Compare And Contrast Book Review

Pablo Picasso once said, “Colors, like features, follow the changes of the emotions”. When reading the book, Night by Elie Wiesel, and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, you can see how colors played an immense role in the two books. It was used to show the transformation of emotions throughout the different time periods they were in. The author, Elie Wiesel uses color to show hatred and corruption that was happening during the Holocaust, the author does this to help the reader feel the emotions that the character felt during the disappointing time. The author, Markus Zusak uses color to show diversity, the narrator, was opposed to the Nazis and he described things through color.  

In the historical nonfiction, Night by Elie Wiesel, the author uses the colors to help the readers feel the somberness, gruesome, and fearful tone that was being portrayed in the book. He used the colors red and black. The color black was used to symbolize the darkness that was being shown, which gives you this sad or mournful feeling. Every time something happened it was at night and that’s when all the prisoners felt the worst it seemed like. For Example, the passage states, “Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times sealed … Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams into ashes. Never shall I forget those things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God himself. (Chapter 3 page 34)” That first night in the camp they were dehumanized, their lives had been stripped away in and instant, they had nothing. The color red was used to symbolize violence and pain. The passage says “Fire! I see a fire! I see a fire! There was a moment of panic. Who had screamed? It was Mrs. Schächter. Standing in the middle of the car, in the faint light filtering through the windows … Look! Look at this fire! This terrible fire! Have mercy on me! … We had forgotten Mrs. Schächter's existence. Suddenly there was a terrible scream: Jews, look! Look at the fire! Look at the flames! And as the train stopped, this time we saw flames rising from a tall chimney into a black sky. A wretched stench floated in the air. In front of us, those flames. In the air, the smell of burning flesh. (Chapter 2 pages 24-28)” They were killing literal humans, who had done nothing wrong. Mrs. Schächter had foreshadowed that something terrible was happening that involved a fire, and no one believed her until they saw if for themselves. At that point, you could tell that the prisoners knew that what was to come next was not going to be pretty.