indicators of the significance that the theme of darkness and night possesses all through the story.

As well as being a large component in expressing the profundity of the motif of night, the critical nights serve to bring about internal changes within the protagonist, Eliezer. He changes not only outwardly during his suffering, but changes as a person on the inside. This change can be summarized by the quote, “The night was gone. The morning star was shining in the sky. I too had become a completely different person. The student of Talmud, the child that I was, had been consumed in flames. There remained only a shape that looked like me. A dark flame had entered my soul and devoured it” (Wiesel 34). In this line, Eliezer discusses how his Holocaust experiences have changed him by stealing his innocence, robbing him of his childhood and destroying his soul.

In the course of all these transformations, Eliezer seems to lose track of time itself. His quote, “So much had happened within such a few hours that I had lost all sense of time. When had we left our houses? And the ghetto? And the train? Was it only a week? One night-one single night?” (Wiesel 34) expresses his disbelief at the fact that his whole life has been uprooted and destroyed within one single night of terror. The theme of night clearly pertains to Eliezer’s internal changes because it is the central cause of his inward transformations and loss of the sense of time.

In the novel, there are many significant uses of the word “night”; it is the different meanings of the word that create the sense of hopeless defeat which is felt by prisoners of Holocaust concentration camps. “Night” is used as a metaphor for evil, dark hopelessness (“Night” 248); it is used to denote death-dominated ideology (Fine 48). Constantly throughout the story, night is associated with all the terrible events that occur in the concentration camps. For instance, the march from Buna to Buchenwald occurs at night, and the last time Eliezer sees his father alive is at night. However, not only does the word describe the hellish journey into the Holocaust darkness (Fine 1), it encompasses the entire Holocaust landscape (Fine 48).

Eliezer feels trapped in night, which is the Holocaust, and unable to reach the light. His life, from the time in which he is deported, seems to be defined by first and last nights (Fine 51). His last night at home, the last night in the ghetto, the last night on the train, the last night in Buna, and the last night with his father are all primary examples of “last nights”. The extensive use of the word “night” in the novel is employed as a tool to project the theme’s depth, using symbolism and the emotions of the Holocaust.

Among the many literary tools used in Night, foreshadowing appears to be one of the most frequent and important. Throughout the novel, there are many clues given by Elie Wiesel as to what will occur next in the story. The word “night” is first mentioned in Eliezer’s evening visits to his synagogue; this is a prediction of the bleak shadows cast on the Jewish community (Fine 49). Another important instance of foreshadowing occurs on the cattle car on the way to Auschwitz. A woman has terrifying visions of burning and darkness, which foreshadow the horrifying concentration camps yet to come (Fine 51). Clearly, these occurrences only serve to deepen the significance of the motif of the novel through the use of foreshadowing to convey the message of night.

The motif of night and darkness is prevalent throughout the novel Night by Elie Wiesel, and is used as a primary tool to convey symbolism, foreshadowing, and the hopeless defeat felt by prisoners of Holocaust concentration camps. Religion, the various occurring critical nights, and the many instances of foreshadowing and symbolism distinctly display how the continuous theme of night perpetuates itself all through the novel. Wiesel has illustrated the pain and anguish of his personal experiences in concentration camps through the use of the word “night”. It is with this one word, this one simple word, that he encompasses the horror and death of the Holocaust which has not only forever changed him but has deeply affected the Jewish community and has forever tainted history.