Literary+Terms

The main theme of Elie Wiezel’s novel “Night” is that even cultured people are capable of genocide. It is often difficult to believe that the human beings could do such things to each other but when you factor in wealth and power it is possible. Before the Holocaust, the Germans were civilized, cultured people but they took a turn for the worst. The Nazis let their hunger for power get in the way of their morality. Ultimately, they still suffer the consequences because they now have to live with what they did. Other, more general themes for this book are the Holocaust as well as, racism and discrimination. Hitler hated the Jews because they were a different race and he discriminated against them because they were not the same and they believed different things.
 * Theme**

For more on the Holocaust and discrimination go to: []

An example of irony in the book “Night” by Elie Wiesel is when the Jewish people are forced to wear the Star of David so that they can be identified for who they are. Elie’s father tries to lighten the situation by saying, “The yellow star. Oh well. You won’t die of it.” This is ironic because in the end most of them do end up getting slaughtered because they are Jewish. Something that was once so important in the Jewish faith turned on them and delivered them to their deaths. In a way, the yellow star symbolized their coming ends.
 * Irony**

Another example of irony in this book is when Elie’s hospital roommate says to him, “I’ve got more faith in Hitler than anyone else. He’s the only one who’s kept his promises, all his promises, to the Jewish people.” This quote is so incredibly and disturbingly true. It is ironic because the people that the Jews had the most faith in could not keep their promises the way the Nazis did. Hitler and the Nazis were the only one's in the story who ever acted on what they promised. If they said they were going to kill someone, then someone would indeed get killed. When everyone else, even their own god failed them, the only person that the Jews could really count on was Hitler. They could believe what he said to be true because it always was.

An example of symbolism in the book, “Night”, is Elie’s gold tooth. The tooth symbolizes his whole life’s worth. It is all that Elie has to hold onto went the Nazis take everything else away from him. When they want to remove the valuable gold crown, Elie knows that he must never let them. For, if the Nazis take it away, he will have nothing else to hold onto and help give him hope.
 * Symbolism**

The crematory oven, or the “furnace”, is another symbol in this book. It symbolizes the sudden and unjust death of the Jews. To the Jewish people it was the end of the line, the end of their terrible existence in the concentration camps. For them, it was almost a relief to go to the “furnace”, because dying would mean an end to their pain and agony. However, to the Nazis officers, the crematory oven was just a way to rid themselves of the Jewish people, the Jewish race. Another example of symbolism is the numbers that the Jews are assigned during their time in the concentration camps. Instead of being called their usual name, they are each given a different number and that number it tattooed on their bodies. These tattoos are not unlike the tattoos that farmers use on cattle. In this story, Elie’s number is A-7713. The different number tattoos symbolize what the Nazis think of the Jews and how they treat them. The Jewish people are treated like livestock. They are used and used and then eventually slaughtered.